Career Change: Stop hating your job, discover what you really want to do with your life, and start doing it!

by Joanna Penn

Do you hate your job?
Or do you just tolerate it day after day, knowing that you want to do something else but unsure what that something else is?
Would you like to love your job, and enjoy the work you do?

I spent 13 years as an IT business consultant in the corporate world, and much of that was spent questioning why I didn’t enjoy my work and attempting to figure out what I really wanted to do. This book is the result of that journey and contains strategies and tips for you to figure out your own path.

You’ll learn how to identify the current issues you have as well as how to improve your life right now. Then you can use the questionnaires to work out what you really want to do as well as the path to make the change.

Contents:
Part 1: “I hate my job”
Identifying the problem
The results of an unhappy workplace - stress, depression, obesity

Part 2: How to improve your current situation
Develop yourself
Coping with stress at work
Being valued and appreciated
Escaping the trap
Making money ... and keeping hold of it
Being creative
Escape is sometimes necessary

Part 3: How to change your career and your life
What do you really want to do?
Entrepreneurship or working for yourself
The Career Change Process
Setting and achieving your goals
Your Challenge ... Your Future

Includes bonus articles on career change, case study of a micro-entrepreneur and the smart person’s guide to quitting the day job.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Writing, Business, Amazon

Kindle Edition

First published April 26, 2008

About the author

Joanna Penn writes non-fiction for authors and is an award-winning, New York Times and USA Today bestselling fiction and memoir author as J.F. Penn. 


She’s also an award-winning podcaster, creative entrepreneur, and international professional speaker. She lives in Bath, England with her husband and two British shorthair cats, and enjoys a nice G&T.


See also Goodreads author's profile as J.F. Penn.

Reviews

[F.R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like all self-help books, it's hard to tell just after reading it how useful this is going to be. Do you end up changing yourself and your life, or do you fall back into familiar patterns with all good intentions squandered? However, I was made to feel positive by this book. I definitely felt more optimistic after reading it than before.

One point that's made is that people have a tendency to over-estimate what they can do in a year and under-estimate what they can do in ten. I'm certainly guilty of that, but am now much more conscious of it. So the proof of the pudding of whether this book is helpful won't be seen in the short term or even on the twentieth of February 2018, instead I'll check in with myself in 2022 and see what's what.


If you get chance, please visit my blog at frjameson.com
LIke my Facebook page
Or follow me on Twitter or Instagram: @frjameson.

[J.F. Penn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my new self-help book now available on Amazon.
I spent 13 years as an IT business consultant and tried many other things along the way. In the depths of misery, I wrote the first incarnation of this book in 2008. I was desperate to understand what was wrong. I wanted to love my work or find something more fulfilling, but I didn’t know how to start.

Joanna PennFour years later, I am now a full-time author-entrepreneur. I write fiction, speak professionally and sell multimedia courses teaching authors about online business. I love what I do every day!

So I wanted to rewrite and re-release this book with updated material in order to share some of what I have learned along the way.

This book is written honestly, from my heart.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

JoAnna Penn's books are like Tarot cards in that they give you guidance, but you still have to take the actions to make it all happen. Fortunately, she's done it and knows what she's talking about and relates the information in a matter-of-fact friendly way that makes you believe you can do it, too.

I really enjoyed this book. It has some helpful hints in it and I like her case study about her own The Creative Penn business. I recommend it, but it is mostly a guide and not a down-in-the-weeds how-to change your career map.

[Sureshakundi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very much a practical book, ever read on career change

This book is a must read for all who aspire for career change ; This book is very practical and down to earth. Author well explained the hard work required and calculated risks to be taken for a successful transition called - career change. That's the real good part of this book ;

[Yazlina Saduri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book compiling fantastic sharing of ideas, insights, tools, resources, emotional bind, experience. I love the book and not ashamed to say this is probably one of the top 3 self help books for me so far. Mostly, I think I like her simple yet thoughtful ways, her aspirations seem similar to mine, so love clicking with her, in all honesty.

" You bought this book because you don’t enjoy your job, it affects the rest of your life and you wanted some help." She nailed it with amazing emphaty.

[Srivatsan V · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting read

A delightful and interesting read where the Author has shared a lot of practical ideas for ppl who loathe their job to do what they are passionate about. Lots of practical suggestions, case studies and useful links shared. After all, life is too short to be wasted on things you don't like.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Joanna Penn! Her approach is no-BS, here’s-what-I-actually-did and gives you solid steps. While I feel like I need a second part, “what’s your author brand,” reading her story is so motivating, realistic, and helpful.

[David Earle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good stuff. I didn't go through the workbook but the discussions on workplace stress were really helpful.

[Elruin Elmsroot · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not that great of a book, just some basic advices and such.

[Marie Segares · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been following Joanna Penn's blog, the Creative Penn, for about a year. As an aspiring writer and blogger, I find her blog very informative and well written. When she offered her readers the opportunity to receive an e-review copy of How to Love Your Job or Find A New One back in July, I jumped at the chance to read one of her books for free. I'm glad to say that the book exceeded my expectations.

The book is aimed at readers who are feeling dissatisfied with their career trajectories and jobs, and those who may even be outside of the "right" field for them. The book is organized into three main parts. In I Hate My Job, Joanna encourages self-exploration to determine what you are seeking in a job/career and also highlights the negative physical and psychological consequences of continued unhappiness and stress at work. In How to Improve Your Current Situation, Joanna explores ways to improve your experience in your current job, organization, and/or industry, and provides suggestions for including creativity in your life and managing your personal finances. In How to Change Your Career and Your Life, Joanna outlines a series of self-exploratory steps to determine what type of work would make you happy and then creates a structure for goal-setting so that you can get there. The book is peppered with thought-provoking quotes from a variety of sources, case studies from Joanna's own journey from consultant to entrepreneur, and practical actions to help move you forward towards your ultimate end goal.

The book maintains a positive tone and encourages action rather than despair. Joanna shares her own failures and what she learned from them, and makes clear that the road isn't going to be easy, but it will be well worth it. Joanna links to supplementary materials, including workbooks, interviews, and podcasts, making the most of the e-book/electronic media format. Like most self-help books, the advice is common sensical, but it is organized in a way to discourage inertia and encourage creative, positive change. And, unlike many self-published books that I've read, the book is well written and formatted, and has obviously been edited.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone feeling like they may have made the wrong choices in their work life and who is looking for a structure for changing careers. The book is geared towards "creative types," but is applicable to anyone in that situation. As with most self-help books, you will get more value out of it if you invest time in the activities included in the book rather than just read it through.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though I do love my current job - writer - I wanted to see what Joanna had to say on this subject. I've had several jobs, including 'retirement'. Some I liked, some I didn't, so was wondering - - would this have helped me? Yes. Will it help me make changes even now? Yes.

The first edition was written in 2008 when Joanna was stuck in an IT job, hated it, and decided to do something about it. She documented the path she followed as first she took steps to make her current job bearable, even likable, tried several times to break away, and then finally settled into her current career.

Part 1 of her book helps you to figure out what parts of your job you dislike, and adds some chilling statistics on the effects of that bad job on your health.
Part 2 contains suggestions on how to how to improve your current experience. She suggests ways to develop yourself further, to be more creative, to cope with stress, to adjust your perceptions and expectations to make less demands on yourself, and finally to adjust your spending so that you can save enough for a career change.
Part 3 moves on to finding a new career. She challenges you to think about what you really want to do. Do you want a better job where you are, or just simplify and downsize your work. Do you want to move to a new career, or just accept the status quo for now? What are your dreams, skills, aims and values? Maybe you want to be an entrepreneur. That certainly is one choice, but she adds some pros and cons, suggestions and warnings about this job. We're shown how to set goals and make the change happen. If you do decide to make a change to a new job, she has tips and checklists to help you get there.

The book finishes with a case study - her own process of career change. Included in the book is a link to a free workbook to use as you read, since her hope is that you actually act on what's in here. There's a reading list at the back, as well as excerpts from two interviews she has done on this. In addition, there are numerous quotes, anecdotes, and links sprinkled through the text, to take advantage of the ebook format.

This gets a top recommendation from me, that you read it whether you hate, or love, your current job.

[Graeme Ing · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book will make you think. It will give you enormous hope about how to adjust to life in the corporate grind, or escape it. Step by step, Ms. Penn walks us through the symptoms and underlying causes of why we might not enjoy our current job, and then on to solutions.

She cites many sources for extra reading and every chapter is presented in the form of a worksheet to fill in (and a free workbook is available to download).

There are a lot of ideas in here, a lot of motivational quotes from famous people, and real-life examples of how Ms. Penn herself broke out of the corporate grind to pursue her dream. In the back (of the ebook at least) were several interviews with the author. Clearly she speaks from a position of authority.

Great read.

[J.A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're stuck, or feeling trapped in your job due to bills, you come home tired and grumpy, and know that you will explode if someone needs one more thing from you, this book is for you.

Joanna Penn turned her life and career around, one step at a time, and she shares this process with you. Whether you want a career change, or interested in being happy in your current job, she provides tools that are realistic and applicable that she used when leaving the corporate world and beginning her own business.

I have had times in my life that I knew what I wanted, but not how to get there. This book is different from others because there is a plan to achieve the changes.

[Kevin McLaughlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a solid book, full of solid advice. I found myself picking and choosing which chapters to delve into, as some of them were more specific to MY scenario than others. But then, that's not really a bad thing... If means the book has enough breadth to give some advice to anyone.

I'd *actually* love to see Joanna write one that's a bit more specific for people leaving their old career for the writing career, like she did. ;) But this book is more broad, less focused, and therefore actually going to be MORE effective for more people. Which is a good thing.

Give it a read - it's not a thick book, and worth the time!

[Kate M. Colby · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this at a time in my life where I really needed its advice. While it won't solve all your problems (not that it promises to do so), Penn's book is a great helping of motivation and an even better reminder that you are not alone. My favorite aspect is that she included multiple facts and figures about employment, which really drove home the points she made about health, income, and personal achievement. If I weren't already so inspired to chase my dream of becoming a full-time author, I definitely was after reading this.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of basic information that I did already know but nicely set out with relatable quotes on the page.
Not particularly relevant to me as it was more focussed towards office jobs which is not my chosen career path nor can I see myself in one of those jobs.
Did get me to think about my job in more depth. I did really like the idea of trying to be more creative in your job, which is something that I will try an incorporate.

[Walberto Zapata · Rating 5 out of 5]

Career Change

This book is very helpful and informative when it comes to changing your career and becoming an entrepreneur. You have to set goals that you want to accomplish in your life and believe in yourself.

[Susan Humphrey · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book was very predictable and I abandoned about a 1/3 through.

[Autumn Bartels · Rating 2 out of 5]

this was a wast

[Lans · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great first read for anyone considering a career change.

[L.E. Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Encouraging book

I read this a while back and never reviewed it! If you've ever considered striking out on your own in business, read this book.

[James Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inspirational and practical advice for anyone wanting to work for themselves or change careers.