Find your direction first.

Typical situations

• The job is okay, but it no longer fits.

  You keep things running, but the work no longer feels like yours. That is no reason to panic. It is a signal to take a closer look.

• You have many ideas and no decision.

  Nursing, a trade, working with people, working on a computer: Everything sounds possible. Without your own criteria, you just go round in circles.

• You know exactly what you no longer want.

  Shift work, always being reachable, physical strain. Saying no is a good start. The yes comes step by step.

What orientation really means

Orientation is not choosing an occupation from a catalog. It starts with three questions that you answer in this order: What can I do? What do I want? What fits my life?

What you can do

What you can do is not only what is on your certificate. It includes routines you master in your sleep, dealing with difficult customers, responsibility for money, people or material, and everything you taught yourself on the side. Much of this is worth just as much in other jobs.

What you want

This is about meaning, time, money and environment. Do you want more contact with people or less? Do you need predictable working hours? What is the lowest income you can accept? If you don’t clarify this, you will later look for jobs that look good on paper and don’t work in daily life.

What your daily life allows

Time for learning, income during the change, family, commute. These conditions help decide which paths are realistic. They are not an obstacle, they are your filter.

Three mistakes that slow down a fresh start

1. Reading job ads right away. Ads describe what employers want. They tell you nothing about what fits you. If you start looking too early, it is easy to jump from ad to ad without knowing what you are looking for.
2. Changing everything at once. Quitting, moving, retraining (Umschulung), all in one month. A fresh start can handle interim steps: a conversation, a trial day (Probetag), a course alongside your job.
3. Looking only at qualifications. Not every job requires a specific qualification. You clarify which requirements are really mandatory in the topic Preparation.

How to go about it

You don’t need a week of vacation or a personality test. Half an hour and a sheet of paper are enough to start.

1. Take stock: Write down three things you do well and enjoy. And three that you never want to do again.
2. Wish list: Write down what should change: working hours, people, tasks, meaning, money. Sort by importance.
3. Explore two fields of work: Choose two directions that fit your list and read up on everyday work there.
4. Talk to someone: Someone who already works in the job. Someone who does the job can describe the everyday work that no ad shows.

Your next steps

1. Enter your job above and answer two questions. Then you see occupations that suit you.
2. Download the checklist “My plan: Orientation” and fill it in at your own pace.

Download the matching checklist (PDF in German)