Making a career change is quite common. Whether your values, goals, health or circumstances in life have changed, there are plenty of reasons why your current career is no longer a good fit for your needs.

People who work full time spend about 2000 hours a year at work. If you're going to spent that much time at something, it should be something that meets your needs and fits with your values

10 things you need to know and consider before making a career change:

1. Your interests

Ensuring a job is a good fit with your interests will help you to be happy over the long term in your new chosen career. A career personality test is one way to find a job that's a good fit.

2. Your aptitudes

Choosing a career that requires skills that do not come naturally to you may mean you will struggle with day to day tasks and have difficulty achieving success in your career.

3. Your values

A mismatch between your job and your values is the quickest road to burnout. Ensure that your new career fits with your own work values before committing to the job.

4. Requirements to get hired

Understand exactly what employers are looking for in new employees. If you are missing some of the major skills or experience required to get hired in your new job, find a way to develop those areas.

5. Day to day tasks done on the job

Sometimes a job is not quite what you think it is. Most jobs have tasks that are done behind the scenes that you wouldn't know about unless you researched the job in detail. The best way to find out this kind of information is to do an informational interview with someone who already does that type of job you are considering.

6. Typical work environment

Determine whether you would be sitting at a desk all day, out in the community meeting with clients or working outside. Will you be working independently or as a part of a team? Depending upon your work preferences, some work environments will be a better fit for you than others.

7. Physical requirements of the job

This information is particularly important if you have any health concerns. Does the job require repetitive activities, or heavy lifting. These requirements may be a cause for concern if you have injuries or other health issues that you must take into account when making a career change.

8. Salary

What is the typical starting salary in your new field of work? What do people who have been working in the field for several years typically make? Ensure salaries in your new chosen field meet your needs and expectations.

9. Labor market

Are employers hiring people in your new field? Will you need to commute or move to realistically expect to find work in your field, and is that acceptable to you?

10. Long term outlook

What kinds of jobs are people who have been in the field for several years doing? Are there opportunities for promotion and advancement that fit with your needs?

It does take some work to find this information. Considering the fact that a person who works full time typically spends about 2000 hours a year at work, it's wise to do some good research first to ensure you spend your 2000 hours doing something that is rewarding and meets all of your needs.

Do you want to find a job that you love?

Paul D. Tieger and Barbara Barron-Tieger can help to get you well on your way to choosing a career that is a great fit with your personality with their book Do What You Are - Discover the Perfect Career for You Through the Secrets of Personality Type.

When it comes to work, few people actually do what they enjoy most. People often choose a job without a lot of information. In the past, your career decisions may have been highly influenced by pressure from your family, other people's assumptions about you, or social expectations. You may have chosen the job that happened to be available at the time, or perhaps you pursued whatever career the media was touting as the hot job of the moment.

The best way to make career choices that will meet your long term needs, is to silence the noise and expectations of others, and choose one that meets your own expectations and matches your own personality. That means you'll need to do a little work to get to know yourself and how your personality fits with different career options.

Do What You Are can help you to gain the self knowledge that's needed to make a smart career choice.

The book is based on the personality profiles described in the Meyers Briggs personality test (formally known as the Meyers Briggs Type Indicator or MBTI for short). There are plenty of career placement tests out there. I've done a lot of them, and I've used a lot of them with my clients. The MBTI is one assessment I really like. It's a well respected assessment which is based on Carl Jung's theories, and developed through vast amounts of objective scientific testing and volumes of psychological research.

In Do What You Are, the section "Unlocking the Secrets of Your Personality" will guide you through the concepts behind the Meyers Briggs personality profile and help you to assess which of the 16 personality types matches your own personality. Once you know whether you are an ENFJ (that's me!) or an ISTP, or any of the other 14 personality types, then you can dive into the core of the book, which is the "Getting to Work" section. Here you'll find in-depth profiles for each of the 16 personality types. You'll get suggestions for occupations that are typically a good with each personality type, and explanations about why certain careers typically do or do not fit with certain personality traits.

My only caveat about this book is that, ideally, to determine your MBTI personality type, the test would be administered and interpreted for you by a trained professional who can help you to understand and use the information to your best advantage. However, not everyone has access to this type of professional guidance, and for anyone who wants to develop better self knowledge related to career choices, but is not able to work with a trained professional, Do What You Are is a wonderful guide.

If you are serious about making a career choice that is a great fit with your personality, this book will be a great addition to your library.