With the economy in a downward spiral and America in the middle of a full scale financial and credit crisis, most people are happy to just have any job, whether or not it's their first choice of career. But just because the Dow has fallen on hard times doesn't mean you need to give up your dreams for the rest of your life. Whether you're unemployed and on hard times or just sick of your tired job and looking for a new career, you have to know what you want to do, and figure out which way you should be going.

Sifting through the boring old jobs to choose a new career isn't as hard as it sounds, by following a few simple tips you too can be happy in your work.

1) Make Sure Leaving is the Right Move: This goes without saying, but sometimes you might be better off at your original job. When there's as big of a recession as we're dealing with now new jobs can be hard to come by, so if you have one right now (which pretty much assumes you weren't working for a bank or a financial services company.) In a better job market I'm inclined to say that if you have the money to back yourself up it's acceptable to resign before you get a new job, but now? It's probably time to hold onto any income stream that you have.

2) You Don't Need to Decide What You Want Right Away: But you do need to decide what you want to do soon. Knowing what you want to do will make your search a lot easier, so start getting yourself organized. What did you go to school for? Is that what you want to do with the rest of your life or is that what you've been doing? I'm a fan of reading up on certain fields to see how it fits your personality. Thinking about going into economics? Check out Freakonomics or Capitalism and Freedom. Wondering what a career in marketing would be like? The Tipping Point is a great way to test your interest. Potential teachers can even glean some understanding from Frank McCourt's Tis, A Memoir. Whatever it is that you want to do, do some research to make sure that you're not leaving one dead end job for another.

3) Once You Decide, Learn Everything You Can: After you've decided on a solid career, it's time to really focus on that as your future. Before you interview make sure you read everything you can get your hands on about the career, especially any text books you might be able to find in a local University Library. As you're studying up on your future career, start applying to any and every job you can find that is even remotely related to the subject. See who gets back to you and who doesn't. Don't accept every interview, but analyze who is getting back to you and who isn't, and how that might relate back to the strength of your resume and cover letter. Discover what it takes to get noticed in your new field through trial and error.

4) Try Going on a Practice Interview. As a corollary to Murphy's Law, it's a well known fact that when you're looking for a job, you'll get interview offers for just about every position you DON'T want, but don't let it discourage you. If you have the time available, it's a good plan to go on at least one practice interview. No matter how many interview's you've been on, every industry has a standard set of interview questions that you need real life experience to be able to answer on the fly. Chances are when it comes time to interview for the jobs you do want, your more experienced competitors will have answers prepared for these interview traps because, no matter what Allen Iverson things, you do need to practice.

5) Know How to Manage Your Offers. It's inevitable, you're never going to be in line for just one job at a time. Decisions can never be that easy, so you have to know how to deal with it. There isn't much I can tell you about the choice, but it's generally going to be deciding between two determining factors: starting salary vs career potential. Going with career potential is usually the good choice long term, but sometimes the short term is more important. Once you've decided what you wanted, the one you want less is probably going to call you first to offer you the job. You don't want to turn them down in case you aren't offered your ideal position, but you also don't want to start working there and then be forced to quit your second day when your dream job comes calling.

The trick is learning how to juggle. When the offer you don't want comes in, be slightly honest. Tell them that you'd like to have a night to think about it as you're mulling over a few offers. Unless the job you do want has told you otherwise about how long it's going to take them to decide, give them a call and be actually honest with them. Tell them you really want to work there but you have another offer, and you don't want to risk remaining unemployed. If nothing else you will get a good hint on where you stand with that employer. Just remember, they need to hire someone just as badly as you need to get hired, so if you're who they're looking for they might drop their search in order to get their first choice on board.

You might be at the end of your rope and thinking that if you don't leave your job, you're going to lose it. We've all been there at some point, and whatever consolation a stranger on the internet can be, I assure you it can get better and it will get better. Once you've decided to change your dead end career and start anew, you're only a few steps away from upward mobility.