It's more than Monday morning blues. You're listless on the job, lacking focus in your work. Irritated by telephone calls . . . vexed by co-workers . . . haunted by the evil eye of your bottom-lining boss . . . you feel trapped in the confines of your current career. One more meeting and you know you'll go mad. You're prepared to do anything, anything to escape from this suffocating job!

Ah, but timing is everything, and caution is key. Because whether you're considering a traditional transition or a leap onto the bull (or bear) of e-business, a career change calls for cunning and ingenuity.

The First Clues

One of the toughest parts about making the transition to a new job is knowing when to leave your current position. For Phillip, the realization hit him like a hammer one day as he led a high school science class. After 15 years of teaching, he suddenly had an overwhelming sense that he couldn't take it anymore. "I felt like I was going to hit someone," he confesses. "I was afraid I'd lose control and yell at the students." Phillip followed the message of his pounding heart and retired from teaching. Then he sought career counseling to help him determine a new direction.

Phillip was lucky. His conscience spoke to him, loud and clear. For others, the clues to an impending career crisis are not so easy to deduce.

Telltale signs of deep discontent include lack of energy, difficulty concentrating, and feeling lost or useless in the organization. More obvious signs often come not from within, but from the employer or work environment itself. Massive layoffs. Sinking stock. A shakeup of top management. Some careerists take heed when they see indicators like these, but unfortunately, most people tend toward denial.

Kyle suspected his job-transition time was at hand after watching two of his three mentors leave the organization. The company had undergone major reengineering, a situation familiar to many workers today. Despite the fallout - and staff casualties - there were enthusiastic promises of employer-sponsored training and other benefits for those who stayed. So Kyle stuck it out. "I stayed against my better judgment," he says in retrospect. "On the surface, it just didn't look like the advancement opportunities would be there."

Too Little, Too Late

Kyle was already experiencing the first stage of his own career dissatisfaction: boredom. "The learning curve for me had really dropped," he explains. "I was coasting." Still, the systems analyst hoped something would happen. "We were told things would change, as employees usually are."

When his company didn't deliver on the promises, however, Kyle took matters into his own hands by independently pursuing - and paying for - his own technical training. If he'd waited for his employer's support he could have saved thousands of dollars, but he would have lost valuable time in his professional development. Finally, he says, the company started to facilitate technical training for its employees. But for Kyle, "it was too little, too late. I was ready to take the next step."

Dump the Career or Just the Job?

A situation like the one Kyle experienced can lead to tremendous disappointment for employees. When the thought of having to do your job makes your heart sink with despair, it can be tough to judge if it's time to can the career or just find a new position.

When Phillip sat down with a career counselor, he was convinced he wanted out of teaching altogether. "I felt I knew it that day," he recounts. "That's what motivated me to give my notice right away." His counselor had administered an interest inventory and helped him explore a variety of career-transition options. But after several sessions, Phillip was still talking about teaching. While he complained about teaching in the high school setting, he was clearly passionate about the art of teaching.

That realization gave some direction to Phillip's career quest. He knew he had to change careers, essentially, because it was clear that returning to work in a different high school - while it would be the easiest thing to do with his experience - would solve nothing. So he started considering the myriad of career options that would make use of his instructional talent in new and innovative ways.

Transition Strategies

For those who come to the conclusion that it's not just the job but the career that's gotta go, the timing couldn't be better (economically speaking, anyway). Unemployment is the lowest it's been in 30 years, job growth is strong, and new opportunities are popping up in all sorts of emerging industries.

No matter what your goals are, though, some standard strategies still apply.

Identify your special talent. Never quit a job outright without carefully considering why you want to leave. Staying in the position can give you the chance to objectively evaluate what you like and don't like about it. Is it the work you hate so much, or is it just where you work?

If you determine that the work you're doing holds no reward or sense of purpose, chances are you have some other special talent waiting to be discovered. Think about what you love to do outside your job. When do you feel most confident and competent?

Find your niche industry. We live in an increasingly service-oriented economy. And identifying your special talent is the key to determining what service you'd most like to provide to the world. Just like building a business, the next step is to decide how you'll provide that service. What unique way will you practice your art? Phillip took his high school teaching experience and turned his sights to new industries like corporate training.

Research target companies. Finally, the part everyone hates almost more than a terrible job - researching companies. Use the library and the Internet. Check out business publications (Fortune, Business Week, Fast Company, etc.) and corporate references like Dun & Bradstreet. Volumes of information are available on large companies, especially those that are publicly held. For smaller outfits, look to community news or the business section of the local paper. And, call your contacts. Until you ask, you never know who knows what about the companies you're considering.