Many of us have experienced this — the wrong job. It’s really no one’s fault, but it’s dawned on you that your work life may be dangerously out of alignment.

Nothing is worse than throwing yourself into work, yet things just seem to go very, very wrong. The trick here? Identifying the problem for what it is (in very short shrift) and acting to make changes. Poor matches do happen. So, let yourself off the hook and avoid a long-term “soul sucking” experience. Remember that “withering on the vine” is not a viable career strategy.

Here are 6 signs that you should be paying attention to:

• You feel lost. Have you had the classic nightmare that you arrive at class, only to find that you’ve not read a single page of the textbook and it is final exam day? This should not be your experience with work during waking hours…