“If only I had…”: Two out of three people regret their career choice

Do you regret your professional decisions and your career path? Two out of three people do. Discover what we regret most often—and how you can turn that regret into opportunity.

Regret seems to have been banished from the professional sphere today. The modern career-driven individual—constantly optimized, well-connected, and flexible—does not admit to regretting professional decisions. Instead, they prefer to say, “I learned from it,” or “It got me to where I am today.” To express regret sounds too heavy, too definitive—almost like a personal flaw one would have to acknowledge in oneself.

Yet every professional decision carries the potential that, at some point, we might look back on it with a sigh or a slight shake of the head. After all, let’s be honest: there is so much one could come to regret. Perhaps a career change or a new job that one ultimately didn’t dare to pursue. A salary negotiation where one gambled a bit too high. Or a project for which one should have truly fought—or into which one should have really poured one’s all.

And then there is that other kind of regret—the regret of having done too much. The overtime hours that left one a little more exhausted each week. The vacation taken too late. Or those evenings spent prioritizing a laptop over one’s family, in the hope of making it up to them “later.”

From salary to career choices: What employees around the world regret the most

A survey by Resume Now sheds light on just how widespread professional regret—or second thoughts about one’s chosen career path—truly is. The study surveyed 1,000 employees from the U.S., the U.K., France, and Germany to identify the most common regrets people have regarding their professional lives. The findings are revealing—and show that many of us grapple with the same issues:

• 66% of participants stated that they regret at least one professional decision.
• 60% regret never having asked for a pay raise.
• 59 % regretting not having given priority to work-life balance.
• 58 % wished they hadn’t stayed in an unsatisfying job for so long.
• Likewise, 58% wish they had negotiated better when starting their careers.
• 50 % even regret having chosen the wrong career path.

The results are revealing – and show that many of us struggle with the same issues. But what exactly lies behind this?

In our jobs, what we regret most is what we didn’t do.

Professional regret can be traced back to one central pattern: missed opportunities. It stems from the things we did not do—whether out of fear, uncertainty, or even complacency. The most common reasons are:

1. Not having asked for a salary increase (60%): Many of us hesitate to talk about money with our superiors. The fear of rejection—or the feeling that we aren’t contributing enough to justify higher pay—leads us to remain silent.
2. Failing to prioritize work-life balance (59%): We work ourselves to the point of exhaustion, sacrificing free time, family, and rest for the sake of deadlines and projects that, in hindsight, weren’t actually that important. In the end, the question remains: What was it all for?
3. Having stayed in an unhappy job for too long (58%): The perceived security of a steady position and a decent salary often keeps people from taking a leap into the unknown. Yet, all too frequently, we realize too late that this security has come at a high price—paid for with our time, our energy, and, at times, our health.
4. Failing to negotiate salary at the start of a job (58%): Those just beginning their careers, in particular, tend to sell themselves short—often prioritizing simply securing the position above all else. However, this initial modesty proves costly over the years, as subsequent salary increases remain small and insignificant.
5. Failing to negotiate salary at the start of a job (58%): Those just beginning their careers, in particular, tend to sell themselves short—often prioritizing simply securing the position above everything else. However, this initial modesty proves costly over the years, as subsequent salary increases remain small and insignificant.

When does professional regret reach its peak?

It is particularly striking that the nature of regret shifts over the course of one’s professional life. According to the survey, such regrets peak mid-career: 70% of millennials (born between 1981 and 1996) and 69% of Generation X (born between 1965 and 1980) regret at least one decision. Many harbor high expectations for their careers—seeking purpose, flexibility, and financial success. When these expectations go unmet, something is left missing.

Generation Z (born after 1997) also proves to be ambitious, yet pragmatic: two-thirds of this age group already regret not having given enough space to work-life balance—and are actively taking steps to change that.

What does professional regret feel like?

Regret is more of a quiet companion. It’s the soft sigh on a Sunday evening, as the work week approaches like a dark shadow. It’s the glance toward your children, already fast asleep, while you’re still staring at your laptop. Or the sigh that escapes you when you think back to your last pay raise—which, naturally, turned out to be far too meager.

What we can learn from remorse

The good news is that regret doesn’t have to be a constant companion. It can also motivate us to do things differently—starting today, not tomorrow. After all, change begins with small but concrete steps. Here are a few approaches for how you can turn your regret into something positive:

• Regularly question your professional decisions: Are you satisfied with your current job? Does your career feel right to you? Do you enjoy going to work, and do you feel motivated when you do?
• Learn to stand up for yourself: whether it concerns your salary, working hours, or opportunities for development—the better you understand your own worth, the more effectively you will be able to advocate for yourself.
• Dare to take risks: according to the study, more people regret having stayed in a job (58%) than regret having quit one (38%).
• Set clear priorities: what is truly important to you? The more your decisions align with your values, the less you will question them later on.

Sure, feeling remorse is uncomfortable and sometimes painful, but it can also be a gift. It shows us where we can grow, where we should be braver, and where we need to make a change.

Perhaps now is the time to set off on a new path—a path where you no longer ask yourself, “What if?” Because one thing is certain: it is never too late to change direction and turn regret into an opportunity.

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