- October 12, 2018
- Psychology of Personality
- Valieva Olga
Changing a permanent job is always very stressful for a person, even if he is not aware of it. Changes in usual responsibilities, new colleagues, bosses, and having to take a different route every morning - all this awaits each of us after changing jobs. Even if the employee denies his experiences, they still occur at the subconscious level. This is expressed in nervousness, irritability, deterioration in the quality of sleep and, as a result, a person simply may not be able to cope with his new responsibilities.
Should you change jobs if you are in doubt?
According to a 2021 study conducted by the Public Opinion Foundation, a quarter of Russians (25%) are dissatisfied with their jobs.
37% of workers are satisfied with the salary level; accordingly, more than half of the respondents are not satisfied with the level of remuneration. 9% of Russians have two jobs, another 2% have three. The research data is provided by Interfax. If you're among the 25% who are unhappy with their job, it's probably time to look for a new job.
In addition, experts believe that, in addition to general dissatisfaction, there are certain signals that indicate the need to change your place of activity and help you understand whether to change jobs if you are in doubt.
Outgrown
When you came to this company as a young specialist, this place seemed to be the limit of all career dreams. Here you learned a lot, and you practically became close with the team. But the kingdom became too small for ambitious plans, and the excitement of work gave way to routine and routine. Perhaps you’ve just been sitting in one place and it’s time to spread your professional wings for further flight? If you feel that you have reached your ceiling, and the thirst for activity is boiling inside and you want to somehow expand, don’t even think about it - look for a place where you could realize yourself even more.
You feel that your strengths and qualities are not valued
A key sign that you need to change jobs is if you feel that your talents, core abilities, desires, and character strengths are not valuable. People who find themselves in this situation usually either receive criticism or no response at all. If you're in this position, it's worth considering an employer who can recognize your strengths and encourage them. Perhaps you are simply not doing your job, or the general background of your company does not allow you to open up. It happens.
Create your own image of a valuable employee: write posts on professional topics on social networks, appeal to your large or small audience, share your successes and thoughts, work as a podcaster, try freelancing or other promising freelance work. This will help you discover your talents and gain additional experience, as well as show yourself in the right light to a future employer.
Ten situations that force you to make a decision
1. Work that contributes to a bad mood
“How quickly the weekend flies! It's already Sunday. After lunch my mood began to deteriorate thoroughly. It's simple - the hour of reckoning for the rest provided is approaching. In the morning you have to go to work. Even the very thought of this brings me unbearable suffering!
You can’t even imagine the huge number of sufferers who have to go through something like this. There is nothing worse than a profession that makes you sick. No monetary reward will compensate you for the loss of peace of mind. Why this is so is the most important question that you will have to answer honestly.
If you accumulate negative impressions at work, they will have to find a way out. Most likely, it will be at home, with family. This means that a bad mood will accompany you everywhere. The world will turn into hell. Smart people say that man is created for happiness, but where to get it from?
ADVICE. To avoid such a sad result, isn't it better to just change jobs? Reboot yourself in a new positive way.
2. You are not capable of becoming a mirror of the work collective
As an employee, you are an integral part of the company, representing its interests and values. In any case, this is how it should look ideally. What does it mean?
You will have to constantly check your activities with the general production course. Woe to the worker who has not learned this simple truth. But there are also such unpleasant aspects as:
✓low wages; ✓bullying of work colleagues; ✓unfair punishments and dismissal for minor offenses; ✓psychological costs of feedback from the client; ✓a lot of shortcomings regarding social and industrial relations; ✓dissatisfaction with the impossibility of creatively demonstrating one’s extraordinary abilities.
This is not a complete list of possible problems. There are many obstacles to standing up for your favorite (unloved) company, protecting it, and not your own interests.
ADVICE. In the long run, all these costs spell a lot of trouble. It's time to carefully weigh all the pros and cons.
3. The company started having serious problems
Rats are known to be the first to leave a sinking ship. There is an unclear future ahead, but you remain loyal to the company’s management. You don't want to look like a traitor. This, of course, is a manifestation of everyday naivety. You are an ordinary worker. All the high-calorie cream is licked without you. Management has long been insured against future adversity. You are not included in the company's profit. Solid red lights warning of imminent bankruptcy - isn't this a reason to transfer from an unreliable ship to your own little life-saving boat?
ADVICE. Do you want to be left without severance pay and looking for a new job at the most inopportune moment in your life? Do everything on time.
4. The boss decided to make you a “workhorse”
Overtime work for three people, performing unusual functions, emergency work, changing the work schedule. Probably many of us have encountered such blatant lawlessness. Sometimes this practice pays off, but most often it doesn't. Each employer establishes labor relations in its own way. They are often unfair and have destructive goals. For example, your colleague may sit in the smoking room for hours and pretend to be working hard. But you don’t have time to raise your head from the table.
Problems can be resolved through an open conversation with the manager. If the boss has a bad character, it is advisable to show some flexibility in behavior. You should not quit your job without using all available levers of influence on the process.
You envy friends and colleagues who have changed jobs
If a person admires the changes occurring in friends, former colleagues and peers, he receives a strong incentive to change his life. This is because we naturally compete and don’t want to fall behind those we know. If you feel this kind of envy, consider changing jobs.
The right approach to finding a new job is to be aware of market trends and be prepared for changes in advance. Constantly monitor new directions, keep an eye on other opportunities and companies with higher salaries. This way you will have tactics and strategy when moving to a new place of work. This is also good in the sense that the labor market will not turn out to be a “dense forest” for you in the event of layoffs.
Setting a goal
So, you have decided to make changes in your life. Now the goal you are striving for should always be formulated inside. Because sometimes you will be thrown back, doubts, fears will come, “Am I doing everything right” and similar things. At these moments, a clear internal focus will allow you to stay on track.
I remember lying curled up on the bed, and I didn’t want anything, but I knew that I just had to take one small step, then another. I had a clear picture in my head of my life in five years, which I imagined. And I can say that this approach works. My picture of 2021 is 95% the same as the one that I have now realized in my life.
When drawing up a long-term plan, you need to record important intermediate milestones, for example, writing a resume, passing an interview, gaining the necessary experience in the position. Essentially, this is your compass by which you can always compare whether you are moving in the right direction.
You will be tossed around, as if on waves, because some things will be easy and thrown upward, progress can be very fast, and at some point there will be a feeling that you are standing still.
My little advice: to cope with anxiety, do not be afraid to contact various specialists - career consultants who will help you create and prepare a resume, mentors who will help you understand problem areas, psychologists to model and work out alarming situations.
Do you feel scared and repulsed on a Sunday evening?
The melancholy before the start of the work week is familiar to many people. Probably everyone has encountered it at least once. But if you are constantly afraid to return to the workplace, looking for a new one and answering the question of whether to change jobs is an obvious solution.
Ideally, of course, we should feel pleasant anticipation and look forward to a fruitful week on Sunday evenings. A constant state of bliss is unrealistic and even strange. But being happy with your work and not avoiding it is something worth striving for.
1) You always feel tired. Even after a weekend or vacation
Symptoms: You have so much work to do that you constantly feel tired and do not have time to get in shape during the weekend or vacation.
You live with the feeling that you are working too hard, and you have no energy to communicate with loved ones, or to pursue hobbies, or to look for another job. Possible diagnosis: emotional burnout.
Recipe:
- delegate responsibilities
Analyze how many tasks you perform during the day. Maybe you've been working for two people for a while now and haven't noticed it. Think about what tasks you could delegate or cross off your daily to-do list.
- Perform information detox regularly
Try to spend a day without a gadget or Internet access at least once a week. Allow yourself walks, live communication with friends, going to the cinema - and all this without constant interaction with your favorite smartphone or laptop.
- don't forget to plan your vacation
Schedule time for rest in your planner just as carefully as you plan work tasks.
You don't strive for perfection
If you notice that you do not care about the quality of your work, do not take initiative when the team demands it, and even skip business meetings, it’s time to pack your things. Why stay if you don't care? Can you do your job well if it doesn't matter to you and you don't believe in what you do?
Find a job that actually interests you. One where you want to be part of a team or a leader. It is extremely unpleasant to spend 8-9 hours a day in a process that does not interest you. It's boring. Get away from this.
Your manager is not opening your career path
If your manager is consciously or unconsciously preventing you from moving up in your career, you might want to consider moving. Are you not getting an obvious raise? Don't you get a promotion when you ask for it with reason? Are you not being given duties and responsibilities for which you are clearly qualified? Then look for new management and a place of work where your skills will be valued and paid rightfully. But don’t forget to do one important thing - call your manager for a frank conversation and communicate your intentions. This works more often than you think.
You stopped receiving calls
Should you change jobs if you haven't done anything particularly challenging in your current position for six months? The answer is yes.
Without facing challenges, you do not develop critical thinking and solution-finding skills. And this is very important for personal growth, flexible mind and professional development. New work confronts you with new tasks and problems, and, therefore, prevents stagnation. Enter a new environment and you will inevitably need to apply critical thinking skills. Yes, this is a way out of your comfort zone. Yes, it's scary. But this is development, that is, professional growth. And professional growth means new heights and higher income.
New management
After a person gets a job at a new company, it takes him about two to three months to adapt. It is very important to find a common language not only with colleagues, but also with management. Otherwise, the person simply will not pass the probationary period. It is not for nothing that in many banks and serious organizations it is three months.
After the manager takes a closer look at the new employee during the trial period, he will draw conclusions about the advisability of keeping him for a permanent period. It is important to show all your best qualities and make a favorable impression on your superiors.
You hate it when people ask what you do for work.
This is one of the most obvious signs that it’s time to change jobs. We spend at least a third of our lives at work. Should the activity to which you devote so much attention really embarrass you?
Maybe you're not passionate about your job, or maybe it doesn't fit your idea of a good career. Maybe you just don't like her enough to talk about it. Regardless of the reasons and motives, you should avoid activities that you do not want to discuss with others. Of course, there is another reason why you are reticent about your place of work - this is the case when you are involved in the shadow sector of the economy, but these are things of a different order.
Learn to build a personal brand
You need to understand that when you change your profession, you enter a market where there are already many specialists with more experience than you. This is fine. You just have to work hard to make a name for yourself in a new field. Your most important competitive advantages are that you come from a different industry and your life experience. The latter plays a key role. The ability to adapt your past experience to the new reality gives you multiple growth, especially if you come to a young field where you are over 30 years old, and the average age of specialists is 25.
In my work, I practice the 80/20 approach. But it’s not about performance, it’s about focus. I devote most of it to work tasks, and the second to gaining experience, which I lack. I'm looking for niches in which I can develop.
It is important to be proactive - high involvement in work produces positive results. You need to constantly ask yourself the question: “What else can I do? What experience am I missing? Where can I get it? Complete projects that you can be proud of and that you can add to your portfolio. Your activity is directly proportional to your position and salary.
Another competitive advantage is the ability to position yourself at work and show the results of your activities. Don’t sit in the trenches: you’ve done a small project - tell your colleagues, speak at a meeting, just throw a small case with a few sentences into the work chat, discuss with the guys from a related department, ask for advice - perhaps something can be improved or the effect can be enhanced.
In this way, you will be able to develop working acquaintances and at the same time establish yourself on a positive side for the employer. Just remember that if you haven't shared the results of your work, then no one has seen it, and no one except you knows that it was even done.
Your colleagues and co-workers annoy you
Labor strife, infighting and whispering are often relevant for a particular place of work. If you regularly feel irritated about this, this is a big minus. This feeling is humanly understandable. Firstly, it greatly distracts from the work process. Secondly, it spoils relationships between different departments, groups of people, or, for example, you quietly begin to hate the sales manager who is most indignant in the smoking room. Agree, all options do not promise anything good.
Remember that work stress permeates every area of our lives. Many people bring accumulated negativity home and splash it out on their wife, children and cat, spoil relationships with friends and become unreasonably hot-tempered. If you notice this happening to yourself, move away from the source of stress.
Most of your co-workers and bosses are hired from outside.
If you're wondering whether the company will support your growth in the next couple of years, look around: has anyone around you achieved promotion within the team? Or does the company simply hire new managers when the old ones leave?
Think about whether to change jobs if your managers and colleagues do not climb the career ladder, but come and go. Most likely, your prospects in this place are very weak.
Total
- Most importantly: don't be afraid.
Changing jobs is normal, don’t be led by old stereotypes, habits and other people’s opinions. - Listen to yourself.
Decide what exactly you are bored with: the duties themselves and the profession in general, or work in a specific company. - Set yourself a goal.
Be sure to formulate for yourself what exactly you want to achieve. A clear goal is easier to achieve than the fulfillment of ephemeral desires. - Use the tools.
Books, courses, webinars - everything is for you. The main thing is to choose, start and continue practicing. - Invest in yourself.
You need to build a personal brand not only in public positions.
If you're a great developer at a company, people need to know that you
the great one.
Your company is no longer profitable
Everything is very simple here - if your company is experiencing major financial problems, you will also experience them. If a company cannot pay bills and fulfill obligations on time, its poor position will sooner or later affect its employees. Even if a collapse does not occur and you manage to stay afloat, there are almost no prospects for increased salaries and impressive career growth.
In addition, the difficult situation means tightening resources and increasing the burden on staff. In order to reduce costs, the company begins to eliminate some resources: equipment, software, employees, departments, etc. And, most likely, this means that you will have to work “for yourself and for that guy.”
The obvious result of structural or financial problems is also the downsizing of the company. If people are leaving your job due to layoffs, you will probably be one of them sooner or later.
Prepare for any outcome in advance: study promising offers, monitor the market, think through your actions in the event of losing your job. Most likely, you will definitely find the best option and the question of whether to change jobs will not be too painful for you.
Read: 8 Habits of Successful Leaders
