Ten signs that it could be time for a career change
By Sue Seawright - Career Consultant, Careers By Design (Part of the Unified Planning Group) - Victorian Division President – AACC
We all have different expectations of career. Our specific core values, needs and wants represent our criteria for measuring our degree of happiness. Understanding what we want and how a job fits into our career strategy is perhaps the greatest challenge we each face. Nevertheless there are some common signs that it is time to take stock, and perhaps time to move on:
- You have stopped learning…anything. You feel like your skills are in a time warp and you can’t find ways to address this.
- You are not getting any performance feedback or discussion and this has not taken place for a long time.
- Development opportunities are promised but never delivered. Professional development does not appear to be valued in this organisation.
- The skills you are using for 80% of the time are not skills that you enjoy using. You wonder what it would be like to be energised and excited by the tasks you perform each day.
- You cannot see how this job is contributing to the achievement of your career objectives, short or long-term.
- You have no life outside of work and your employer does not perceive this as an issue.
- You cannot see how this job is adding meaning to your life. You wonder whether this is all there is in life.
- You are experiencing some form of harassment, unfair discrimination or victimisation. The organisation will not treat your complaint seriously or there is no one to talk to who will listen.
- You feel that your workplace is making you overly stressed, fatigued or ill.
- You feel undervalued for the contribution that you make to the organisation and that your self-confidence has hit an all time low.
What to do when you are ticking the items on this list? Begin by taking the following steps:
- Establish what the important issues are for you in relation to career, right now, at this point in time. Include career and life goals for the next 12 to 36 months, skills that you want to use and develop, the values that are important to you, the working conditions that would support you in achieving your goals.
- Identify specific details of the gap between what you are doing now and where you would like to be in the next 12 to 36 months. What is missing and what specifically would you ask for to improve your situation at this moment?
- Initiate a discussion that is constructive and open with your direct supervisor or manager about the gap that you need to close. Take responsibility for the gap, do not blame the manager or the organisation, but ask for support and guidance in how best to manage yourself in the situation. Ask for what you seek, being as specific as possible. It is hard for anyone to help you when you are vague or too broad.
- Embrace the support that is offered or consider moving on if no support is forthcoming. But give your current organisation the opportunity to work with you on your career issues before you decide to step outside.
- If you are struggling with identifying your career and life goals and the steps towards them, consider seeking assistance from your HR department or a career counsellor. This will assist to develop your ongoing career management skills which are these days essential for each of us to thrive in the workplace.
Back to Career and Job Search Tips