How To Tell If You Need a Job Change - CareerAlley

How To Tell If You Need a Job Change - CareerAlley We may receive compensation when you click on links to products from our partners. Remembering you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart. Steve Jobs A friend once mused to me about changing jobs. When I asked him why doesnt he just do it, he said he was not sure if it was the right decision. After all, arent we all taught to stick it out and persevere, he questioned. Perhaps things will change? Plus, with the economy being the way it was, it was not exactly an ideal time to be finding a new role. We talked at length over lunch and I thought I would share the results we got out of that conversation. Before we go on, 2 things you need to ask yourself first: 1. Give Yourself a Week Before you give yourself a minor headache over whether to quit or not, first step back and question your motive. For many of us, it might be because of one disagreement with your boss in which case you might want to cool down before giving it more thought. The same is true if you just found out your wife is pregnant, for example, or in my friends case, when he met a high school friend who did better than him. Thinking about major life decisions when your emotions run high is a great recipe for disaster. 2. Whats Your Motive? What if your desire to quit wasnt triggered by one particular emotional situation? Before you go ahead and change your jobs, ask yourself if changing jobs really is the best way to accomplish what you want to achieve. For example, a lot of people I talked to cite meet new people as a reason to change jobs, but is that really the best way to do it? Can you just attend conferences and network? Others intend to seek happiness in switching jobs. Is that really it or is your life just missing other crucial ingredients? Everything checked so far? Great. Here are 3 reasons that I think warrants changing a job: 1. You Are Easily Distracted As a society, we tend to see people who are easily distracted as being unable to concentrate. And we accuse them as having ADHD. But have you seen these people when they are doing something they love, like playing video games or watching a movie? Thats right! They have no problem concentrating! Thats because psychological studies have shown the other side of the distraction coin: if you find yourself easily distracted, it may just mean what you are doing is not engaging you. And not only will you be easily distracted, youll also look forward to every break you can get. Classic symptoms include checking out at exactly when the break starts and checking in right on time. But why is engagement so important? Answer: because engagement is strongly tied to job satisfaction. It doesnt matter if you have great colleagues and great pay. If youre not engaged, youll be miserable. 2. You Cant Talk To Your Boss Its true that job hopping is often the fastest way to a raise, but that can often be resolved if you just talk to your boss. Contrary to popular belief, most bosses are reasonable and if you can show your value as an employee for the amount youre asking, trust me when I say they will be more than happy to offer that to you. Asking for a raise is but one issue that can be resolved by talking to your boss. Other issues include youre not being heard, someones bullying you, youre being underutilized or even if your boss is treating you like dirt. Like a man in a relationship, most times your boss doesnt even realize hes doing something wrong. The real issue arises when your boss is just too busy to talk to you and/or is plain refusing to do so. If thats the case, then perhaps quitting is good choice. 3. You Can Contribute More Somewhere Else The last reason to change jobs is if you can contribute more than you can at your current one. For example, there are only so many things you can do as a clerk even if your boss gives you more responsibility. What if you can contribute as a UN volunteer and save lives? What if you can participate in a national marketing campaign? What if you can be a deep sea diver and researcher? So if you think you can do more good if another role, definitely consider the opportunity. Andrianes Pinantoan is part of the team behind Open Colleges, an Australian online courses provider. When not working, he can be found reading up on psychology. This is a Guest post. If you would like to submit a guest post to CareerAlley, please follow these guest post guidelines. Good luck in your search. Joey Trebif