Is change in the air?
By Jim Bright | smh.com.au | 14 November
Moving to a new job can have its perils but often works out better in the long run, writes Jim Bright.
Should you stay in your current job or should you go? Have you ever had the thought: "How did I become this person? How did I get to this place in my life?" If you have, you are not alone but that doesn't make it any less unnerving.
All too often we become victims of slow shift – the cumulative impact of many imperceptible influences on our lives and careers.
We do our jobs day in and day out, unaware we are slowly stagnating or drifting further from our passions and becoming increasingly disengaged.
Often, the recognition that it is time to move jobs is belated and by the time it fully sinks in, people may report feeling trapped or that they have left it too late.
About 90 per cent of my private clients express regrets about delaying a career decision; only about 10 per cent say they acted impetuously.
It is a stark reminder that making the decision to stay in a role or to go is often not an easy one. It involves recognising your situation, understanding the financial implications, challenging your thinking patterns, and planning and executing the move.
Recognising your situation requires you to consider your motivations, your transferable skills, your interests as well as your personal circumstances.
There are many questions worth considering on a regular basis to avoid the trap of slow shift. Vocational psychologist Dr Robert Pryor has identified 13 basic work rewards that are useful to gauge how your job measures up.
They are independence, co-workers, skill development, creativity, money, lifestyle, status, opportunities to help others, job security, opportunities to manage, work-life balance, being physically active and working in a safe workplace.
Some questions to ask include: Do you like your job? Is it as secure as you can expect? Does it provide enough opportunities for skill development?
Does it pay sufficiently well? Do you have sufficient personal control over how you work? Do you like your colleagues? Are there opportunities to grow? Is it a safe and pleasant place to work?
For most people, money is a very real concern. Whether it is worries about meeting the credit card, rent or mortgage payments, or how a move will impact on your superannuation, bonus or share schemes, thinking through and getting appropriate advice is a sensible approach.
Beware the trap of linking money to career progression to the exclusion of other concerns – too often I hear people saying, "I don't want to go backwards", which is really saying the purpose of life is simply to pile up the biggest amount of cash that you can.
Like all good games, careers are played out in the head as much as in the workplace. Deciding to leave is often an agonising decision and this can encourage irrational thinking.
We impose limits on what we believe we can do, what we think will happen, or we deliberately refuse to consider some possibilities. Some people will ruminate on decisions to no positive effect.
Recognising and dealing with this thinking is an important step in making the right career choice. To ensure you are best placed to make good career decisions, having up-to-date and comprehensive information is vital.
This means knowing where the opportunities may be and understanding the pathways and gateways associated with particular career options.
Sometimes this information is publicly available and there is a plethora of government websites containing all sorts of career and labour market information.
However, do not underestimate the value of networking as a source of up-to-date and sometimes insider knowledge.
Whether you ultimately stay or go, you need to ensure the next phase in your career is successful by maintaining ties, continuing with networking and avoiding bridge burning.
Planning for the move in this way will increase the chances that it will proceed smoothly. Whatever situation you are in, there are always possibilities to change it and much of that comes down to changing the way you think.
Jim Bright is professor of career education and development at ACU National and a partner at Bright and Associates, a career management consultancy. He is the author of Should I Stay or Should I Go: How to Make that Crucial Job Move Decision. Published by Prentice Hall.
brightside@jimbright.com.
The stay or go quiz
Rate the statements below using the following scale: 1 = completely disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = neither disagree nor agree, 4 = agree, 5 = completely agree.
- My job is not at risk.
- I will be promoted in the next year.
- I expect to learn a lot of new skills over the next year.
- I like my management team.
- I like my colleagues.
- I am happy in my work.
- There are few opportunities elsewhere for people like me.
- I can live on the money that I earn.
- My work is not overly interfering with the rest of my life.
- The work that I do is of interest to me.
Add up your ratings to get an overall score.
Scores 10-20: Consider leaving or addressing your dissatisfaction — a careers counsellor can help.
21-30: You may be disengaged generally or there could be specific issues at work you need to address or weigh up in deciding to stay or go. Again, professional help might be useful.
31-40: You appear generally positive about work; consider staying.
41-50: Can I have your job? Are you ready to move on? Tell us at mycareer.com.au/vote.
First published by Smh.com.au on November 14 2009
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