We all can get so caught up in our day to day lives that when a recruiter calls you to tell you about a new opportunity, you can give in to your knee jerk reaction to say “I’m not interested.” But wait. You haven’t stopped to ask yourself in ages if you’re actually happy at work. You’re so used to going through the motions, and have gotten so comfortable in your role, that you haven’t even wondered “what else is out there.” And the idea of interviewing, ugh, that’s reason enough to stay put. However, when the job market is this hot, and there are so many career changing opportunities right here in the Twin Cities, we’d urge you to ask yourself the question, “What am I missing right now, what am I really looking for in my career, and do I have it right now?”
Sunday Scaries
Maybe you haven’t heard this phenomenon referenced in quite this way, but the “Sunday Scaries” is the anxiety that builds in your gut when you start thinking about your week ahead on Sunday night. It’s completely normal to wonder “how you’re going to get it all done,” but you’re able to ultimately summon the fortitude to pull yourself up by your bootstraps and know that you’ll make it happen. If you’re struggling to motivate yourself to go to work on Monday, and this is happening every Sunday night, you might not be as happy as you think you are.
I’ve been here for three or four years, will I still be doing the same job in the next three?
Comfortable. It’s such a lovely word when you’re describing your favorite pair of shoes, go-to restaurant or favorite chair. However, when you’re talking about your career, you should be a little worried if that’s what you think best describes where you’re at. When it comes to your career, if you’re comfortable, that likely means that you’re not being challenged, not pushing your boundaries, not pro-actively stepping outside of your comfort zone to expose yourself to new experiences, and while slow and steady can win the race, it can also lull you into a sense of complacency that encourages you to go with the flow. Your boss loves you because you’re dependable and don’t ask for anything special, and you feel pretty good about yourself because you’ve mastered your job. While mastering your job seems like the ultimate goal, there can be something thrilling about knowing that you’re in a company or role that will never truly be mastered. And while your boss loves you, he or she probably isn’t thinking about you for a new role when something comes along that might pique your interest because you’re so good at your job, and you seem to like it. Oh, and adopting new skills, you probably don’t need them because you’ve got everything you need to do this job really, really well. Yikes. Are you “Comfortable?”
3%
It’s a great metric when you’re talking about the percentage your sales improved this month, or the turnover rate on your team year over year, but if that’s what your raise will be this year, how do you get excited about that? Maybe you’re okay with it because you’re comfortable, maybe it’s acceptable because you feel like you’re fairly compensated, or maybe you’re not okay with it but feel like there’s nothing you can do about it. However, when you switch jobs in a good economy with low unemployment, on average you can expect to ask for and receive a ten percent raise, according to this Forbes.com article. We would never advise someone to leave a job solely for more money, but if you’ve been at your company for a decade, and have been happy with an industry average raise year after year, you might want to keep that ten percent figure in mind the next time you are presented with a potentially interesting role.
I love my boss, but. . .
Whatever you’re filling the end of that sentence with should give you an area to reflect on. If you don’t take the time to reflect often about your career, job, boss, dreams, aspirations and life goals, there is no time like the present. While the exercise can feel uncomfortable, even painful, there are huge takeaways for you as a result of taking the time to do a little introspective contemplation. You are the architect of your life, you have the power to change it, improve it and tap into what energizes you while paying the bills. It takes effort to put a plan together, get comfortable changing it when it’s not working, and create your own success. . . but it can be done. We help candidates do it every day.
If you haven’t checked in with yourself in awhile in terms of where you’re at in your career, where you’ve been and where you want to go, we are working on career changing opportunities right now that would inspire almost anyone to consider something new.