When Do You Need to Change Jobs?

Posted on March 18, 2013 by Jayde Gilmore, One of Thousands of Career Coaches on Noomii.

I worked for years at a job I hated. Oh, I liked my coworkers, the pay was enough to cover my bills, and I generally liked my career, but I didn’t like the industry, I was bored, the company was struggling so lots of people were getting laid off… just, ugh. I’d wake up in the morning and be disappointed that I wasn’t too sick to go in, and as I walked from my car to my desk I could feel my shoulders get heavier and heavier and…

…and you know what? I kept going back. I’m not sure what kept me there, to be honest. Habit, most likely. Probably some of my friends. That’s really about it.

I’d decided that I needed to make a change, and I was taking some very small steps towards it, but nothing I’d really committed to. I had no real timelines, just a vague “well, I’ll get some training and see what happens from there.”

Five months into my training program, I was laid off. To my surprise, I had a brief (we’re talking maybe two minutes here) moment of panic after I’d loaded my desk supplies into my car about income, but after that – AAAAaaaaahhhhhh, relief! I didn’t have to go back, ever! I couldn’t believe how much lighter I felt! And then I couldn’t figure out why I waited for them to decide for me!

In some cases, need for a change is obvious – oooh, you got laid off! Must get a new job NOW! – but often, it’s a slow piling on, straw by straw, until one day you realize you’re miserable and you don’t know how you got there.

The important thing is to recognize when and why you’re unhappy. Not quite as easy as it sounds, at least not the “why” part. Are you in a career that’s not right for you? Is the problem your employer? Are you bored at work?

When you notice you’re feeling especially unhappy, consider what the trigger is. If it’s your job, are you more unhappy right after you talk to your boss? Do a particular task? Interact with coworkers? You might also try running through the various elements of whatever it is that is making you unhappy and see if one or another of them makes you feel better or worse. Check in with your body, too – additional stress may reveal itself in a tightness in your shoulders, or an upset stomach, or a multitude of ways.

Then consider, is that enough to make a change? What change do you need? If you figure out that you love your job and your employer and your industry, but your immediate supervisor is making you unhappy, can you get a transfer to another department? Can you somehow shift your perspective to accept that your boss is a necessary evil to being in a job you love? Maybe the real problem is that your job requires crazy overtime and you don’t get to spend enough time with your family?

Once you’ve figured out what is really making you unhappy, you can identify what change needs to be made, and when, and start an action plan to achieve that change.