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If These Signs Seem Familiar, It Might Be Time To Change Your Job

StrategyDriven Professional Development Article |Change Your Job|If These Signs Seem Familiar, It Might Be Time To Change Your JobIt can be difficult to accept that your dream job no longer reflects who you have become as you have got older and grown.

We fasten so much of our personas in our work, and to even consider changing that is extremely difficult.

Acknowledging that things are no longer working is difficult, but staying in a negative place that makes you feel less than great can be even worse.

Most people do not have a career path that is perfect or even linear. We all have times when it seems unfocused and unclear, with no real sense of where we will be in the next year or two.

Here, we look at some signs that you might just be ready to move on and find something else.

You are no longer engaged

If you have halted or reduced spending your discretionary work time doing things that may strengthen your work performance or other elements of your company, such as working on a shared project or a fundraiser supported by your company, you may not be as interested in your job as you once were.

Everything feels routine and boring

Routine work consists of simply going through the motions, with tasks running on cruise control. Working on a new project that once excited you but has now lost its emotional luster is an example. If you dislike routine work, a job change may be in order. You need a job that excites you – maybe teaching with Teach for America jobs, for example – no two days will ever be the same in that line of work.

Your colleagues are outperforming you

If your coworkers are getting more in terms of recognition and praise from your boss, or are standing out from you much more than they used to, it can be understandably discouraging. If you feel like you are not putting in the effort to get praised or your hard work is simply going unnoticed or unappreciated, it may be a sign that a change is in order.

You are no longer focused on your job

This essentially means that you are spending more time thinking about activities while you are at work than the work itself. This is not unusual, and while you will often have thoughts about activities at home or outside of work, if they become a fixation, you may want to consider changing careers or jobs. This usually occurs when you begin asking a lot of repetitive questions or you begin to find new things hard to understand.

Your progression has halted

When your opportunity to climb up the ranks stops or slows, or you realize that your depth of knowledge or experience is diminishing, it is reasonable to contemplate moving on. If you find yourself reporting to people who were once your colleagues, or even worse, if you hired them to work for you, it is time to move on.

Sometimes we are too near to the signs to notice them, or the signs appear little by little. We all become familiar or complacent with our jobs at some point. If this contentment causes you more discomfort than happiness then it is time to start to think about a change.

4 Things to Look For When Finding Your Dream Job

StrategyDriven Practices for Professionals Article | 4 Things to Look For When Finding Your Dream JobFinding your dream job requires major insight into who you are, first and foremost. Your beliefs, values, desires, and interests all play a role in how you perceive the perfect dream job. While these factors will be different for everyone, there are some universal truths that we’d like to cover. Aside from what sets your soul on fire, finding your dream job is about fulfillment and enjoyment. This article discusses the factors that make dream careers enjoyable and rewarding. Here are four things to look for when finding your dream job.

1. Are the Hours Ideal?

Even if you could get hired to sit in your pajamas eating ice cream, you’d still want to make sure that the hours made sense. Maybe it’s important to make time for family dinner. Perhaps you want to fit a workout in before dark. These preferences will impact how you think about the convenience of your work hours. In all fairness, however, there may not be a perfect situation. The best thing to do for yourself is to consider whether or not you’re settling too much for the hours required. If you find that you are, it’s probably not your dream job, after all.

StrategyDriven Practices for Professionals Article | 4 Things to Look For When Finding Your Dream Job

2. Is the Work Rewarding?

In today’s economy, you might think that settling for aspects of your dream job is the same as getting your dream job in its entirety. This way of thinking is an attempt to make the most of an imperfect situation. Ask yourself if the work you are doing is truly rewarding work, as in, it’s rewarding because it’s EXACTLY what you WANT to be doing. If you want to be a children’s book author, but your job is to spend most of your time writing Amazon reviews, you’re not genuinely working as a writer, at least not the way you think of it. So, if you find that your job is close but no cigar, keep looking.

3. Are You Being Taken Seriously?

One of the most important parts behind finding reward in your dream job is knowing that others at your work appreciate what you bring to the table. You should never go fishing for compliments, but, having a genuine presence and sense of respect from others where you work are two essentials. If you’re asking yourself how long does a background check take because you haven’t heard back, chances are the company isn’t valuing you like you deserve. If your work is dismissed or overshadowed, you may not be working in your dream environment. In cases like these, search for job opportunities that give you the recognition you deserve.

4. Could You Improve the Situation?

Maybe you have found your dream job, and it’s almost everything you could ask for. Ask yourself if these “almost” situations could be improved by changes that you make. For example, let’s say you’ve dreamed of managing an art gallery. Now, you’ve been given the position, but the gallery is two hours away from where you live. You don’t want to commute every day, but you love the job. Could you consider relocating? If you did move closer to work, you’d eliminate the one pitfall of an otherwise perfect job. See if any of your job opportunities could turn into dream jobs with a few changes on your part.

Looking for your dream job is about taking the ideas you’ve created in your mind and finding the opportunities that match them in real life. If you can’t find a perfect match, create one and make flexible changes that bring you closer to landing the job of your dreams.