Job Change
If you are seeking a Job Change then here is some valuable guidance taken from an article by Sarah Shearman in The Guardian:
‘Before you start your search for a new job or career, it is important to invest some time “getting to know yourself”, suggests Lis McGuire, “It might seem tricky, uncomfortable or uncertain, but it’s worth doing. You have the answers, you just need to access them. Knowing what you really want will save time, effort, and heartache in the long run.”’
it is not the British way to investigate our own needs first. We can be extremely good at finding out what is needed from us, but rarely is our own agenda our first port of call. This is not your fault. This default setting is a result of being raised within the context of a culturally reserved, northern European, city. Maybe we have just been too flipping cold for half of every year to consider asking ourselves what we want. Perhaps we are too cramped in confined spaces, trying to stay warm, to actually risk expressing what we need? Who knows, but our pervasive Protestant Work Ethics certainly seem to inhibit the luxury of self-examination.
But self-examination is what we need when we seek job change. Someone I was talking with today said ‘If you feel uncomfortable then something is about to change’ and I can subscribe to this, alongside the notion that few of us will choose change unless we are uncomfortable. Which of the aforementioned comes first, whether this is ‘chicken or egg’, we may never know.
What is certain is that if you feel uncomfortable at work you will need to initiate change. Even if it is only to pre-empt change would otherwise be done to you. If you fear work, if you feel flat around your job, if there is no longer even the merest hint of joy in your working day, then its time to have a rethink. As an experienced career coach, I would advise avoiding jumping from the frying pan into the fire. I would advise asking yourself what you want before even beginning to look at what is out there. Make a list of the skills and experiences you will bring to your next role. Note your vulernabiilites in a team and this way you will know what to seek in your next place of work that can complement your strengths. Get to know what values you hold dear regarding your career, then you will know it when you see it in your job change search. Be honest about the envronment in which you will flourish. if you hate a stuffy office then forget re-traiing as a human resource professional. This self examination is a process of elimination. This process of elimination with save you heaps of time.
Self examination and self-honesty before you even look outside at the career landscape will create a clear pathway for you. The chances are that job change might become increasingly necessary with current political manoeuvring. Perhaps its better to put the footwork in now, in order to be prepared? Making the time to explore your internal world will make your job change journey much more concise.
explore here to learn more of career coaching with Rebecca and here for a glimpse into her coaching world.