- October 12, 2018
- Psychology of Personality
- Valieva Olga
Changing a permanent job is always very stressful for a person, even if he is not aware of it. Changes in usual responsibilities, new colleagues, bosses, and having to take a different route every morning - all this awaits each of us after changing jobs. Even if the employee denies his experiences, they still occur at the subconscious level. This is expressed in nervousness, irritability, deterioration in the quality of sleep and, as a result, a person simply may not be able to cope with his new responsibilities.
Should you change jobs if you are in doubt?
According to a 2021 study conducted by the Public Opinion Foundation, a quarter of Russians (25%) are dissatisfied with their jobs.
37% of workers are satisfied with the salary level; accordingly, more than half of the respondents are not satisfied with the level of remuneration. 9% of Russians have two jobs, another 2% have three. The research data is provided by Interfax. If you're among the 25% who are unhappy with their job, it's probably time to look for a new job. In addition, experts believe that, in addition to general dissatisfaction, there are certain signals that indicate the need to change your place of activity and help you understand whether to change jobs if you are in doubt.
You have stopped developing - and this becomes a problem
When we find comfortable conditions in something - be it work, relationships or study - then there is a high probability that a person will begin to stagnate during such periods.
Avery Roth, a career transition coach, has seen many professionals find their comfort zone and stay there. She said that the longer a professional stagnates, the more money he loses.
“Stagnation causes you to swim in shallow waters and avoid realizing your full potential,” Roth said. “And while you may not see it as much of a threat at the moment, there will come a time when the comfort of your work will turn into boredom.”
Roth warns that the longer you stay in one place, the more energy you will need to re-ignite your desire for self-development. Her advice is simple enough: change careers now to avoid painful experiences in the future.
Damien Birkel, founder of the job search organization Professionals in Transition, echoes Roth's thoughts about stagnation leading to boredom. He also noted that your stagnation may go unnoticed. Birkel said that your boss and your colleagues may already know what is happening to you, since it can be seen from the outside.
You feel that your strengths and qualities are not valued
A key sign that you need to change jobs is if you feel that your talents, core abilities, desires, and character strengths are not valuable. People who find themselves in this situation usually either receive criticism or no response at all. If you're in this position, it's worth considering an employer who can recognize your strengths and encourage them. Perhaps you are simply not doing your job, or the general background of your company does not allow you to open up. It happens.
Create your own image of a valuable employee: write posts on professional topics on social networks, appeal to your large or small audience, share your successes and thoughts, work as a podcaster, try freelancing or other promising freelance work. This will help you discover your talents and gain additional experience, as well as show yourself in the right light to a future employer.
Some areas are suffering, but others are thriving
Now there is a shift in the labor market: not those who helped survive the crisis, but those who will help get out of it are becoming more in demand. Demand will grow for specialists from three categories.
- Business Transformation
: Digital Security, Application Development, Specialized Sales, Marketing and Change Management. - Transportation of things
: logistics and work related to e-commerce. - Helping people
: healthcare, pharmacology, research and development.
If you work in a sector that has been affected and will need time to recover, it may be time to consider a career change. Many companies are hiring right now, so there is a big opportunity for change.
You envy friends and colleagues who have changed jobs
If a person admires the changes occurring in friends, former colleagues and peers, he receives a strong incentive to change his life. This is because we naturally compete and don’t want to fall behind those we know. If you feel this kind of envy, consider changing jobs.
The right approach to finding a new job is to be aware of market trends and be prepared for changes in advance. Constantly monitor new directions, keep an eye on other opportunities and companies with higher salaries. This way you will have tactics and strategy when moving to a new place of work. This is also good in the sense that the labor market will not turn out to be a “dense forest” for you in the event of layoffs.
Communication with colleagues
An important factor of psychological comfort is the presence of common interests with colleagues. After all, communication is most often not limited only to time at work. Colleagues often call each other on work issues on weekends, organize joint outings into nature, and celebrate birthdays in cafes and restaurants. Such communication is a completely normal factor in human society, therefore one cannot show isolation and introversion by refusing to communicate with new colleagues.
Of course, colleagues from the old place of work have already become friends. They are always ready to help (provided that you managed to establish friendly relations with them). But more often than not, after a job change, communication fades away. Psychologists recommend that you never ignore your colleagues from the new office and try to make friends with them too.
If a person is pleasant to talk to, this is a guarantee that he will quickly make friends with new employees. A new job always means a change in team. Even if a person is an excellent specialist and competent in his field, if there is no moral comfort among his colleagues, he will not stay in his place for long. In order to not just painfully sit through your 8-10 hours every day, but to enjoy the activity you perform, you need to try to find a common language with your colleagues. Management always pays attention to the climate a newcomer creates in the team.
Do you feel scared and repulsed on a Sunday evening?
The melancholy before the start of the work week is familiar to many people. Probably everyone has encountered it at least once. But if you are constantly afraid to return to the workplace, looking for a new one and answering the question of whether to change jobs is an obvious solution.
Ideally, of course, we should feel pleasant anticipation and look forward to a fruitful week on Sunday evenings. A constant state of bliss is unrealistic and even strange. But being happy with your work and not avoiding it is something worth striving for.
Features of going to a corporate event
The corporate culture has taken deep roots, and not a single self-respecting company or company can do without organizing a festive evening for its employees on New Year, International Women's Day, Defender of the Fatherland Day, and so on.
A common mistake employees make is drinking too much alcohol. How many careers have been destroyed after such fun corporate events! You need to monitor the amount you drink and not do anything rash. This rule applies to both beginners and fairly experienced employees.
When is it worth changing jobs after an unsuccessful corporate event? In case the person behaved in an extremely indecent manner, blabbed out some important or secret information about figures or reports.
You don't strive for perfection
If you notice that you do not care about the quality of your work, do not take initiative when the team demands it, and even skip business meetings, it’s time to pack your things. Why stay if you don't care? Can you do your job well if it doesn't matter to you and you don't believe in what you do?
Find a job that actually interests you. One where you want to be part of a team or a leader. It is extremely unpleasant to spend 8-9 hours a day in a process that does not interest you. It's boring. Get away from this.
You work in a toxic team
If your colleagues treat you badly, to hell with the team. It may seem like there's nothing wrong with gossiping behind your back or being disrespected. He suffered and went home.
But put it in the context of your entire life. A person spends approximately 100,000 hours at work. This is more than ten years. It is unlikely that you are ready to spend all this time with people who do not value you at all.
Emotional stability at work even affects your health. Happiness Affecting the Workplace Environment and Employees Wellbeing. Therefore, you need to look for like-minded colleagues and employers who care about their employees. Team building, Xbox, and cookies have become part of office culture for a reason.
Lera Yurina, 25 years old. She was an event manager in St. Petersburg and became an English teacher in Shanghai.
At my last job, the boss tested my nervous system for strength. She liked to ask unethical questions, like if I had a boyfriend and when I was going to have children. She was also sure that people remember better when you yell at them. There was no support from colleagues, rather the opposite: in case of troubles with a client or management, they made me out to be the culprit of all the troubles, and themselves as the saviors of the situation.
The only thing left was to either accept it and endure the constant pressure for a salary, or leave. And I left. In two weeks I got ready for Shanghai and flew away to teach English to children. The risks were more than justified: adventures, travel, salary growth. In the warm climate of Shanghai, I became interested in running and even completed my first marathon.
Your manager is not opening your career path
If your manager is consciously or unconsciously preventing you from moving up in your career, you might want to consider moving. Are you not getting an obvious raise? Don't you get a promotion when you ask for it with reason? Are you not being given duties and responsibilities for which you are clearly qualified? Then look for new management and a place of work where your skills will be valued and paid rightfully. But don’t forget to do one important thing - call your manager for a frank conversation and communicate your intentions. This works more often than you think.
Don't you feel an urgent need for change? Still looking for a new job
Christiane Eilers, a career expert at the online resume editor Zety, is convinced that the best time to change jobs is when you don't feel an urgent need for change.
Often, when a person feels pressure to find a new job, Eilers says, they are more likely to accept mediocre offers and lower their expectations of employers in order to get out of their current job.
“Many candidates wake up to this moment,” Eilers said. “They stop developing in their positions. Ultimately, they find themselves in a position where they urgently need to look for a new job.”
Instead of accepting positions that are clearly below your abilities, Eilers encourages professionals to change jobs to challenge themselves. This will ultimately become an investment in your own future.
“People who quickly learn new skills and gain experience in a variety of places and situations are better able to adapt to new jobs in the future,” Eilers said. “Sitting in one place for a long time without any challenge or stimulation will cause you to stop learning and strive for more.”
You stopped receiving calls
Should you change jobs if you haven't done anything particularly challenging in your current position for six months? The answer is yes.
Without facing challenges, you do not develop critical thinking and solution-finding skills. And this is very important for personal growth, flexible mind and professional development. New work confronts you with new tasks and problems, and, therefore, prevents stagnation. Enter a new environment and you will inevitably need to apply critical thinking skills. Yes, this is a way out of your comfort zone. Yes, it's scary. But this is development, that is, professional growth. And professional growth means new heights and higher income.
New management
After a person gets a job at a new company, it takes him about two to three months to adapt. It is very important to find a common language not only with colleagues, but also with management. Otherwise, the person simply will not pass the probationary period. It is not for nothing that in many banks and serious organizations it is three months.
After the manager takes a closer look at the new employee during the trial period, he will draw conclusions about the advisability of keeping him for a permanent period. It is important to show all your best qualities and make a favorable impression on your superiors.
You hate it when people ask what you do for work.
This is one of the most obvious signs that it’s time to change jobs. We spend at least a third of our lives at work. Should the activity to which you devote so much attention really embarrass you?
Maybe you're not passionate about your job, or maybe it doesn't fit your idea of a good career. Maybe you just don't like her enough to talk about it. Regardless of the reasons and motives, you should avoid activities that you do not want to discuss with others. Of course, there is another reason why you are reticent about your place of work - this is the case when you are involved in the shadow sector of the economy, but these are things of a different order.
Are you tired of doing the same thing day after day?
Monotonous work can be enjoyable or calm your nerves. But if this is not your story, routine without creativity will be annoying. There is no need to convince yourself that everything is fine and everyone lives like this. There are repetitive tasks in any activity, but somewhere, shuffling papers turns into an end in itself. If you have a need to create, you won’t be able to deceive yourself endlessly and do things that you don’t see the point in.
Creativity is not only about artists and musicians. Programmers, for example, also consider their profession to be creative: the same technical problem can be implemented in different ways, and an elegant solution requires a non-standard approach.
Yana Chislova, 29 years old. She was a secretary in the State Duma and became a software tester.
My law degree was rather a gift from my mother. After university, I worked as an ambassador for a wine brand, then took courses and became a graphic designer. But it turned out that this kind of creativity works better for me as a hobby. Plus, the printing company closed and I had to look for work again. I strained my legal brain and got a job as a secretary in the State Duma, and meanwhile I was looking for “my” profession.
In a strange way, all my ideas about an ideal job converged in IT: interesting tasks, flexible schedule, good salary and reliable companies that won’t close tomorrow. Then I took an IT course, studied for a year, and at the same time continued to work on government procurement. And then a vacancy appeared, and the offer went to me. The job turned out exactly as I imagined.
Your colleagues and co-workers annoy you
Labor strife, infighting and whispering are often relevant for a particular place of work. If you regularly feel irritated about this, this is a big minus. This feeling is humanly understandable. Firstly, it greatly distracts from the work process. Secondly, it spoils relationships between different departments, groups of people, or, for example, you quietly begin to hate the sales manager who is most indignant in the smoking room. Agree, all options do not promise anything good.
Remember that work stress permeates every area of our lives. Many people bring accumulated negativity home and splash it out on their wife, children and cat, spoil relationships with friends and become unreasonably hot-tempered. If you notice this happening to yourself, move away from the source of stress.
Taking care of your health
In pursuit of high earnings, people often forget about their health. We may stay late at work, eat poorly, constantly snacking on sandwiches or fast food.
Constant overtime, when a person takes work and projects to his home for the weekend, also has a negative impact. If you start periodically checking your mailbox even on vacation and being in touch with management or your employees, then in the future you are guaranteed to have a nervous breakdown. Due to such constant tension, fatigue, bad mood, worries, and lack of sleep will accumulate. Which will result in emotional burnout in the future.
It is extremely important to give yourself rest and completely forget about work!
Scientists have proven that during the day the human body constantly experiences tension and stress. The reason may not even be work at all. When we are young, sleep and one day off are enough to fully restore the body. Now this may take much more time. And if you do not give your body the rest it requires, then serious health problems may arise in the future.
If the body has not received proper rest, then efficiency at work and in everyday life will suffer significantly. This will lead to deterioration in well-being and health.
It is worth seriously thinking about changing your activity if you are constantly required to increase your productivity and are not really given proper rest, both physically and emotionally.
Take your work more lightly, don’t take your boss’s dissatisfaction seriously, don’t take failures and failures to heart. It's just a job that can be easily replaced. What can we say about your health, which you have one for the rest of your life! And it must be protected by removing all negative factors.
Most of your co-workers and bosses are hired from outside.
If you're wondering whether the company will support your growth in the next couple of years, look around: has anyone around you achieved promotion within the team? Or does the company simply hire new managers when the old ones leave?
Think about whether to change jobs if your managers and colleagues do not climb the career ladder, but come and go. Most likely, your prospects in this place are very weak.
You have no room for growth
A low salary at the start is normal. But over time, your value as a specialist increases. It is unfair and wrong when wages do not follow growth.
Or, let’s say you now have a good salary. But at the same time, you know for sure that she will remain like this for a long time. So are your responsibilities. The company is satisfied with the current level, and your growth will not change anything.
Think about whether you want to work in the same status all the time - without a chance for a promotion or new activity. In addition, due to inflation and the increasing cost of living, your good salary will depreciate over time. Therefore, the focus should be on growth, not stability.
A simple example: a secretary’s salary is 50,000 rubles, and an IT intern’s salary is 25,000. It would seem that a secretary earns more, he doesn’t need to study much, which means it’s better to work as one. But after three years, the secretary’s salary will remain the same, and the IT specialist’s will increase to 70,000. After another six years, nothing will change for the secretary, and the IT specialist will receive 120–160 thousand.
Look for a company with a transparent career ladder. You should be aware of what skills an employee of your level, senior specialist, or manager should have. And know what to do to take the manager’s chair in five years. In European companies, it is common practice to regularly reassess skills - employees undergo it every six months or a year. Based on its results, you either get promoted or receive feedback on what skills you need to improve.
Sasha Tumanenko, 30 years old. She was a customs broker and became a QA engineer.
I was a customs broker in a private company - I filed declarations and collaborated with customs. She made good money, but her duties were monotonous. But I wanted to develop in an area where resolving issues does not depend on the mood of other people or the presence of connections. My friend worked as a QA engineer - a specialist responsible for software quality. She talked about how her company takes care of its employees, and this contrasted with my irregular everyday life. I decided to try it. I started reading literature and solving cases.
Then I got a three-month internship at DataArt. The salary at the start was small, but over the five years that I have been in the company, it has grown significantly. I started as a QA intern, then became a Senior QA, then a QA Lead, and now I am a Project Manager. When I test the program and find no errors, my team says: “Customs gave the go-ahead.”
Responsibilities do not correspond to the position
You began to notice that you are being assigned more and more responsibilities, being forced to do work that does not correspond to your position. But you don't get paid for it. It must be performed by people in a higher position, who receive the corresponding salary.
This often happens in companies that want to save money on employees. This can be determined by personnel drain, when people do not stay at work and quit after just a couple of months.
There is a feeling of a “workhorse” that is loaded to the fullest and does not even try to motivate it to do the work in the form of increased pay.
In this kind of work you can often hear: “If you don’t like it, fire me. We can easily find a replacement for you." If you notice such an attitude at your work, then it is better to change it as soon as possible. Since you risk earning emotional burnout, which will lead to complete apathy not only in the work, but also in the everyday sphere of your life.
You can try to talk to your boss and ask for a pay increase. If he doesn’t make any concessions, then it’s time to leave and look for another job!
It's time to go
So how do you know when it's time to change jobs? There are signs that almost unmistakably indicate that you have been overstaying your welcome.
- In the morning you force yourself to get up
- Minutes don't fly, they drag on
- You spend a lot of time chatting in the smoking room or having coffee
- Love Friday more than other days of the week
- Looking back at your colleagues' successes
- Lack of time for family, children and rest
- You are not involved in solving corporate and business problems
- No satisfaction from the money earned
- There are no prospects that resonate with your personal goals
Professional burnout
Professional burnout is similar to emotional burnout, but differs, first of all, in the loss of interest in one’s profession, and not in a specific job.
“If at one far from wonderful moment you realize that you don’t want to learn new things, set goals for yourself and develop as a professional, remember Alice in Wonderland: “You have to run as fast as you can just to stay in place, but to get somewhere.” to get there, you have to run at least twice as fast!” — Stepnova advises.
By refusing professional development, you risk facing a decrease in the level of professionalism and will soon begin to lose to your “competitors” in the industry.
There is a desire, but no determination
Let's imagine a standard situation. The average citizen has been going to the same workshop or office for forty years to perform certain ordinary actions. At home he has one team, but at work - a completely different one. Pendulum swing. A work schedule brought to the point of automaticity, followed by a dull rest in an apartment with a TV. Question: How much patience does a citizen have?
The decision to throw everything to hell and do something more interesting and useful does not come out of nowhere and suddenly. For many people, the decision to quit their job takes many months or even years to decide.
✓On the one hand, many of us want a change of scenery and festive novelty.
✓On the other hand, the fear of change does not allow a person to flap his wings and rush into the unknown.
Changing jobs is not a trivial action. This is an important life step that a person has to decide on personally. He needs to take full responsibility for the difficult choice. No one is immune from costs. At the same time, the winnings may exceed all expected results.
Anger and hatred towards others
When a person is exhausted at his job, he becomes more irritable towards his colleagues. Often snaps without reason or reason. This can cause you to become the target of discussion and negativity from your colleagues. And this puts a lot of pressure from a psychological point of view. You begin to feel like an outcast and more like a sociopath.
Don't let this happen! After all, you will bring such negativity into your home, thereby spoiling relationships with your family and friends. You risk losing both their trust and affection.
Leave work problems within your office. It’s better to change jobs altogether if they start to appear.
