Ok, we are in an economic recession and, let's face it, most people are trying to hang on to their job than lose it. Still, recession or not, if you are so uncomfortable in your current position, then it may be time to call it a day! The following are ten things are sure indicators that will tell you its time to throw in the towel, dust off the interview suit and hit the job hunting market.
1.You Hate Your Job - You don’t find it challenging or fulfilling. Your mood changes when you drive into the company car park. You hate the people you work with and spend all your time twittering or facebooking or planning what you eat for supper and where to go on the weekend.
2.You hate the people you work with – Experts agree that getting along with colleagues at work is important as it boosts morale and makes working fun even if not stress-free. If you can’t get along to a point where it makes carrying out your task especially uncomfortable, then it may be time to ask to move to another department. If cimproved communication and mediation efforts do not help, the it’s time to get another job.
3.You Feel Unaccomplished – If you dislike your current position, the tasks you are doing is not challenging your abilities or they fall outside your area of expertise, then your job can become an exercise in tedium. If this situation has been persisting for more than 6 months, then you are not really contributing to the productivity of the organisation or to your own development. It’s time to seek out your passion!
4.Your Salary Sucks! – This is a good reason as any to leave a job. But if you have children to feed, then having a low paying job is better than no job at all. However, it may be a good idea to seek a job which pays better. Why live in poverty when you can negotiate your way to a better lifestyle.
5.Your Job is Overly Stressful – Don’t be like that 25 year old who died of overwork in Japan! If your job is so demanding that your health is being affected, then its more than time to quit! Stress levels are high at certain jobs but if you feel overwhelmed, your blood pressure is raised and you can’t sleep because you are still thinking of the tasks left undone at the office, then it may be time to seek a job that allows you to retain your sanity.
6.Your Job is unrelated to your long-term career goals – You would be amazed at the number of people working in a job which has very little or nothing to do with their long-term careers goals. If you are one of them, my tip is to go find the career you want. Waste no more of your precious time. Quit!
7.Your Boss is making your life hell – Yes, there can be colleagues from hell but the worst kind of workmate is the boss from hell! Some bosses do abuse their power and authority. Is your boss demanding that you work even when you asked for time off to see your kid’s recital? Are you forced to skip lunch often to finish different tasks? Is he or she insisting that you come in on weekends and stay late at night to complete the project (while they go home). Are you being treated unfairly and inequitably compared to your colleagues? If Human resources can’t help to sort this and myriad other work kind of workplace abuses, then its time to say goodbye.
8.You are being sexually harassed – This one explains itself. If you are facing this kind of abuse at work, and management is unable or unwilling to help you, then quit! Your moral will become low, your productivity will dip and your stress levels will increase. Nothing is worth enduring this level of harrassment.
9.Your work/life balance is off balance – Are you at the last one out of the office in the evenings? Are you the one the cleaner says good evening to everyday? Are you there on weekends too? Come on! Get a life! Unless, you own this business and you are investing the necessary time in its development, then you have got to find space for personal life. Ask someone out on a date; Curl up on your sofa and read the newspapers. Do something besides work. If work consumes all your time, its time to find one where you can actually have a life.
10.You are bored – Maybe you have worked in this same position for a lifetime, have learned all you can and now do it grudgingly or perfunctorily (like an automaton in a factory). This means you are bored. You can no longer see the fun in the job and you wander aimlessly through your tasks. Aim higher, seek to work in a different department or challenge yourself to assume a higher position in the organisation. If his is not your desire, then quit, or ask to do it part time so that you may free up time to take a course you have always wanted to do. Go find your passion in other words!
If five or more of these scenarios ring alarm bells, then hey- this is your wake up call! It is time to take a new approach to your life and career. Empower yourself, find your passion. Start living!
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Dr. Hume Johnson is a Professor of Journalism and Communications at James Cook University, Queensland, AUSTRALIA. She owns a communication training business called “The Communication Workshop”. Email: thecommunicationworkshop@gmail.com
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