Nearly all of us have been there. We plod away in a job at a seemingly great company and the prospects for climbing the corporate ladder seem endless. Then, bam. You suddenly realise that your hard work and overtime are no longer helping your career move in the direction you want; you become stuck.
Sound familiar? If you’ve experienced this or any of the symptoms below, then it may be time you start looking for a new job.
- You find the work too easy
Do you feel you could practically do your job in your sleep? If so, this is a strong indicator you need a fresh challenge. Your work should mentally stimulate you and engage you, and if you’re not getting either of these things, you may be best suited to pastures new.
- You’re not learning anything new
It’s natural that there will be a degree of monotony in any job, but if you’re in a position where your daily routine hasn’t changed for a good while, the first remedial step would be to ask your boss for new responsibilities or projects. Your job should utilise the skills and knowledge you have learnt over your career, and it should offer training and development opportunities to help make you become more competent to take on new tasks over the course of time.
If your request is turned down, and it is clear that there is no clear progression path available to you, it’s time to move on and work for a company who will provide the training and resources you need to advance your career.
- You dread Mondays
Everyone loves the weekends, so most people will suffer a case of Sunday night blues to a small degree. But if your Monday dread stems out of a true hatred for your job, to the point where it is on your mind over the course of the weekend every weekend, this may signal a deeper issue than simply wanting another lie-in.
- You regularly call in sick for no reason
If you’re calling in sick often just to avoid having to face work, it is definitely time to move on. It isn’t fair on you to continue in a job you hate or don’t care about, neither is it fair on your employer to have a member of staff who is unreliable. Do everyone involved a favour by either showing up or moving swiftly on.
- You are not reaching your full potential
As Confucius once said: "Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life." Your job should match your skills, your strengths and, if you’re lucky, your passions. If you’re not doing what you love, you will never tap into your true potential. If you have felt for a while that you have more to offer than what you’ve currently been doing, it’s time to let management know about it. And if they don’t acknowledge this and help you to change the status quo, then take your skills and experience elsewhere.
- You zone out during meetings
Everyone experiences super boring meetings on occasion, but if you find yourself daydreaming during meetings and losing the will to live, this is an indication your passion and drive are no longer there. You’ve fallen out of love with your job. You owe it to yourself to find a job which engages you, and it's in your employer's best interests to hire someone who's focused and alert.
- You’re underpaid
If you have been performing in your role, you deserve the recognition. If your company earnings appear to be increasing as a direct result of your efforts, and you are not being compensated accordingly, it may be worth raising this with your line manager, especially in instances where your earnings aren’t reflective of the market rate for your location. There are hundreds of salary surveys available which cover almost any industry if you wish to benchmark yourself.
We don’t recommend jumping ship at the first sign of distress – perhaps your company is just faltering temporarily and will soon be back on track - but if management hasn’t shown they are willing to cough up and pay you what you could get elsewhere, then it may be time for you to question whether you want to continue working for them.
- You hate your boss or colleagues
You’re not going to get on with everyone all of the time, and nobody should expect you to. OK, you may have felt you wanted to set Jayne from accounts on fire the other week, but if you are finding that you are entering into disagreements with those around you on a frequent basis, this may be a sign you are not working amongst people of like mind. This in turn will have a negative impact on your stress, motivation and overall productivity levels.
In more extreme cases, such as bullying, sexual harassment, racial discrimination etc., continuing to work in such a hostile environment is counter-productive for everyone involved. These problems need to be addressed as they threaten career mobility. If your employer is not willing to help remedy them, it is perhaps a good idea to move on.
- The thought of work makes you feel mentally or physically sick
NO job should make you experience excessive emotional stress, physical illness or anxiety. Your stomach should NOT be doing somersaults at the prospect of going to work, nor should you be wishing to find your office building engulfed in flames each morning. Get out fast if you experience any pre-work depression whatsoever. No job in the world is never worth risking your mental or physical wellbeing.
- The company is sinking
Has your company’s financial performance been in decline for a longer-than normal period? Perhaps they’ve been laying off staff? Maybe several members of the accounts department have all fled the business? These are all stark warning signs that the ship you are in is sinking. There is no use in going down with it, so stick on your life vest and get applying sooner rather than later!
Do you fell like changing jobs? why not take a look at what other job opportunities we may have that could be of interest?
