Pandemic learnings have led a lot of people to question “Is now the right time to change jobs?”. You keep hearing about “The Great Resignation” and yet another post on job hopping is coming up again! This is an age-old subject – but rising inflation, availability of jobs, and continued transparency into wage related inequalities cause KNOWING when to change jobs a hard date to pin down. Have no fear – we'll walk through how to answer the question for yourself!
As this overworked pup can tell you, a job can be a lot to handle. But, unless you're in the 1% (if so, congrats on winning the "born to the right people" lottery!), that's why they call having a job to pay the bills, "adulting". Well, after pandemic and having a new baby in the house I can for sure say "adulting" is overrated. So I started to ask myself the questions of "Why?" and "What do I do about it?".
Since I have no income coming from anyplace other than my job, and being the primary bread winner in my family, I've focused my efforts on identifying if my needs are covered. Those needs fall into my 5 F's of a full life (more to come here), so given all this, ask yourself the below questions and you too can determine is now the right time to switch jobs ?
1) Do you have a hobby?
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Yes - When you have a hobby (definition here is expansive), it shows you're capable of having a life outside of work.
No - You might want to unpack that! This is a major red flag in the "time to change jobs" journey.
If it seems like you don't have time, I feel you! There are times in my life that it didn't seem possible to have a hobby or any activity outside of work because I had other needs that weren't met (mostly financial). Due to fear, I felt this required more investment in my job, but once I stopped struggling (yay for mental health help! https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/tips-for-everyday-living/money-and-mental-health/the-link-between-money-and-mental-health/) and was able to see calm waters (ie, found one boss who paid me fairly), then I found time/mental space for hobbies.
Good thing, because evidently it helps your career (https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/02/3-science-backed-reasons-having-a-hobby-will-help-your-career.html ) - eh might be a chicken and an egg thing...
2) How many work partners/spouses do you have?
Photo: Startup Stock/Unsplash
It's well established (https://www.fastcompany.com/90369967/this-is-why-you-probably-have-a-work-wife-or-work-husband) that having relationships at work increases job satisfaction. But, I've found work partners at all of my past jobs and yet still had a strong desire to change jobs despite the network quality, so maybe it's more of a question of how many is enough? For me, since I'm a extroverted introvert, one work spouse is sufficient for me to not leave a company, but 100 work spouses isn't enough to keep me at a company. If your network has dwindled due to people leaving, I think the writings on the wall.
3) Is family/social life impacted by lack of time, finances, or motivation?
Often times people get caught up in chasing one benefit of a job that they consider to be most important like a flexible time off policy or a large base pay. When taking a step back to look at the big picture and ask yourself the question "Do I like my life?", you'll find that the intersections that influence your answer are not single threaded. So if I like my finances provided by my job but don't have sufficient time to spend with my kids, then I need to find income that balances those two needs. Motivation is a unique thing to study/understand and for me was deeply interwoven into whether I liked my job and life. Due to historical thinking that success was defined so much by salary, I lost sight of my emotional well-being.
Photo: reddit.com
4) When is the last time you went without checking your work email?
In the ever evolving world of interconnectivity, we're always thinking about work. Many workers, especially during specific high priority projects, indicate putting out fires was more important than just about anything else in their lives. That approach isn't a healthy relationship if you're like me and just working to live. If you're one of those who live to work, see #1. If you're unable to shut it off even once you pay attention to that habit, it might be time to switch it up to lose that SME label and start over somewhere new.
5) Do you like your job?
Last but certainly not least, if you don't like what you do, you should definitely change your job. Now's the time! Seize the day!
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