There are plenty of reasons why it might be time for a new job, but it’s always a tough decision to make. Change can often feel scarier than staying put, even if you’re not as happy as you once were. But progressing your career is important and if you find yourself relating to some, all or even one of the below points, it might be time to start the job search.
This is one of the most common red flags you should watch out for. It’s often easy to accept boredom or a lack of fulfilment as standard in work, especially if it has gone on for a long time.
But while all jobs can have their boring bits, they should, for the most part, leave you feeling fulfilled and interested in the work that you’re doing. Don’t assume being bored at work every day is something you have to accept.
When it comes to career progression, upskilling is important. In small companies, there may not be many promotion opportunities that will show off your achievements, but learning new skills will.
If you feel you’re at a point in your job where you have learned all there is to learn within the confines of your role and how you want to shape your career, it might be time to consider a new job. You may not need a promotion, but you should always find ways to upskill and improve your experience in the role you have. If that role restricts your ability to do that, it’s time to move on.
We’ve talked about the importance of company culture before and the truth is, it is often one of the major factors that drives away strong talent. A bad company culture could be anything from a lack of communication or unclear goals to a lack of processes or simply no employee recognition.
If you are working within any of these toxic environments with no change in sight, it’s probably worth evaluating your options. This one can be tough when you like the actual work you’re doing, but having a conversation with a recruitment consultant could be less daunting than doing the job search yourself. Let them help you find something that lines up with what you need from your next job.
Similar to no longer learning new skills, if you’ve hit a promotion ceiling within your organisation, you should start thinking about your next move. That move might not be tomorrow, but once you know you’re at the top, you need to ask yourself if this is where you’re going to stay until retirement. Since that’s unlikely, you’re going to need to think about what your next job should be and how to get there.
This is a big one and it’s a clear sign that you need a new job. We can all get Sunday night fear, and we can all dread going into work from time to time, but if you dread it every day, something needs to change.
But often when we feel terrible about work, we end up paralysed by our own negativity and become scared of starting again somewhere new. Whether we don’t think we’re good enough for a new job, find the search too daunting or just have a ‘better-the-devil-you-know’ attitude, we can often end up staying put in spite of being unhappy.
This is why talking to a recruitment consultant can be so beneficial at this juncture. For a start, it’s just a conversation, so you don’t actually have to leave your job if you don’t want to.You don’t even have to apply for a job if you don’t want to. Recruitment consultants are experts in finding the right job for you. They’ll know what you’re suited to better than you will because they know the market and will be aware of jobs that you might not be able to find.
No one should feel unhappy about going to work and if you’re too nervous to put yourself out there and start looking for a new job alone (don’t worry, we’ve all been there), then start with uploading your CV with RECRUITERS. It doesn’t mean you have to leave your job yet. It just means one of our expert consultants will be able to have a chat with you and help you find your dream job.
Feeling confused about your career? We’ve got everything you need to know about progression, new jobs and happiness in your career right here.
Coffee photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash
