Has the current situation made you reflect on your career choice and do you feel it is no longer the right option for you? Before making a big leap you may want to consider whether making changes to your current career could bring you what you feel is currently missing.
Here are 5 questions for you to consider before looking to completely change your career:
1. What benefits are important to you?
If you are not happy in our role we often think about moving externally either in another role, industry or new career to give us this. However, you can often get caught up in the day to day and forget what benefits you get outside of the tasks of the role where you are and what you might lose by making such a move. Which of the following are important to you and which do you receive in your current role;
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- Good salary
- Benefits you appreciate and use
- A commute you are comfortable with
- A team you enjoy working with
- You have a clear remit and the resources to do your job
- Working hours you are happy with/ flexible working opportunities
- You have support from within the company maybe from your manager, a mentor or someone else who supports your development etc
- There are opportunities to grow and develop that you can see would be of benefit to you and you are interested in
- You are recognised for what do you and receive feedback
- Add your own here……
Reminding yourself of the benefits may help you to see what you are doing in a different light Or if you do decide that you want to change jobs these can become a good barometer for you to compare roles to determine if they are right for you.
2. How do you currently work vs how you want to work?
The current situation has certainly meant that a lot of us are working flexibly whether working from home, and/or around home-schooling. Consider what of this has worked for you and whether you would like to work flexibly going forward. Here are some ways to work flexibly that may work for you:
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- Compressed hours – i.e. working full time equivalent hours over less days
- Different working pattern on different days of the week whilst still working the full time equivalent hours
- Working from home/ remotely (either full time or a combination with office based working once we are able to get back to the office)
- Earlier or later start (and finish) time
- Flexible working is normally a permanent change but if you need assistance for a short period of time it is still worth talking to someone in your organisation to see if it is possible to work flexibly for a short time.
Some of these may have an impact on your salary and benefits so ensure you check when discussing any changes with your employer.
3. What do you want to do that you are not currently doing?
Consider the role, tasks etc. What would your ideal role look like? What do you enjoy about your current career, what would you like to change and what’s missing?
4. Is the Company or your Manager right for you?
For the company consider whether it aligns with your values? Often over time companies can change direction, vision, priorities etc and what was once congruent with your own vision and values may no longer matching them. Before you think that the career needs to change maybe it’s the company or industry. Your Manager can have a really big impact on how you work and how you feel at work. Think about what works and may not work with your current manager?
5. What is your Why?
Another reason we often become unfulfilled in our roles is that we forget why we started our career in the first place and this is a great way to find out if we are still connected to that or not, ie do we stay or go? Reflect on the why – i.e. why you wanted to do this and why you want to do it now. Go beyond your job title and think more about the impact you can have positively in what you do. Does this connect with your values and what fulfils you?
Work with Me:
If you are still unsure about whether you want to completely change careers or if it is something in your current career that needs to change my Cracking Career Change Programme may be for you. Contact me to arrange a free discovery call to find out if my Programme or any elements of it is a good fit for you to gain clarity and inspiration to put together a plan to move forward on your career path.
The information contained above is provided for information purposes only. The contents of this blog are not intended to amount to advice and you should not rely on any of the contents of this blog. Professional advice should be obtained before taking or refraining from taking any action as a result of the contents of this blog. Claire Bolsover disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on any of the contents of this blog.