Career tips I wish I was told
So many people do work that they find boring or negative, yet do not move on due to mindset, feeling trapped by conditions or claiming ‘it is better the devil you know’. What it all actually comes down to is fear; fear of rejection, fear of putting yourself out there, fear of change, fear of interviews, fear of financial change, fear of new people, fear of failure and fear of success. But what these fears do is keep us making excuses and putting up with a job that makes us unhappy. There are jobs out there which will pay you more, suit your schedule, have a nicer team to work with, give you more benefits and make you feel more valued. It is time to step up and go find them.
But before you do, here are my career tips to help you identify how to start your search;
- Know your values and your worth
If you value time with your family but you are working 18-hour days or work away from home, this will cause internal conflict. Similarly, if you value working from home so it can fit around commitments, but you are forced to work onsite, this will also cause conflict. Knowing what you value in life is the place to start with knowing why something does not feel in alignment. As soon as there is any internal conflict, resentment builds and you will never feel fully invested in the role. Here is James Clear’s list to help you https://jamesclear.com/core-values.
Similarly, knowing your worth means not accepting jobs which do not pay you your value, not working hours which are not appreciated or contractually expected, not doing work for free, not putting up with criticism and not staying somewhere which makes you miserable. You deserve better. I am not saying that you should run to HR and hand your notice in now simply because you have done a few extra hours or someone on your team blamed you for missing a deadline, but once this starts to cause internal conflict, it is time to at least address it.
- Do what you enjoy
We do not all need to love our jobs. Most of us work because we need the money: FACT. Very few people would continue to work in a job that pays the bills if all the bills were paid. They would spend their time doing something that brought them joy. Now, I am not insisting that we have to (or should) find joy in our jobs every day, but there should be things about your job that you like: perhaps it is the people, your team, the office, the commute, the flexible working hours, the challenge, the simplicity, or even that your boss leaves you to get on with your tasks, but we should ‘like’ something about work because we are there for more of the day than anywhere else. If there is nothing about your job that you like or suits you, it could be time to consider a change.
- It is never too late to change direction
We no longer live in a time where we need to be doing what we went to university for or have trained in. With our everchanging world and technology evolving in ways that is creating jobs for the future we do not even know about yet, transferable skills, emotional intelligence and leadership skills, networking and retraining are all options to get you into a role that you enjoy more. Never use age, money, time or intelligence as an excuse to not do a job that you want to do. There are always ways.
- Stand up to toxic people
Knowing that you do not deserve to be spoken to rudely, shouted at, criticized, belittled, overworked or manipulated is important to know when to put boundaries into place. Toxic people, bullies and damaged people treat people the way they do because people allow them to. They have got away with this behaviour for so long and it gives them the power and control that they seek, so they often do not see any wrong-doing and cannot understand other people’s perspectives. They are not used to being stood up to and by seeking help, calling them out, drawing boundaries that you will not accept it anymore or raising a formal complaint, they will eventually learn that they cannot treat you like that. If the system allows them to perpetuate this behaviour once you have raised the concern, it is a surefire sign that it will never change and it is time for you to run.
- The grass IS always greener
For me, jobs are like relationships: you learn from the mistakes in each one and each one gets better until you find one that you want to stay in. Each job you get should be an improvement on the previous one. So whether it pays more, has better hours, is more flexible, has better people to work with, gives you more autonomy or gives you great experience for your CV, each job should be adding something to your resume or personal life. If you consistently change jobs and are find jobs which do not add to your personal or professional life, you perhaps need to consider what you seeking.
To summarise, do not allow fear to control your life. If you need to change career, change teams, change direction, change your situation, align yourself to your values and know your worth. Focus on doing something that brings you some kind of happiness, stand up (politely) to people who do not treat you well and focus on the fact that your ideal job is out there right now, and you just have to seek it out.