Career Doctor Articles

With the kind permission of the Career Doctor, jfo is able to bring you a series of articles to help you in your work situation and longer term career management

Are you in the wrong job?

During my 13 years as the MD of a career consultancy I have met countless people of all ages, qualifications and careers, who all have one thing in common – they hate their job, recognise they have picked the wrong career, and want me to help them identify a more appropriate career and then help them achieve this career transition. They accepted they have a major problem and that they need professional help to find a solution. Sound familiar?

So in this article I will identify the signs that will tell you if you are in the wrong job and ought to do something proactive about it, before it is too late.

I recently read a report which stated that research in the UK showed that 80% of people in employment felt they were in the wrong job, and wanted to escape. Such a high percentage accords with my experience as a career consultant.

Unfortunately most people do nothing about these signs, bury their heads in the sand and just hope that their working life will improve of its own. By the time they get to 50 it is often (but not always) too late and they are then facing a further 15 years in a job which by then they have come to hate.

Not a nice position to be in, and one which will certainly detrimentally affect their family life, as they take their frustrations out on their partner and children. Sound familiar?

A classic example is teachers. I have lost track of the number of teachers who have contacted my company and, without exception, they all have the same complaints about their job – far too much emphasis on “crowd control” (a common quote), petty bureaucracy and political correctness, resulting in excessive pressure and high levels of stress.

They think that the training and experience they have gained is so specialised that it will not be of any use in industry or commerce. Rubbish! I have helped many teachers escape from the oppression of their jobs and find less stressful employment outside of teaching. This, of course, has applied to many other clients in all walks of life. Clerk to HR Officer, Restaurant Manager to Health Centre Manager, Golf Club Manager to Ship Broker, Supermarket Assistant to Trainee Accountant, etc

So what are the signs that show you should be thinking seriously about a career more suited to your personality? I have a motto in all my offices which states … “to be happy you should find a career you are fit for; and not a career you think you could fit into” – which neatly sums up my consultancy’s attitude to career development.

SIGNS OF AVOIDANCE

The most common complaints I hear from my clients are about being under-paid, under too much stress, having no future prospects, not enjoying the work, being under-utilised or challenged, feeling frustrated / bored, seeing the writing on the wall and knowing they have come to the end of the line, and feeling apprehensive about the future.

In my studies for my CIPD qualification there was considerable emphasis on the classic signs of motivation, or the lack of it – and my clients have collectively all complained about one or more of the following symptoms that they are in the wrong job. These can be categorised as signs of avoidance.

For example, dreading Monday mornings; not wanting to go to work; taking excessive sick leave; arriving late and leaving early; taking extended lunch breaks; reading the recruitment pages in the newspapers (hoping to spot that golden opportunity to transform your life); applying for all internal vacancies (no matter how inappropriate); avoiding replying to emails; avoiding answering the telephone; keeping as low a profile as possible; driving to other offices / depots instead of merely making a phone call to solve a small problem; day-dreaming of a better working life; volunteering for anything which will break the routine; hoping things will break-down / go wrong, so causing a diversion from work.

These are the early signs that your job is wrong for you. It could be that doing a similar job in another company might be the answer, and for some people this is the right thing to do. But if you know your job bores you rigid, then doing that same job in another company will have a similar effect on you, once the initial novelty wears off. All you have done is put off the inevitable for some while.

SIGNS OF DEVIANT BEHAVIOUR

HR theories say that avoidance behaviour can deteriorate into deviant behaviour if not addressed promptly. So what are the classic signs of deviant behaviour?

Frequently arguing with your boss / colleagues about every little trivial incident; working less productively / accurately when you are capable of better; sabotage (doing things that will cause a breakdown); being stubborn / pedantic / uncooperative; being actively disruptive and a trouble-maker; complaining about every minor point; using the grievance procedure about every minor matter; inventing ways to do the job slower / less efficiently; criticising colleagues who enjoy their job or who work hard; associating with colleagues who are lazy and disruptive.

TRADE UNIONISM

During my career I have held a number of voluntary positions in trade unions and would actively recommend any employee to join a relevant union, especially in today’s economic climate. So I can proudly nail my colours to the mast. But occasionally people become active in the trade union movement as a sort-of middle ground between the two classic categories outlined above. Deviant behaviour of a sort, but under the protection of a trade union. So if you volunteer to be a shop steward or branch officer, question your motives.

WHAT TO DO ABOUT THE SIGNS

So you have recognised the signs that you are in the wrong job – but what are you going to do about it? Most people are innately very conservative when it comes to changing jobs. Better the devil you know, and all that. What other career can you do? You can’t think of a better alternative because you haven’t looked hard enough. The security of the present, no matter how unhappy you are, as compared to the uncertainties of a new job. You dread the sheer hassle and pressure of finding a new job; and you fear the unknown.

Do you hope that things will improve in their present job, or “something will turn up” – and so you stay in an unsuitable job and put up with the stress, unsocial hours, low pay, etc. Being passive instead of proactive. Perhaps you think that your skills and experience are so specialised, or indeed, so common, that finding a new career path will be impossible. You feel that you are doomed to stay an XXX for the rest of your working life.

All that is simply putting your head in the sand, wishing and hoping, but not having the courage or strength to take charge of your own destiny.

Such defeatist thoughts will only condemn you to a working life which will inevitably deteriorate as time goes on. You will become jaded, cynical and burnt out. Your managers will inevitably recognise how you feel and will mark you down for the first opportunity for redundancy as you will be seen as not being committed to your job. So jump before you are pushed – do you really want to stay in your present line of work until you retire?

There is an excellent book by Susan Jeffers entitled “Feel the fear, but do it anyway” which sums up my philosophy. What are the four most important pillars of everyone’s life? Your health, house, partner and job. Everything else, holidays, cars, clothing, etc pales into insignificance against these four essentials of life.

If you consider how much effort you put into finding the right partner and house, you owe it to yourself to put an equal amount of effort into finding the right career path for you – for that is a sure way of finding the happiness that we all seek. That’s what I help all my clients to achieve.

Good luck!

The Career Doctor is Eric Hearn, Chartered MCIPD and Managing Director of Milverton Career Solutions Ltd, Ascot, Berkshire, UK.

Contact details:
Tel: 01344 624383
Email: milvertoncareers@btconnect.com
Website: www.careerdevelopment.co.uk