Sling it!
Going through the process of finding new employment is the first response a lot of people have when things are not going the way they had hoped when they started that new position. The work atmosphere may not be as friendly as you liked. The pay raises may not be panning out the way you expected. You might be filling in for other people more often because you are the low person on the totem pole. You feel you should be handling more responsibility. Or you may have bumped heads with your boss on a select issue and that relationship feels a bit strained. There are numerous reasons why we feel the urge to start looking for a new job. And it’s usually because we feel slighted in some way.
This process has become the norm. We are afraid of negative feedback. We are afraid of failure. So we are always looking for something better when things don’t measure up to our own self worth. And this is where the struggle generally lies.
So a what point should you really start looking for new employment?
There is a growth in maturity when you can start asking yourself that question as the default response instead of going straight to searching for new job postings. Working is a constant in life, much like birth, breathing, eating, and dying. Even the homeless person on the corner is working as they sit there trying to earn their next score or meal.
If you are honest with yourself, you will acknowledge there will always be some level of strife at any employer you go to. You may like the new boss better but over time there will be some rift that both of you will have to move forward from. Same with your co-workers. You may be upset about a small pay raise you received and feel it should be more. This could be a good opportunity to look inward to see where your shortcomings are and have some hard conversations with your boss about how to improve them if you want things to change. Maybe you are not experiencing the growth in responsibility you imagined you would have when you took the position. All of this can generally be resolved by having some direct conversations with your manager.
So when is it the right time to start looking for new employment?
It is always a good time to start looking for a new job when you don’t like the job you do. If you hate what you do, there is no reason to keep doing it. Find something new. You will be happier. If you keep seeing the same pay increase result after you’ve had those hard conversations and made those changes, then that’s a good time to start looking elsewhere. If you have been pigeonholed and no amount of hard work from your end has been able to change that perception, it’s time to look elsewhere. Change can be good. There will always be another employer who values the skillset you bring. Just make sure you have done everything from your end first and have those hard conversations. Or you will always be looking for a new employer because while there may have been some issues you had to deal with at work, the real issue was you. Happy Anniversary versus Happy Hunting.
Bring it!