Oh no, I don't like my job.
Unfortunately, lots of us at one point or another in our lives may come to realise, “hang on a minute, I’m unhappy in my job”…or even worse, “I HATE my job”.
Consider this. Most of us who work full time will work on average 8 hours a day. Assume we sleep for another 8 hours each day (give or take), that means 50% of our waking life is given to our job.
We owe it to ourselves to make sure we are as happy as can be in our work environment.
Don't mistake going through a tough spell as you hating your job.
We have all been there. You have just had one of those days where everything or everyone was annoying you and you think, God, what’s the point?!
Or maybe this lasts a few days, or even a week or more! But you keep working hard, things start to go in your favour and all of a sudden you’re really enjoying yourself again.
When you reflect on this some time later, it turns out you were not in a good head space for other reasons, it had nothing to do with the job. Well that’s ok because that’s life!
It’s really important to decide whether you actually don’t like your job, or there are other factors at play. You don’t want to make decisions you may regret down the line if you can avoid it.
You’ve taken this into consideration and still decide you don’t like your job…read on for 7 steps to help you decide what to do next!
1. Prepare to be in it for the long haul.
You may have come to the decision you want to look at other things, and that’s great. But unfortunately, that’s the easy part. There is a whole lot to figure out from there and it can take time.
Sure, you might be able to find a new job in a few weeks, but if that’s because you’re desperate to leave your current role, you may actually be going into something you hate even more! Not a good scenario.
In one of my old jobs, I really enjoyed what I was doing until a few things happened which made me think ‘I want to get out of here’. From then until the day I left, it took me over 6 months.
That timescale is probably quite lucky even. Prepare yourself to be in this transition for quite a while, 12 months or even longer. Great opportunities don’t fall out of the sky, but you can be preparing in the background which can make it much more bearable as you have a clear end goal in sight.
2. Find out WHY you don't like your job.
It’s really important to figure out why you’re not happy in your job, for a few reasons:
- so you don’t make the same mistake again.
- to help you decide what you DO like.
- to see can anything change within your role to make you happy.
3. keep working hard.
Kat Boogaard writes ‘continue to do your best work’ if you are looking to leave and I could not agree more. The worst thing you could do is sulk and down tools, or you could be removed before you decide to leave!
A positive mindset can help you out here. Don’t think of it as working hard for the company you dislike, think of it as working hard so you can achieve more in the long term.
Many reports will tell you it’s easier to find good work while you are still employed, so keep working to your full potential, even if inwardly it’s hard to take.
4. fail to prepare, prepare to fail.
It wasn’t Roy Keane who penned this quote, but Benjamin Franklin!
Like we said earlier, deciding to leave was in fact the easy part. Now you need to give yourself the best chance of finding that job you want by:
- creating the most appealing CV you can.
- finding out what you would like to do.
- looking for jobs (they won’t look for you).
- preparing interview techniques.
- networking.
- trying again and again.
5. the grass isn't always greener - take your time.
I once left a company I was pretty happy in to take on a role somewhere else. It felt like a progression at the time and I was very happy with the move.
Soon after I realised this isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. I vividly remember one of my colleagues saying ‘we live for our holidays around here’. She wasn’t unhappy in saying this, it was just what they were used to.
Well not for me! I’m not afraid of hard work, but I need to enjoy every week of my life, not just the 4 or 5 a year you get from holidays!
The point is, the grass isn’t always greener, so take your time and make sure you make the right call. Having said that, I wouldn’t change my decision at all, because I did my homework, I planned it out and was very happy to get the role, it just wasn’t for me. So I began the process again!
Thankfully for me, things worked out well again when I moved on, but take your time to figure out what’s important to you.
6. don't burn your bridges.
This ties in with point 3 of keep working hard. No matter how much you want to leave a place, do so on good terms and with your head held high. How do you do this?
- keep working hard.
- keep turning up on time.
- no needless days off.
- have a good working relationship with everyone.
- work out your required notice.
- thank relevant people for the opportunity.
- pick up the phone to say goodbye to colleagues.
- be careful how you talk about your job.
On that final point, The Balance Careers say to keep the talk to close family and don’t even dare posting your dislike for work on social media. That can come back to haunt you later in your career.
It’s important to vent, but keep it very low key and only to someone you trust.
You never know when you will cross paths with people again, so make sure people remember you as a hard working, respectful, thoughtful individual.
7. are you happier in your new job?
You have made the move and are settling into a new job. Congratulations! It’s a big thing to do, so well done!
Don’t just assume you will or should be happy because you have moved. Maybe the grass wasn’t greener… if not, then you might have to repeat the process, but pay close attention to what is causing the unhappiness.
This can feel really difficult, maybe you have put in huge effort and sacrifice to move and you can’t bear the thought of moving again. Give it time, don’t make rash decisions, but if things are not improving, you may need to bite the bullet and start again.
in conclusion.
50% of your waking life could be given to what you do for a living. You owe it to yourself to make sure you are as happy as can be as often as possible while you do it!
That can involve making some tough choices or going through a process 2,3,4 times until you do finally find what you want. If you take on board the 7 steps above, they can help make the journey bearable, or even enjoyable.
So get in the right mindset and go find what you’re looking for.