When we start our careers as eager, ambitious and highly-motivated bright young things, we’re yet to become disillusioned and ground down by the office politics, and generally feeling downtrodden, poorly treated and undervalued. That comes later. You probably took every opportunity to better yourself, jumped at the chance to enrol on training programs or perhaps juggled your daily workload with further studies in the evenings.
If you're some way into your career, cast your mind back to those early days. What was your attitude towards older, more experienced colleagues? Was it one of respect for sticking to their job for many years and honing their expertise? Or did you feel some level of disdain? Perhaps you knew better? Maybe you thought they were stuck in their ways? That there were new, better, more efficient ways of doing things?
Fast forward to the present day. Have you become that older colleague who is tired, jaded and stuck in a rut? Still doing the same things, the same way as you’ve always done them for years? Or have you maintained that youthful exuberance? Have you continued to seek out new training opportunities? Forged ahead with your continuing professional development, and even job-hopped where it’s made sense?
In other words, have you done all that you can to remain relevant? If you're one of the 88% of people who aren't happy in their jobs, we would wager that you haven't done all that you can to stay current. That you haven’t sought out training opportunities or fresh ways to progress your professional development. It’s natural, especially if you’re in a make-do and mend type of job. Let’s be honest, that's probably why you're reading this blog, after all.
Perhaps you're one of those people who joined your present company on the off chance and just happened to stay longer than you expected. Doing the same job day in, day out with very little career progression or training opportunities afforded to you. If so, you may have found that your career has stuttered and stalled in recent times, and that your skills (or lack thereof) are now beginning to hold you back. Perhaps you’ve noticed that Artificial Intelligence has started to gnaw away at your responsibilities.
Either way, people get stuck in a role and a company. It’s a sad fact of life that the simple act of delivering your KPIs and doing your level best for your employer can blindside you from what’s ultimately best for you and your career. Not making the time to attend that seminar on the latest initiatives in your sector can be all-too-easily explained away. Failing to make the effort to find the next training course to go on, and convincing your boss to allocate training budget to pay for it, can become a ritualistic self-sacrifice.
But when you’re too focused on the inside world of your company, you can become complacent. Delivering on your day job can make you lazy when it comes to planning your next career move. And taking your eye off the ball about developments in your industry can make it easy to take your eye off the ball of your next career move too. Technology is moving so quickly today that it’s already impacting everyone’s roles. We’re all in danger of getting left behind as Artificial Intelligence (AI) increasingly encroaches on our jobs.
The global pandemic has brought these issues into 20-20 focus for many people over the last 12 months. We’ve finally discovered, or rather been forcibly shaken awake to the fact, that life’s far too short to be stuck in a job where you feel underwhelmed and undervalued. Whatever stage of career you’re at, you might like to take some inspiration from Millennials. Because although those born between 1981 and 1996 have been much-maligned in the press for their so-called “job-hopping” tendencies, there are plenty of positives to be gained from seeking pastures new.
According to Recruitment International, millennials will hold an average of 12 jobs in their working lifetime. While LinkedIn statistics show that 60% of millennials are open to new job opportunities and are the most likely generation to switch. In fact, a whopping 43% of Millennials say they will leave within two years of working at their current employer and fewer than a quarter (28%) plan to stay for longer than five years.
It’s not just for monetary reasons that Millennials are inclined to reach for something better either. Although, if figures by Forbes are anything to go by, job-hoppers can enjoy anything from an 8-20% pay rise in a healthy job market (note the phrase “healthy” there). In fact, Millennials are just as likely to walk away from a job for one that better aligns with their values, provides a change in location, or offers more of a challenge, than they are to jump ship purely for a wage increase.
In a rapidly changing job market, which is likely to be flooded with skilled workers cut free from their duties once the furlough scheme comes to an end, how will you fare against the “competition”? Do you suspect your loyalty will be viewed favourably against job-hoppers with a broader range of experience and skills? That’s obviously a rhetorical question, by the way, but one worth bearing in mind nonetheless. And, if you can’t beat them, the solution is almost always to join them.
NINETY’s seasoned career coaches are here to help you reignite your passion and motivation. You didn't start your job with the intention of becoming stuck in a rut. You were once that bright young thing who was ambitious, driven and motivated. Our mission is to help you tap into that persona once more and keep you up to date with the latest business trends. Whether your goal is to amass new skills to progress in your chosen field, or you’d like to make a complete career U-turn, we can give you the tools you need to achieve your goals.
As the immortal quote from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off goes, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” Those are wise words in any context, but certainly in the context of your career. Why settle for second, third or fourth best when you could be living your best life in a job you passionately love? The type of job that makes you leap from your bedsheets every morning, invigorated and motivated to take on the day.
We promise you, those jobs do exist! It’s a question of tapping into your innermost passions and motivations to discover what it is you truly want to make of your life. These are deep and meaningful questions you’ll need to ask of yourself. But you won’t go it alone. Not with your NINETY career coach by your side, helping you to formulate your ideas and manifest a coherent plan to get you where you really want to be. If you’re excited by the sound of that, then Get in touch today.
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