You’re In The Wrong Job If…

There are two ways you can find yourself in the wrong job; you land in it right away or over time things change and what was once right is now wrong. But how do you know if you’re in the wrong job?

Here are some indicators:

1. You live for your days off.

Suppose you’ve got that typical Monday to Friday job and you find yourself becoming stressed on Sundays thinking about Mondays, and when you are at work, you focus on just surviving the week until quitting time on Friday releases you. You my friend are most definitely in the wrong job.

2. You’d never apply for the job you have now.

Knowing what you now know, if you could go back in time you’d never apply for it all over again.

3. Physical and Mental illness.

Wow! If performing your job is literally causing you to be physically and mentally ill, why on earth are you still doing it? Isn’t your health more precious than whatever is keeping you going in day after day?

Should you find yourself using up all your sick days, visiting Emergency Clinics, sucking back pills during the day and using up the Employee Assistance Program allocated to you for counselling just to be able to go into work day after day, well…heed the signs.

4. Conflicting priorities.

If for example you’re number one priority in life is family and your job is robbing you of time that you planned to spend with them, why are you allowing your work to eat away at what you know is your number one thing? Fact is my friend, if you actually permit your job to do so, you’re consciously choosing to make family you’re number two priority; and what’s replaced it is your job. If you’re uncomfortable with this new reality, why aren’t you doing something about rearranging your life to align properly what’s important to you?

5. You can do the job blindfolded.

There may have been a time when things were challenging at work, but that was so long ago. You find you’re able to do your work pretty much on auto-pilot because you’re no longer stimulated with problems to solve and challenges to overcome. Read the signs my friend, you’re at danger of being brain-dead if there’s nothing to stimulate your little gray cells of the brain through the work that you do.

6. Isolation.

Now I realize we are all different and that while some of us enjoy socializing with our co-workers, others actually are attracted to work with limited human interaction. That being said however, if your job has somehow changed and you are so isolated to the point where co-workers don’t even recognize you as a fellow employee, you’re far too isolated from others. That isolation could lead to anxiety, a fear of others and depression. Is your job worth it?

7. The job morphed.

If you compare the job description that once attracted you to the job requirements you currently have, you may find your title is the same but the work you felt passionate about is no longer the work you are actually being compensated to do. What changed? If there was some organizational shift and your job functions were drastically adjusted, it could be that the job title you really want isn’t the one you hold now. If this is the case, maybe all it takes is finding out the title of the job that holds all the things that really excite you. Seek the move.

8. Your Supervisor.

Yes we have to look at the person just above you on the organizational chart. Did the person who so inspired you retire, get promoted, quit, get fired or laid off? Maybe the person who is now in their former role isn’t connecting with you and providing the kind of leadership that inspires you to do your best. In fact, maybe the Supervisor you work for now actually restricts your freedoms, curbs your creativity, shuts down your enthusiasm for the work you do, and gives you zero incentive to do anything that shows initiative. Yikes! Is waiting out their tenure and playing a game of who will leave first really in your best interests?

9. The benefits and salary have you trapped.

Are you staying in your current job simply because the money is good and the benefits you’ve earned just aren’t going to be offered to you in some other job? If you’re tired of your present job and just dragging yourself in to work but you’ve lost all real enthusiasm for the job, don’t fool yourself; you’re paying a heavy price for that income.

10. You’re slacking and you know it.

If you’re consciously looking for ways to cover up your own poor work; spending more energy devising ways to avoid doing the job than just diving in, it’s a clear sign that you don’t find the work itself rewarding. Or is it that you clearly see the quality of what you can produce is diminishing rapidly. Would you tolerate this production drop from a co-worker if you were working at your peak efficiency?

Look, the time you’ve got left in your working life is too precious; you’re too valuable to spend 5 days of each week in a job you know is no longer doing it for you. Start looking for another job with zeal; find and save yourself; you’re worth it.

Written By Kelly Mitchell

You’re In The Wrong Job If… was originally published @ Employment Counselling with Kelly Mitchell and has been syndicated with permission.

Photo by Virtual EyeSee