In a typical lifetime, a person can expect to change jobs several times. In fact, according to a study done by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the US Department of Labor, a person born between 1957 and 1964 held an average of 11 jobs between ages 18 and 44, which works out to an average of one job every 2 to 2.5 years.
These days, Americans are more likely to stick it out at their current jobs. In 2012, American works spent approximately 4.6 years at their jobs, the longest average than any previous decade.
It begs the question: how does one decide when it’s time to move on from their current jobs? What keeps someone in their current profession?
If you find yourself questioning whether your job is for you, these signs might be telling you that it’s time to find something else:
- You dread getting up in the morning. When your alarm goes off, you instantly get that sinking feeling that comes with doing something you don’t want to do. You might even consider calling off just so you don’t have to go in.
- You aren’t passionate about what you’re doing. You realize that whatever spark you once had just isn’t there. You aren’t enjoying it, your heart just isn’t in it anymore.
- You’re unhappy when you’re working. You can’t seem to smile at work and you spend most of your workday watching the clock. Some days, you wonder how you can get out of work early.
- You don’t like the culture. Every company has its own corporate culture, and your own company’s culture just doesn’t appeal to you these days, or you don’t seem to mesh well with everyone else.
- You don’t believe in the company. You don’t agree with what they’re doing or you don’t believe they can be successful. You don’t believe in what they stand for anymore.
- You feel like there’s no room for growth. You don’t feel like there’s any room for you to grow as an employee within the company, and you can’t see yourself staying with the company a year down the road.
You will always have good days and bad days at work, and sometimes, it’s just a matter of knowing when you need some time for yourself. When the bad days start outweighing the good ones, it might be time to move onto something else. Don’t let yourself be miserable with what you’re doing, find the thing you love and run with it.
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