Perhaps It’s Time To Make A Change

The arrival of a new year is a good time to think about your work situation. Perhaps you’ve been considering a new job or a change in careers. Maybe you want to switch gears and go back to school for an advanced degree.

Before you do anything radical, ponder this: The best career opportunity may be right under your nose, at your current workplace. Staying with your current company can have several advantages, including consistency in benefits, familiarity with systems and products, and the ability to continue relationships with customers and co-workers.

Whether you work at a large or small company, there’s probably ample opportunity to improve your situation. The key is this: You have to be the one to implement change. To get started, you must examine your motives.

Here are the typical reasons workers seek to change jobs and solutions to try inside the company:

Boredom. If you can do your job in your sleep, a change is overdue. Was this job ever exciting to you? If so, what has changed? What would make it exciting again?

Maybe what has changed is you. Perhaps your personal life has finally settled down and you’re ready for a challenge at work. Your first step is to find out what will excite you and then examine the company for these opportunities.

Perhaps you want to be involved with product development, or meet with customers, or be out on the road doing field work. Maybe you’re ready for management responsibility. Work with a counselor or on your own to discover hidden talents and skills you would like to develop, then examine the company for ways to use these skills on the job.

Personal dream. At some point, we all start to realize the clock is winding down on our dreams. Maybe you always wanted your own patent, to write a novel or to start your own business. You might harbor dreams of going to law school or working with kids.

Again, the first step is to identify what you want. Once you have a handle on those dreams, ask yourself: Can any part of my dream be fulfilled in this company?

For example, someone with an entrepreneurial drive might find satisfaction being in charge of a division or product line or starting a new program for the bosses. A budding lawyer might discover the company is willing to help with tuition in exchange for on-site legal counsel down the road. The next great-American-novelist will have a tough time writing on the clock, but a current employer might offer a leave or an extended part-time schedule that allows time to explore the writing life.

More money. When the issue is money, you need to step back and ask yourself what the money represents to you. Do you need the money for expenses? If so, make sure the expenses are not based on emotional needs that can be better met elsewhere.

For example, if your work is so stressful that you spend a lot of money on expensive restaurants to relieve the stress, do you really need more money? Perhaps you need a less stressful work situation.

If the money represents personal achievement, ask yourself: Would a job with more meaning or more prestige be enough, or do I need the higher salary, too?

By examining your need for more money, you give yourself flexibility. Your company may be able to offer you a better schedule, a work site closer to home, or more fulfilling duties, but may not have the added money. On the other hand, if more money is what you want, you need to demonstrate to your company that you can bring added value, by saving or making more money for it.

Career change. Changing careers is never an overnight process. Once you have chosen a new career (a process that can take months by itself), you will have a series of steps to follow between your old career and the new one.

Many people are surprised to find that most of the steps can happen in their current position. For example, an accountant who wants to be a teacher might need more experience with presentations. This person can assist in making sales calls or can develop and lead complimentary customer training sessions for the company.

Whatever your reasons for wanting a change in your work, try to slow down the process. Give yourself time to truly examine the options at your current workplace and to engineer a change internally.

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