Are You After a New Job or a New Direction?
When I got burned out at my Silicon Valley engineering job, I thought maybe I just needed a change of pace. A breath of fresh air, a new company, a new project. But a few interviews in the same field taught me that a new engineering job wouldn’t make me happy after all. No, what I was truly after, I decided, was a full-on change of direction. It wasn’t that I needed to write new code; I needed to not be writing code. It wasn’t that I needed a new engineering project; I needed a totally different project. Ultimately, I wound up moving from industry to the non-profit sector, and it’s been just what I needed.
But when you’re burned out at your job, how do you know if it’s a new job or a whole new direction that will make you happy? I’ve got some suggestions:
You need a new job if:
- You dread going to work in the morning. We all drag a bit when the alarm goes off, but real reluctance to get the office is a real sign you need a change.
- Your commute is too long. Any commute can seem too long when you’re ready to leave your job. But if working closer to home is a possibility in your field and location, don’t let a long, exhausting commute bring you down.
- There’s nowhere to go. It’s not all about getting promoted and climbing the ladder, but it is about keeping yourself happy and motivated. If there are no other groups or jobs at your company you could move into, can you really see yourself in the same position for the next n years?
- You hate your co-workers. Well, OK, you don’t really hate your co-workers, right? Me neither. But maybe there are a few you don’t want to work with, the ones where you roll your eyes at the mention of their names. If there are too many in that category, get out of there.
You need a new direction if:
- You listen wistfully to other people’s job descriptions. I did this a lot when I was looking for a change. You work for a non-profit/the government/at an art gallery? That’s amazing—tell me more!
- Interviews in the same field feel like the same place. When you go on an interview for the same kind of job you already have and it feels like you just went into your current office, that’s a sign you need a real change. New possibilities should seem exciting and different, not old and stale.
- Working late on a Friday sucks. Working late always sucks a little. But when you find yourself asking “What am I doing this for??,” you need a good answer.
Have you been in need of a new job lately? How about a new direction?
Related posts:
Did you enjoy this post? subscribe now to get all of the posts Comments (3)
How about starting your own business online? I know it sounds scary for most people – I know it sounded that way to me for a long time, but you don’t even need to quit your current job – just start building your future online in your spare time. As far as I’m concerned – it was definitely worth it!
I am also an engineer and tired of the same old job. I have worked in nonprofit all my life as a volunteer. I was told I could not move into nonprofit without having worked in Nonprofit. Huh! How did you make your move?
@Wendy, no way! All that volunteering definitely helps. I volunteer with the Assoc. for Women in Science, and with IEEE, both of which I put way high up on my resume along with my work experience. Then during interviews I could say, see, I know a bit about how nonprofits work and I know/care about issues XYZ. Even this blog helped! As in, see, I can write stuff that’s not code.
It takes a lot of extracurricular time (at least for me it did), but it really helped. And, I found my new nonprofit job, and got plenty of interviews, just through job listings: idealist.org and opportunityknocks.org.
Go for it! What do you want to do?