5 Unmistakable Signals It’s Time to Find A New Job

02 Sep 5 Unmistakable Signals It’s Time to Find A New Job

The Great Resignation is upon us, and according to a recent NBC survey, upwards of 55% of the American workforce has their sights set on a new position in the coming year. It’s been a Black Mirror episode of eighteen months. Many of us have been doing a lot of personal and professional self-examination and reflection on what is truly fulfilling in our lives and who and what are no longer serving us. So, it should come as no surprise that more than half of workers are reassessing the area of their life where they spend the majority of their waking hours—at work.

Prioritizing better work-life balance has eclipsed headlines on LinkedIn about the millennial workforce and now extends across generations. More than a year and a half into the COVID pandemic after balancing family needs (including childcare), grueling uncertainty, and the most dire health epidemic and mental healthcare crisis in modern history, American workers are going through a culture shift. They aren’t buying into the hustle and always-on mantras anymore. They are struggling to find balance and looking for flexibility and employers who have a people-first approach that goes beyond bottom-line dollars and cents.

Of course, there are the same pre-pandemic reasons others are looking. According to Travis Bradberry, “the more demanding your job is and the less control you have over what you do, the more likely you are to suffer”. That and bad management plagues professionals at every stage of their careers. 

This blog explores major red flags and reasons to start your job search:

1. Every day is like Monday.

Look, the weekends tend to fly by and in these strange times we live in it’s normal to have an excess of stress and a lack of free time in your Monday-through-Friday routine. Many of us are sharing home offices with spouses and other family members, (including some on four legs)—cue the noise-canceling headphones. A little bit of dread and where-did-the-weekend-go talk mixed in with your coffee and meetings at the start of the week is normal. But if you’re stressing about going back to work Sunday or even Saturday, and every night in between Monday and Friday, it might be a sign of an unhealthy work environment. Especially if you’re experiencing palpable anxiety about returning to work. Your mind and body could be done with this job and trying to signal you to get on the same page.

2. There’s zero room for advancement.

If you enjoy what you do and the teams you’re working with, it can be easy to get comfortable in a position that isn’t challenging you anymore or offering any future prospects of promotion or professional growth. When you think about your career, every job along the way should be honing and growing your skillset to continually level up your value to your present and future employers and your resulting income and overall professional success and satisfaction. Maybe due to company size, there just isn’t much room to grow in the areas you’re looking for advancement, or maybe with nepotism and or the internal hierarchy, you haven’t been able to gain any traction or movement—forward. Either way, if there isn’t any room for you to continue growing your skillset and your professional horizons it could be time to look elsewhere. Staying in the same job for too long can be dismal to your career while dramatically limiting your earning capabilities.

3. Your bad manager isn’t going anywhere. 

Whether you’re struggling with your direct manager because of their management style or you are frustrated because you’re working for someone with less relevant skills or experience than you have, it can be fully demoralizing. It’s absolutely true that managers can make or break a company, and your position there. 

While managers come and go, (and you never know who will manage you next), sometimes you can wait a bad boss out. However, if you have a boss who is part of upper management or highly supported by them then it might be time to plan your exit. We’ve all had a manager who’s a challenge to work with and or impossible to trust. A toxic relationship with a manager who is a favorite of the higher-ups can make a devastating impact on your career. From hurting your professional reputation at your employer; to scapegoating you instead of taking accountability if a project goes sideways; to taking credit for your work or not giving you any recognition for it—bad managers can suck all of the joy out of work and a company culture you love otherwise. And if your manager is part of the executive team or has serious buy-in from them, they probably aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. 

4. The thrill is gone.

It’s possible you’re in a nice cushy position, but you’ve lost your passion for what you do every day. Maybe you’ve been putting off a career transition with the chaotic fallout of the Covid crisis or perhaps you were forced to make a shift during the pandemic to make ends meet that doesn’t resonate with your professional purpose. You know—your why—the thing that drives you professionally.

If your role or work itself is getting stale, it’s a great time to look with a talent shortage and ample job postings. Whether you’re ready to try something new or get back to your pre-pandemic profession, now could be the perfect time to make the change.

5. The company values are too different.

Company culture and values have never been more critical. You want to work for an employer that has the same shared professional values you do, and one that makes you feel safe in your working environment. Whether you’re wanting to find a position at a business that’s fully remote or more flexible about remote work as some offices slowly reopen, or you’re looking for a company that is ready to invest more in their workforce in other ways, you can’t change your organization’s core values. The culture and politics are pretty baked in wherever you are. So, if they aren’t resonating, it might be time to find an organization with values and working conditions that make you excited about work again.

We can help.

At Staffing Strong, we understand that whatever the reason, starting a job search can be overwhelming no matter where you are in your career. Our talent specialists are ready to help you with your job search strategy to land that dream job. Submit your resume and connect with us.

Meet the Author

Evelyn Vega is the Founder and President at Staffing Strong and the Past President of the Phoenix American Marketing Association. Since 1999, she’s made her career about supporting her clients in building meaningful careers and partnering with businesses in finding quality hires. In her free time, Evelyn sits on various advisory boards and enjoys practicing on her drum set!