Make Sure You’re Happy In Your Current Role
It’s not fun hating your job…
A few weeks back I left a role I hadn’t even been in for a full month. When I handed my notice in I fully expected to be treated like a pariah and end up isolated, luckily this wasn’t the case, but there were a few things I learned from this experience that I’d like to pass on in the hopes of helping others who are having similar thoughts.
It’s not all about the offer
Now I understand there are careers out there where basically the only thing that changes is how much a company is willing to pay you, for me and the software development industry in general this is not the case.
The offer I got to join the previous company was great, it was a good bump on my pay as well as working 3 days remote. A good pension, reasonable holidays and all the usual perks you receive in almost all jobs (free hot drinks etc). However, even with all of this there was still something missing for myself.
I didn’t feel that the challenge was what I wanted, I didn’t feel that what I was doing was going to progress my career. If I’m being honest I felt like I was going to just stagnate if I hadn’t done something quickly.
Do what’s right for you
I would never recommend just up and leaving a job without a back up plan, that would be complete irresponsible of me. Ensure you can either afford to go without work for a while (always a good plan to have) or make sure you have another job lined up.
I was lucky in that a found a new position very quickly, not everyone will have that luck unfortunately. What I would always say though is even if you don’t find a new role that suits straight away, don’t give up. Make sure you keep sending your CV out there, send it to any role that interests you, even if you don’t match the “requirements” to perfection.
Don’t settle
It might seem backwards considering my encouragement to find another role if you’re happy, but the worst thing you can do is just settle for the first role you get offered.
Make sure you spend as much time as you would if you were head-hunted researching a company, find out as much information as you can. They might offer you a new job, but would you be happy working for a company who’s entire background goes against one of your own core values?
Speak to those around you
One thing I have always been bad for is opening up about not being happy about anything in my life. During the first week of the role I’ve mentioned I knew I wasn’t going to make it, I was instantly making comments along the lines of “well if I make it 6 months I’ve got a senior role on my CV.”
Don’t make that mistake, you will have people around you who can help: friends, family, former colleagues. Use them, they’ll be able to give you an outside perspective and more often than not have probably noticed something’s wrong with you anyway.
I have to thank my wife for noticing just how much I was struggling in this role and pushing me to do the right thing. I also want to thank the friends who listened to me complain about the role and either just listened or were able to provide some insight from having worked with me or known me for how long they have.
I hope this is a help to someone out there, just writing this all down has been a massive help to myself and if you have any questions feel free to get in contact with me.
