Career Satisfaction

Job satisfaction is rare for most people. That’s an unfortunate thing because we put our careers first, thinking that a certain salary or a specific position will deliver all of the happiness we need to seep into the rest of our lives.

There are many people who approached their career from the heart. They wanted to help people, so they pursued a position that might have been great starting out, but which never allowed them to financially support their families.

Others went after the paycheck, leaving personal satisfaction aside, and that hurt them just as much because they now have to wake up and go to a job that they hate each and every day.

Analyze Your Career

If you had to rate your job on a scale of 0-10, with 10 being the best job you could ever imagine, where would it rank? Chances are, it’s pretty low. Even if you enjoy the camaraderie of your coworkers, that doesn’t always translate into deep job satisfaction.

Think about what makes you happy – and figure out if you have that in your current career. For example, it might be:

·         Getting to work on tasks independently (or in groups)

·         The opportunity to advance within the company

·         The way upper-level management communicates with and treats lower-level employees

·         The pay scale

·         The security of your job

·         The flexibility you have between your work and home life

·         The depth at which your skills and talents are utilized on the job

·         Your benefits package

·         The office friendships – with coworkers and supervisors

Those are just a few things that people consider important when it comes to their careers. What does it for you? You have to take a good, hard look at what your current career has (or lacks) and then decide if you could do better elsewhere – either with a new company, in a new position, or even in an entirely new career.

Switching Jobs

If you find that your job isn’t living up to your expectations, no matter how long you’ve been there or how old you are, you’ll need to make a change – and the sooner, the better!

If the company is a good fit, but the position isn’t, you can work with human resources to acquire the skills you need to level up, or make a lateral change within the company.

Be honest about your quest to find a fulfilling career and show them your enthusiasm to work on yourself for the good of the company. Most employers love promoting and filling open spots from within.

If the company isn’t a good fit, but the career title is, then start looking for a company whose vision matches your own. You can learn a lot by researching the company and its employees online.

There are sites like glassdoor.com that can tell you a lot about what real people think about working there. You might find a few disgruntled employees verbalizing their disdain, but that might just mean it wasn’t a good fit for them. Look for an overall snapshot of how the company operates to make your final decision.

Start networking on LinkedIn and Twitter (maybe even Facebook and Google Plus) to become known in the industry that you want a career in. This will give you a foot in the door with a company that’s otherwise hard to get an interview with.

You might even find that you need to go back to square one – earning a new degree or starting over with gaining experience in a completely different field. Don’t be overwhelmed with this decision.

There are online classes and night classes that you can take to increase your education for the right career, even while working your old one to help pay the bills during that time.

Job Counseling

Some people don’t know what job would be the best fit for them – they only know they’re not happy with the one that they have. If you’re feeling this way and have never had any sort of career counseling, then you can definitely go that route!

Have you ever tried reading books on the subject that you can buy, such as Who Moved My Cheese and What Color Is Your Parachute? Those can be beneficial in giving you some direction.

There are also career counselors who you can meet with locally or on the Internet. These people will be giving you a series of tests, and looking at your skillset and interests to see what might provide you with the ultimate satisfaction.

You might also want to meet with a life coach in person or online. Sometimes they can add more information into the equation to help you develop a plan of action to get the job you really want.