Are you thinking about changing your job, whether that’s by choice or redundancy, right now?
We can often grab whatever job’s out there as we, especially us women in our 40s and 50s, have a shedload of responsibilities to take into account:
= Caring responsibilities whether that’s mardy teens or ageing parents (or both)
= Mortgage or rent payments
= Making sure there’s food on the table
= Longer term commitments you’d already made before this big Change came up in your world
= Health issues
= Your partner (if you have one) and what they’ve got going on (such as health issues, their own caring responsibilities, in a sector with low pay, hitting burn-out and them wanting to look at a career change right now too)
What gets put to the very, very, very bottom of that pile.
What you Actually want to do for a living!
Have you always put pressure on yourself to do a ‘good job’? Then redundancy will feel like a slap in the face rather than a ‘well done’ (all that praise we often thrive on!). If so, you may well just be thinking about what you can ‘do well’ right now rather than, and this can feel like a revelation, finding a job that you ENJOY as well as doing a ‘good job’.
Why the quotey quotes around ‘good job’ – that’s a whole other discussion with me on what should vs could constitute a ‘good job’ for you individually.
What’s my point?
When you’re heading for a job change, whether by choice or force, take twenty minutes to reflect on:
= Your previous jobs – which ones you enjoyed and WHY
= Your job you’re thinking or having to leave – what elements of that job do you enjoy and WHY
= People you’ve really enjoyed working with – what qualities did/do they have and where might you find more people with those qualities?
Changing jobs is never about just one thing (money or fear or time) so can you see one part of the process as an opportunity to move your career to a more enjoyable point?
What do you want to reflect on right now?
If this post has got you thinking, take a look at the career books I recommend in my Bookshop.org list (affiliate link).
If you want to start really working through what YOU want from a new job, let’s talk! I offer Career Clarity Power Hour coaching sessions to get you started. Take a look at all the details or book now!
