5 Clues You Are in the Wrong Job

Should you muscle through or walk away?

I was so miserable in my first job. But hey- it was a 'first' job and looking back, I actually was given immense responsibility for a kid right out of college. I was managing a 500 person company's compensation program; writing job descriptions; involved with job evaluations; and helping to revamp an entire compensation system as well.

Why was I so miserable? In my very first job, I reported directly to the VP of HR. What more could an entry-level HR person want? In some ways, I was their sidekick. I attended C- level meetings in the enormous board room, prepared data and reports to support the VP on key impactful decisions and so much more. She basically took me under their wing as a young 20 something new to the field. And yet, I was miserable. Why???

Of course hindsight is 20/20, but now knowing what I know about my skills, strengths and preferences, I understand why.

• I need variety in my work.

• I need to interact with people daily.

• I do my best work digging into necessary information, but not a ton of details.

While I learned a lot, I didn't have variety; perhaps only 2-3 times a week I would meet with a human; and I lived in Excel. Hence, my misery.

Multiple times a week as a career coach I'm confronted with this question by clients.

They are struggling and usually have for some time in discerning - should I stay or should I go?

These are 5 signs that it might be the right time to create a new chapter in your career journey:

1. Sunday night dread- No matter how great your weekend was or how hard you try to position your mindset, Sunday night dread begins to set in each week.

2. You mourn for what was. I've heard this a lot lately as organizations merge, are acquired or great bosses leave. Perhaps you have been in your job or with your same company or organization for quite some time and you just keep wishing things would go back the way it used to be.

3. You can't recall the last time you had a great day at work. Your energy was high. You were relatively stress free, you may have even failed at something, but you still ended your day with a smile.

4. Your strengths are being ignored AND underutilized. Sit tight. Wait it out. Things will get better. Perhaps you've been told yourself all of these things repeatedly, and yet you are still waiting to do your best work and use your strengths. How much longer will your stare down that empty hourglass?

5. You are disengaged. No matter how hard you try, you still ultimately are not as enthused or engaged as you used to be. Whether you realize it or not, this is actually a disservice to yourself and your personal career growth as well as those around you who count on you, as well as the mission of your team or organization.

If you have been struggling with any of the above, we should chat. You will walk away with at least one immediate action item.

Successful people invest in themselves.

When was the last time you invested in even a 15 minute conversation about your own personal career journey outside of your mandatory performance evaluation?

If you don't invest in your future work self, who will?

Schedule your complimentary phone call with a former HR person, current recruiter AND career coach NOW who will be kind but real with you.