Have you found the right job?

10 signs that you are in the right job

1. Job satisfaction – you look forward to going to work, every day or most days
2. Competence – you feel competent and appropriately challenged at work
3. Extra capacity – you have enough extra capacity, both mentally and physically, to be with your family and friends in your spare time
4. Motivation – you feel like going to work and may even look forward to certain tasks
5. Security – you can easily see yourself staying with the company, also in the longer term
6. Shared values – you share your employer’s values, in theory as well as in practice
7. Concentration – you have good structures in place at work for focusing and solving your tasks in a satisfactory way
8. Good health – you are rarely ill, and if you ever do get ill, you recover quite quickly
9. Energy levels – you have the same or increased energy levels when you go home from work as when you arrived
10. Meaning – you can see the purpose in your work efforts and feel that you contribute to something on a wider scale.

In your own experience, how many of the above items apply to you in your current job?

 

10 signs that you are not in the right job

1. Tiredness – you are often exhausted and drained of energy when you leave work for the day
2. Boredom – you miss being challenged, haven’t got enough to do and try to stretch out your tasks
3. Irritability – you have a short fuse when you get home, and you may snap or shout at your nearest and dearest
4. Demotivation – you don’t feel like going to work in the mornings, and you don’t enjoy your tasks
5. Doubt – you hover between staying on or looking for another job
6. Disagreement – you constantly disagree with the management’s decisions and measures
7. Symptoms of stress – insomnia, palpitations, shallow breathing, forgetfulness etc.
8. Frequent illness – especially on Mondays and after holidays
9. Burnout – a general lack of energy and a number of the other issues at the same time
10. Meaninglessness – you have no visions for the future, and you don’t know what you want or feel like doing.

In your own experience, how many of the above items apply to you in your current job?

 

Have you found the right job for you?

If you have selected significantly more points from the positive list than from the negative list, you have probably found the right job. Congratulations!

Having said that, how much the negative signs affect the balance which is crucial for your well-being varies from person to person.

All of us may have days when we are less motivated or feel under pressure. Or we can come down with the cold or flu – just like everyone else. The problem becomes more serious, however, if it affects your health and/or your private life, leaving you with no extra capacity for yourself or your nearest and dearest. If your energy levels are drained every day so that you’re irritable and tired when you get home, this is unsustainable in the long term.

Why is it that the job doesn’t suit you?

There are several possible explanations for this, which may stem from your personality as well as circumstances beyond your control.

Boredom may be due to you having a higher IQ than your colleagues, which makes you run out of challenges more quickly. If you score 30 or more in the boreout test, you could be heading for boreout and possibly burnout.

Try the Boreout Test for yourself

Irritability may be linked to you being particularly sensitive. Because of this, you have less of a filter when it comes to bad atmospheres and conflicts, which can affect you in negative ways and consume the capacity that should have been kept for yourself and your nearest and dearest.

Demotivation may be due to you feeling unable to make good use of yourself and your skills, as you have much more potential than what your job allows you to use. It may be the case that you have a broad profile (in the 7 intelligences), but your job has a narrow scope, so you only get to use some very specific skills.

 

Why is your job, your manager or your workplace wrong?

The wrong job is to do with the tasks and structures involved, and to what extent it matches your skills and performance pattern.

Test your Performance pattern

The wrong manager may relate to the two of you having fundamentally different values and attitudes about what constitutes you doing a good job. It may also relate to you perhaps having a higher IQ and being seen as a threat or competitor.

The wrong workplace may have several causes such as a negative or poor working environment or an unrealistically large workload with far too many meetings and not enough time to solve tasks. There could also be discrepancies between the company’s formal values and everyday practice.

Finally, you might have ended up in a department or team where you don’t fit in or where you’re not accepted by your colleagues, who – in the worst-case scenario – may use bullying and excluding behaviour. The sooner you get away from this, the better, if you want to stop it having a damaging effect on your self-confidence and well-being.

No matter what, you’ll have to take into account how long you can hold out under these circumstances, as well as what price you’re paying to do so.

 

See also:

• Introvert or extrovert – which job is the best?
• 4 reasons why gifted people do not progress in their careers
• 4 differences between having a high IQ and a normal IQ