It happens to the best of us. Over the course of a career, jobs will stop fitting for many reasons. We have heard many stories for many people over the years and synthesized the themes into these 15 reasons.
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In Love Sunday Nights you can talk to other results-producers about their careers and read more articles like this about results-producers navigating work.
Here are the top 15 we’ve heard in our coaching people just like you say, about why they want to leave their current job.
#UNDERUTILIZED: You don’t feel challenged. You kept growing and your responsibilities, scope, and pay haven’t kept pace. Your job feels like a waste of your time.
#NEWPASSION: You were struck by a lighting bolt, and your new interest is drawing your career in a new direction. Now you feel ambivalent about what you do everyday.
#FAMILYCHANGE: Your home life has changed. You have a new child, your children left the nest, or a family member is sick and needs caregiving. You have less or more to give than before, new requirements or possibilities need to be considered.
#NEWBOSS: Your boss has changed, and you aren’t getting the support and resources you were before. They aren’t advocating for and coaching you, the way you know you deserve.
#WRONGDIRECTION: The company has changed direction and you are not as inspired by the latest vision or are concerned about the long-term stability of the organization.
#THREATENEDBOSS: Your boss is competing with you, instead of supporting you. They are threatened by your skills and confidence. You feel unappreciated and undermined.
#BURNEDOUT: You’ve been busting it, and instead of giving you resources so you can adjust back to a sustainable pace, they keep counting on you over-delivering. You are exhausted.
#OVERPERFORMING: There are business issues that need resolving that you see clear as day, and you’ve started to work on them. You are now doing the work of others because it wasn’t getting done. Your efforts to influence leadership to make adjustments to give you authority to fix the problems or solve them another way just isn’t going anywhere.
#STUCKCOMPANY: Your business owners are not focused on growth because the business is producing a comfortable lifestyle for the owner, or is being prepped for sale. They listen to your ideas, but don’t do anything. You are tired of waiting.
#HELICOPTERBOSS: You work for a founder or leader who has a high need for control to his initial vision, and isn’t willing to hear your ideas and give you room to innovate and build on what they have done. The micro-management and limits on creativity are tiresome..
#OVERQUALIFIED: You took a role that was beneath your skills and experience level. At first, learning a new organization or industry was challenging, now you are bored.
#BROKENPROMISES: The company or hiring manager made promises that just haven’t been kept. You imagined things growing different over time to become more fulfilling for you, and you now see that dream you had for this role won’t be realized.
#TOXICCULTURE: The lack of teamwork is de-motivating. Negative energy and unneeded barriers are everywhere. You realize you just can’t be your best self at this place, and maybe in this field.
#DISRUPTION: The industry or occupation you’ve called home is being disrupted by automation, market, or global forces. It is bigger than your company, you need a new path.
#EARNMORE: You have personal goals for your family or yourself that can’t be achieved without more income. Your skills, talents, and interests can earn you more, to accomplish your dreams.
With any of these reasons, the impact on you is the same. You are growing progressively negative and frustrated. You see the impact on your sleep, habits, relationships, and stress-level and know you need to make a change. Deciding what to do can be scary. You’ve got bills, loans, and people depending on you, right? Relax. That angsty discomfort could turn out to be a great thing.
Decide what you need right now
We tend to think of careers as linear—climbing the corporate ladder ever upward, for example. If we’re not making more money each year and getting flashier titles, we’re not successful, right? Actually, not so much.
Careers need to bend and adjust to meet your needs at different life stages. Sometimes a secure, low-demand job is a blessing—allowing you to put more energy toward other things. Are you caring for young children or an aging parent? Longing to go back to school? Renovating or building a home? Look at the whole picture of your life. Figure out what you really need right now, and move in that direction with a solid sense of peacefulness.
Calm down about job titles
We get so hung up on job titles that it can blind us to jobs and careers that might otherwise be fulfilling. What’s more, according to Forbes, chasing job titles might actually bring you less success over the course of your career. There are just as many advice articles arguing job titles are unimportant as there are articles promoting job title worth. Step back and focus instead on what you get to do in a job.
Recognize a bad fit
Sometimes that “dream job” doesn’t live up to your hopes and expectations. It’s a bummer, but it happens. Don’t get paralyzed. It’s time to decide how to make the best of the situation, deal with it in a professional manner, and then move on.
William Hawkins, now the CEO of medical device company Medtronic, is refreshingly up front about jogs in his career path. During a Parents Weekend event at Duke University a few years ago, he described a job that was a bad fit to aspiring engineers. He had left a position where he was very successful for what he thought would be a dream job. He quickly discovered the company culture and direction for the position just didn’t match what he wanted to do, or what he had been promised. So for two years he buckled down, did a good job, and then left for a better situation.
Think twice about over-delivering
If you’re working well outside your job description, but there is no way the company is ever going to pay what you’re worth, then it’s time for a pause. Yes, the company loves your contributions, but how is that helping you? This is a passive way that even well-meaning managers and companies can inadvertently exploit stellar employees. Perhaps this is a reasonable way to gain new skills and experience en route to a better position. Your future at the company is something you should regularly be talking to your boss about. If you can’t envision a route you could take after discussing options at the company, this may be a signal that it’s time to make a change.
If you’re really punching above your pay grade, ask about negotiating a new job description and salary. You can also negotiate other benefits if pay is off the table.
Consider launching your own company
If you’ve always dreamed about being your own boss, a dead-end job could be the catalyst to go solo. Whether you start a small venture on the side or want to work full time on the new business, your current boring, stable job still has a lot to offer for a while. Take time to build up financial resources, develop a business plan, get incorporated, talk with other business owners, and find a mentor. Then, when you are really ready, you can close this chapter of your career.
Wondering if you’ve got the “right stuff” to be an entrepreneur? Check out Foundr’s 3 Reasons Why Not to become an entrepreneur.
