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Should you change jobs? You may gain clarity from reading this internal debate on the pros and cons.
Person: I’m sick of my job. I’m ready for something new and there’s too little opportunity here.
Alter ego: But you don’t have the time or energy to look for another job when you’re working 45 hours a week already. It can take months, sometimes longer to find a good job, especially if you’re trying to change careers. And I doubt if anyone wants to hire a newbie at anywhere near your salary.
Person: But I don’t want to stay at Western Widget Works, Inc. forever.
Alter ego: No but I worry that after all that job hunting, you won’t like your new job or career better.
Person: I need to remember that I don’t have to take that new job. I just need to take a little time to see if I can find something better. If not, I’ll stay put. I’ll just start networking.
Alter ego: But you hate networking and you’re lousy at it. You just don’t make a good first impression, no matter how much you practice. You’re better off spending the time improving your skills: tech stuff, public speaking.
Person: Okay, maybe I should do that but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t look for a better job. If I don’t want to network, I’ll just answer some on-target ads, one a week.
Alter ego: But if that’s all you do, a year or two from now, you’ll probably still be at Western Widget. Ugh.
Person: So, fine. I’ll apply to three jobs a week.
Alter ego: But every job opening gets so many applications.
Person: I really have to make mine better—Write a cover letter that, point by point, explains how I meet the job’s requirements.
Alter ego: But if you’re changing careers, you won’t meet most of the requirements.
Person: Okay, then I’ll include a white paper, like a term paper, on a topic related to the new job that would interest that employer. That will show current chops and interest, and a concrete work sample.
Alter ego: But that will take a ton of time.
Person: No it won’t. A few-page white paper is like one of those papers I wrote in college. One day I knew nothing about the topic and the next, I knew a lot and cranked out a good paper. I need to stop complaining. It’s better than staying at Western Widget. Right?
Alter ego: Maybe. What if the problem isn’t the job but you? If you’re honest with yourself, as you look back on all your jobs, it’s always been kind of a struggle.
Person: Do I have to face that I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed?
Alter ego: That may be part of it. I know that you can’t seem to make yourself consistently care enough about work. You do your job but you can’t seem to maintain the fire in your belly. I’m not sure you can change that.
Person: So maybe I need to downscale my job aspirations. Up isn’t the only way. I fought my way to be a manager but maybe I’d be happier and more successful if I did something less demanding.
Alterego: Are you the poster boy for the Peter Principle, rising to your level of incompetence?
Person: Maybe. I’ve always tried to compete with my high-achieving friends. Isn’t that silly? Maybe by trying to be what I’m not, I’m making myself miserable and ensuring I don’t succeed.
Alterego: But what should you do?
Person: Maybe I should go back to being an individual contributor or a support person. I’m organized and good at details. Maybe I should go back to being a coordinator, a marketing coordinator. Maybe I should talk with my boss or HR about getting that kind of job at Western Widget?
Alter ego: Actually, you don’t give a crap about marketing widgets.
Person: I need to remember that as long as the widget is worth marketing, it’s worth doing.
Alter ego: Stop with the pious preaching.
Person: How sure am I that I’ll care more about work if I were doing something else? I say I care about gifted kids being ignored in today’s elementary schools but would I really, after a honeymoon period, be that much more motivated to work hard on some job related to that, or will my laziness come along with me wherever I go?
Alter ego: You don’t want to think you’re doomed to mediocrity. You can’t be sure whether you’ll be any happier on behalf of gifted kids but maybe you should try.
Person: That’s probably right. I should volunteer a few hours a week at some school with a lot of bright kids or maybe even for a school district’s director of programs for the gifted. I should do a little networking, make the case that my skills in marketing and being organized and detail-oriented would be valuable there. I should apply to jobs anywhere I might be willing to live that excite me. If I get hired, fine. And if not, I’ll feel better for having tried. And who knows? In spending time around those people quite different from those at Western Widget, I may learn about something or about myself that I wouldn’t know if I just kept on keeping on with my same-old routine.
Alter ego: I’ll think about it.
Note: This is an only slightly tweaked version of a Time.com article I wrote.
Marty Nemko's bio is in Wikipedia.
