When and how often can you change jobs? Is it worth staying in one place for a long time and my “crooked” resume for 3 years at one job?

Hello, dear blog readers! Sometimes people are so afraid of change that they are ready to devote themselves to something they don’t love all their lives. And sometimes they do not know how to cope with a creative crisis, radically changing not only their place of work, but even their profession. Therefore, today I want to tell you about exactly how and when it is better to change jobs.

Attitude to work

There is such a thing as negative transference. That is, when we, for example, get a job, we fall madly in love with it, because the boss is wonderful, the team is friendly, the salary is high, and so on. But over time, charm will definitely be replaced by disappointment, because we will begin to notice the reality when colleagues turn out to be actually two-faced, and bosses are despotic at times, etc.

Or, on the contrary, we end up in the office for some reason, and we categorically don’t like it, but literally after a couple of months we realize how lucky we are. This is a negative transfer, it usually occurs after about six months, but each person is individual, there are people who take years for this process. Some adapt to it, coming to terms with the imperfections of the world, and overcome negative crisis moments. Others, as soon as they encounter disappointment, run away in search of something better, and so on in a circle. And it is very important to learn to distinguish when it’s time to write a statement and when to just wait, especially if the decision is made in the heat of the moment.

Reasons to look for a new place

Health

Sometimes when we don't trust our feelings and thoughts, our body tries to reach our consciousness through symptoms. Therefore, if you have noticed that in the last year you have begun to get sick often, if you feel unwell, and doctors cannot make a diagnosis, think about what your body is trying to say with this? Take a vacation if possible and observe yourself. If you notice that you physically feel much better on weekends, then this is a serious reason to start looking for a new job. So you shouldn’t blame everything on lack of sleep and fragile health; in fact, the reasons for poor health may lie on the surface, you just need to be honest with yourself.

Your productivity is dropping

It seems that you are trying as hard as before, but you understand that there is practically no benefit from this. In the morning you take a long time to gather your thoughts, you delay the start of your working day until the last moment, calmly drinking coffee with your employees, and in general, you slow down very much. A particularly striking sign is if time has become rubbery, and you look forward to the evening, constantly looking at your watch.

And it doesn’t matter if your bosses didn’t support your initiative, ruined your relationship, or you initially didn’t have the motivation to work there, but I think you already know what the right thing to do is. Where you do not feel useful, you will not feel fully happy, and neither you nor the company will benefit from your activities.

Stagnation

If you have more responsibilities, but management is still unhappy, or you stayed late to do more and get a promotion, but to no avail. And what’s worse, there are no prospects for further career growth at all. Agree, there is no point in staying for a long time in a place where you cannot demonstrate your abilities and get the opportunity to earn more. Stability is good, but the world does not stand still, and some changes should still be made, especially in the amount of wages. Otherwise, you risk losing self-respect, as you will understand that your work is not valued.

Not enough time for personal life

There are so many things to do that you don’t have time to relax and be with your loved ones. Sometimes this is justified if you get full value for your sacrifices, which makes it possible to achieve your goals faster. Provided that this is temporary and the family is ready to be patient and wait.

You have become very irritable, and for a long time

You look forward to the weekend, but on weekdays you feel very unhappy. Only if this state lasts too long, otherwise at the first reluctance to go on shift and the thought that I want to do something else, you can quit, and then regret your decision, realizing that it was a momentary weakness or a negative transference has occurred.

Do you need to quit?

First, try talking openly with your boss about the reason for wanting to leave the company. He may be able to assign you another project, give you more responsibilities and opportunities to unleash your potential. In the case of dissatisfaction with the level of payment, it is more difficult, especially if you are used as a labor force without paying extra for overtime, but then there will be fewer doubts, you will leave with a sigh of relief.
To understand the true motivation for making a decision to quit, try to answer yourself the question by choosing the appropriate wording: are you running from something or, conversely, towards something?
If you have long understood that you don’t have the strength to stay, but are simply afraid of change, then remember the article, we talked about how important it is to look fear in the face and take the first step, because in fact, this is the only way to cope with it. So tell yourself: “I'm afraid...” and move forward towards something new, because life passes, and it is important to appreciate every moment of it, and not wait for the weekend to come soon.

Monitoring

How do you understand that you are devaluing yourself and it’s time to make changes? Yes, it’s easy, you just need to monitor payments in other companies for the same duties as yours. And if the difference is noticeable, write a statement without any regrets.

If the decision has already been made

If you have decided to quit, you should not express your true opinion about them to your colleagues and superiors. Life is very unpredictable, and suddenly you decide to return, realizing that you made a mistake - they will definitely not be happy to see you. Burning bridges is certainly not an option in such matters.
Prepare the arguments for your decision in advance, otherwise they may begin to put pressure on you, persuading you to stay, sometimes even resorting to threats. Take this step when you are firmly confident in your intentions.
Be sure to thank management and colleagues for their time and experience, support, and sometimes even kicks for development. Even in the worst places, we gain valuable knowledge not only about the profession, but also about ourselves personally.
If possible, before applying, take care of the future by looking for interesting options in advance so as not to go “nowhere”.

Conclusion

And that’s all for us today, dear readers! And remember that changes mean new discoveries, new horizons and opportunities that should not be missed. Treat them with interest and excitement, the main thing is that you do not allow anxiety to reconsider your intentions. Especially if you see absolutely no prospects in your current place. The main thing is self-confidence and self-confidence, as well as the support of loved ones. Good luck and achievements to you!

The material was prepared by Alina Zhuravina.

Irina Davydova

Reading time: 6 minutes

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Everyone sometimes has bad work days or even bad weeks. But if when you hear the word “work” you break into a cold sweat, maybe you need to think about quitting?

Today we will tell you the main signs that it is time to change jobs.

15 reasons to quit - signs that a job change is close

Are you bored at work?– if your work is monotonous, and you feel like a small cog in a huge mechanism, then this position is not for you. Everyone feels bored at work sometimes, but if it happens every day for a long period, you may become depressed. Therefore, you should not waste your working time on online games or shopping on the Internet; it is better to start looking for a better job.
Your experience and skills are not valued– if you have been working in a company for several years, and management stubbornly does not pay attention to your knowledge of the business and useful skills, and does not give you a promotion, you should think about a new place of work.
You don't envy your boss. You don’t want and can’t imagine yourself in your manager’s place? Why then work for this company at all? If you don’t like what the result may be at the finish line, leave such an organization.
Inadequate leader. If your boss does not mince words when communicating with his subordinates, ruining not only your working days, but also your free time, your resignation letter should be written without delay.
The company's management does not suit you. The people who run the company are the creators of the work environment. Therefore, if they openly annoy you, you will not last long in such a job.
You don't like the team. If your colleagues annoy you without even doing anything bad to you personally, this team is not right for you.
Are you constantly worried about money issues?. From time to time, every person worries about money, but if this issue does not leave you alone, perhaps your work is undervalued or your salary is constantly delayed. , and if a compromise is not found, quit.
The company is not investing in you. When a company is interested in the development of its employees and invests money in this, work is much easier and more enjoyable. It is in such a working atmosphere that you can see the responsibility of employees and the trust of management. Perhaps you shouldn't stay if you don't have it?
While working your physical and emotional state has changed for the worse. Look in the mirror. You don't like your reflection, it's time to change something. If a person likes his job, he tries to look his best, because appearance and self-confidence are closely interrelated. But fear, stress and lack of enthusiasm have a negative effect on a person’s appearance.
Your nerves are on edge. Every little thing throws you off balance, you try to communicate less with colleagues, then you should look for a new place of work.
The company is on the verge of bankruptcy. If you don't want to leave the company you've dedicated many years of your life to during difficult times, you risk being caught in a mass exodus. And then it will be very difficult to find a new job.
You realized that the time has come when you just need to leave. If the thought of quitting has been spinning in your head for a long time, you have discussed this issue several times with relatives and friends, it’s time to take the final step.
You are unhappy. There are a lot of unhappy people in the world, but this does not mean that you should be one of them. How much do you need to wait before you start looking for a new job?
You constantly leave work for 15-20 minutes. earlier, while telling yourself “no one is working anymore, so they won’t pay attention to you.” When management goes on a business trip or on business, you hang around the office doing nothing, which means you are not interested in this position and should think about a new job.
You've been rocking for a long time. When you come to work, you drink coffee, discuss gossip with your colleagues, check your personal email, visit news sites, in general, do anything other than your main duties, which means that your job is not interesting for you and you should think about changing it.

If just the word “Monday” causes an attack of aggression, if the work seems routine, and the salary is mockingly small, if there are no prospects, perhaps it’s time to change jobs? In addition, employers themselves often treat “overstaying” employees with suspicion: they are already accustomed to their duties, their daily actions have become automatic, every step is verified, everything goes according to plan... One gets the impression that even if the world turns upside down , they won't notice it!

Look for a new job or stay in the old one? How to understand that the time to change activities has really come? What factors indicate that there are no prospects in the old place? How often is it advisable to change jobs so that your salary grows, but without turning into an eternal seeker?

Long time no see...

Representatives of different countries have different ideas about how long a person should work in one workplace. In Japan, where stability and settledness of every employee are encouraged, it is considered the most correct thing to work in one place for as long as possible. They say that in the Land of the Rising Sun, employees do not need to constantly monitor similar vacancies on the labor market in search of higher pay, because the Japanese salary is directly dependent on the duration of work in one place. In Europe, the best option is considered to be working in one place for 3-4 years: during this time, the employee has the opportunity to prove himself “in all his glory” and rise to the maximum possible salary for his work. In the USA, the period of time required for maximum career advancement has been secretly reduced to 2-3 years.

Unlike foreign companies, where more than one year of work experience in one place is already considered quite solid and sufficient to qualify for a promotion and salary increase, Ukrainian employers are much less loyal to “defectors”. Frequently changing jobs is not the most positive characteristic of a potential employee. After all, this may reflect a person’s lack of harmony in a team, the inconsistency of his professional qualities with the requirements and, in the end, raises a logical question: can such a person be expected to stay in a new place of work for a long time?

Recruitment agency specialists are unanimous: the ideas of employers and employees about “what is good and what is bad” differ greatly. Employers, as a rule, are wary of employees who change jobs more than once every 4-5 years. On the other hand, employees of Ukrainian companies do not have many chances to make a serious career in one company: managers, as a rule, are young, do not intend to retire, and staff expansion is not expected. In such conditions, the only opportunity for career growth is to change employers. Therefore, if the employee’s main goal is career growth, it is hardly worth staying in one place for more than two years. If within 1.5-2 years the employee’s competencies do not expand and, as a result, the salary does not increase, then this is already a “loud signal” to start looking for a new job.

Shift after shift, discord

Employers are alarmed not only by frequent job changes, but also by sharp changes in specialization. If a person first runs a transport company, then a restaurant, and today is applying for a position in an insurance company, according to experts, this does not speak of versatile professionalism, but of primitive ideas about business and inflated ambitions.

Generally speaking, employees of recruitment agencies argue that periodically changing jobs is simply necessary. And they even indicate approximate dates. So, for example, in sales it is advisable to change jobs every 3-5 years, in production - once every 8-10 years, but in science or art you can work for quite a long time without losing interest in your work. If a specialist lingers in one position and no longer grows, a job change may be advisable. It is believed that an employee who works for more than three years in one position loses the ability to develop. Therefore, employers try to promote such a person’s position or at least change his responsibilities.

When it is necessary to leave work and whether it is necessary to leave at all - everyone decides exclusively for himself, based not so much on objective factors, but so much on how much these objective factors suit or do not suit him specifically. No job is determined solely by salary, boss's loyalty, or proximity to home. Let’s say a person hasn’t received a salary increase for a year, but his boss is golden, the work is interesting, his home is 10 minutes away, and at home there is a family that requires not only money, but also attention. And this employee will think a hundred times before just looking for a bigger salary. And so it is in each individual case. Therefore, general recommendations may not work in a particular case, because no one except the person himself knows his personal aspirations, problems and concerns.

Age and temperament as a guide to action

However, there are many people in the world who are simply tired of sitting in one place and doing the same things. However, experts emphasize that the main thing in changing jobs is not to confuse changing companies and professional growth. You can often change jobs for practically equivalent ones without gaining anything significant. It is not always right to use job changes as a way to escape routine. So, for example, an accountant will not be able to avoid routine in any job.

Various studies show that most often young people do not deny themselves creative exploration, and the track record of 40-50 year olds includes no more than 4-5 job changes. The desire to change places is influenced not only by age, but also by temperament. Cholerics are the easiest to change everything they don’t like: in the heat of a quarrel, they can not only quit, but finally loudly “slam the door.” Sanguine people also easily move from one place to another, since they know how to adapt without any problems. Phlegmatic people, who find it difficult to adapt to a new team, rarely change jobs. As for melancholic people, it is better for them to change jobs only in extreme cases: they have no desire to change places, and an unfamiliar environment can even lead to depression.

"Achieving success" versus "avoiding failure"

However, according to experts, to become happy and rich, just changing your job is not enough - you need to change your psychology. Today there is a fairly popular theory that poor people are poor not because they earn little, but because they cannot imagine themselves outside of poverty, they cannot imagine that they could dress in expensive boutiques, buy expensive products, and go on vacation to the most popular resorts. If a person suffers from “poverty syndrome,” he will subconsciously choose a lower-paid, but stable job - say, in a government agency.

The concepts of wealth and poverty, making money and spending it are very relative depending on who is talking about it. In psychology, there is a definition of the direction of motivation: “achieving success” and “avoiding failure.” These characteristics are present in the life of every person, regardless of the amount of money. They are formed by many factors, ranging from the type of nervous system to the upbringing and lifestyle of their parents (including the amount of money they have). These trends largely determine a person’s life strategy - both in acquiring wealth and in other areas. The unwritten rule “you have to pay for everything” remains in force. Striving to achieve success and wealth at any cost, you can lose love, friendship, health and, in the end, the same money. On the other hand, in our desire to simply preserve what we already have, new opportunities will inevitably be lost.

If a job is not meeting your expectations, there is a limit to how much you can improve the situation without having to change jobs. You may be able to change job responsibilities to some extent, although few employers allow employees to make significant changes to job responsibilities to better suit their desire profile. For this reason, you may need to change your job or even your field of activity. Why not?

How to understand that it's time to change jobs

The prospect of changing jobs can be intimidating, especially if you need income, but you're not sure the salary in your new job will be the same, or you're not even sure whether to change jobs.

However, in many cases, you still need to show courage, because often the reward for taking the risk of changing careers or jobs can be the pleasure that a new activity will bring you.

Most people are reluctant to leave their old job in search of a more suitable one. In their opinion, since work in general is not a particularly pleasant thing, then the new job is unlikely to bring more pleasure than the previous one. So is it worth changing jobs? After all, isn't that what we get paid for?

Since work, in essence, is nothing more than following the instructions of our superiors, and play is something that we want to do ourselves, we are sure that work must necessarily be unpleasant or tiring. We usually don't think about work in terms of realizing our basic desires and achieving value-based happiness.

So is it worth changing jobs if all jobs are equally tiring? Many people work 40 or more hours a week, 46 weeks a year. Weeks turn into months, months into years, and years into life. Probably, if in life you have to devote so much time to some type of activity, you should get at least some pleasure from it. Otherwise, you will have to spend most of your life doing things you don’t like. Life is too short to waste it doing work you don't value.

When deciding to change jobs, you also need to evaluate the extent to which increasing dissatisfaction with your current job may affect the quality of your job performance and, therefore, reduce your chances of getting a salary increase in the future.

When people hold onto positions that do not match their desire profiles, sooner or later this will lead to them performing worse. The difficulty is that desires force them to do things that prevent them from working.

Perhaps they spend too much time socializing, or they become bored because work tasks do not provide food for the mind. Race, for example, is distinguished by great curiosity. Whatever work he is assigned, he ends up thinking deeply about what he is doing, even if the quality of the work suffers.

No matter what, he just remains himself. While still in college and working part-time in a cafeteria serving food, he thought about food—where beans come from, why there are so many different forms, and so on.

It is clear that thoughts prevented him from doing specific work intelligently. In the cafeteria, he coped with his duties, but this work was not distinguished by intellectuality.

Throughout his life, Rase was poor at work that was not intellectually challenging—the need to use his mind was so strong that he had difficulty concentrating on mindless work.

I hope that the above discussion will encourage some readers to question whether it is worth changing jobs, and to take the decisive, albeit risky, step of changing jobs that do not satisfy them. If you're one of those readers who is considering a career change, or you're deciding which career path to pursue, you can now use the Desire Profile to assess how fulfilling the career you're considering will be. Let's see how to do this.

Is it worth changing jobs if in doubt?

Answer the six questions listed above. Then carefully consider the results depending on how they turned out. You may decide that you should change jobs. Even if you can't afford it now, examining your own professional life will allow you to act smarter, albeit in your current job. The seeds sown while working on questions will germinate and bear fruit in the future. And it may turn out that this step towards confidence will change your whole life.

A report from the American Psychological Association shows that shyness is a serious professional liability. The document "Social Phobia and Difficulties in Occupational Adjustment" provides an overview of the results of dozens of studies conducted by the world's best specialists in nososocial phobia.

Main thought: As a rule, Shy people are underestimated and paid less than they deserve. They have fewer opportunities to find jobs that match their education and abilities. Shy people have less stable careers throughout middle age.

When I worked as a kindergarten teacher, I loved walking into a room with confidence, hearing joyful voices and seeing happy children's faces. Now I understand that feeling at ease in the company of four or five year olds is not God knows what an achievement. And yet, I felt very comfortable in the circle of gnomes.

This was the problem: I began to imitate them in conversations. I communicated with adults only once a month, on Mondays, during parent-teacher meetings. At one of these summits of educators and parents, I needed to leave. I stood up and announced:

Sorry, I need to pee-pee.

And to the sound of muffled giggling, she went “to the potty.”

This incident was enough for me. Right in the closet, I made the decision to quit my current job at the end of the semester and enter the adult world. Communication with children under six years old did not get rid of my shyness and did not greatly enrich my vocabulary. I just sat in a well-trodden rut. But I understood: if I want to become confident in myself, it’s time to get out of this rut.

On the last day of work we had a small party. Having hugged and kissed, we said to each other: “Bye! I'll kill you!" And I entered the frightening adult world.

If shyness has completely tormented you, and work does not bring relief, it’s time to change it. But the unfortunate facts don't end there.

In the world of professionals, shy people can simply eat.

You're probably underestimating yourself as a professional, and statistically speaking, so is your employer. Employers often deprive Shy people.

If you're ready to put your career under scrutiny, give yourself an interview. Seriously ask yourself the following questions and answer them:

Is my nine-to-five job making my shyness worse?
Am I doing easier work than I could?
Are my skills and education useful at work?
Have you found it difficult to adjust to my current job?
Am I able to achieve greater harmony between my work and life goals?
And of course, the most important question: Does my current position allow me to change jobs?

Most people at one time or another cannot afford to change jobs. However, take the next step to confidence.

The Village, with the help of experts, continues to find answers to operational questions. This time we learned about how to understand that it’s time to change jobs, how to distinguish the fatigue that has accumulated over a year without vacation from a career crisis, and whether it’s worth changing everything dramatically if you no longer like your job.

Svetlana Kataeva

Managing partner of the personnel company AVRIO Group Consulting

Three signs that it's just the blues:

You begin to get tired and bored faster, especially when doing the least favorite part of your job. But when switching to other types of work, this condition quickly passes.
You are all with great pleasure and are increasingly ready to go have coffee with your colleagues, to get distracted, just so as not to deal with current tasks.
When you wake up in the morning, you are very upset that it is only Tuesday, Wednesday and so on and you need to go to work.

Three signs that it’s most likely time to change jobs.

You begin to get tired faster when you do any kind of work, even work that is familiar and understandable to you. And when switching to other tasks, this feeling does not go away, and sometimes intensifies.
Going out with colleagues for coffee or lunch does not inspire enthusiasm at all. It seems to you that everyone is talking about the same thing and nothing new is happening. You are not developing.
You constantly feel like you are underestimated and don’t understand that management is doing everything wrong.

In both the first and second cases, it is best to first take a short vacation if possible and be sure to go somewhere for a change of scenery. It’s best to go to nature, in a not very crowded place. For the first two or three days, it’s better not to think about anything at all, just relax, unload your brain. Then, gradually recovering, analyze the causes of fatigue and dissatisfaction.

Try to be honest with yourself: find external and internal reasons. External ones can almost always be changed. If the reasons are external (for example, the manager does not give me the promised increase, and this constantly demotivates me and poisons my mood), then be sure to talk with the manager, get feedback on your work and next steps. If the reasons are internal (for example, you don’t like the functionality at your workplace, you’ve been wanting to do something else for a long time, and this is not possible within this company), then perhaps it’s time for you to hit the road and look for a new job! Another important indicator: if after a great vacation your battery lasts for several days, and then apathy and melancholy return, then these are serious symptoms. And perhaps it’s not just about the desire to change jobs, but there are deeper reasons.

I always recommend meetings and communication with friends and loved ones to better understand, and in some cases a visit to a psychologist, this will also help to better understand what exactly is happening to you. Meetings with not the closest, but successful and, most importantly, positive people are also useful; communication with such people always gives new thoughts and impulses for development. Finding a new job is also an energy-consuming process, and if you go through interviews tired and depressed, it is unlikely that you will be interesting to anyone.

Marina Melia - junior

General Director of the consulting company "MM-Class"

We are often contacted by people who are at a professional crossroads. Some people feel emotional burnout, others feel like they have reached the ceiling and have nowhere to develop, others want to escape office slavery and become a free artist.

Often we do not understand the factors that created this snowball. Let's try to understand them. First, we analyze the current situation, analyze what we like about work and what makes life unbearable. And we think about what to do. I will try to summarize the questions that I always ask clients to answer in order to create a universal checklist for their own professional audit.

Do I enjoy what I do every day?
- Does my salary correspond to the market?
- Am I ready to expand the range of my responsibilities and take on more responsibility?
- Do I want to continue working with this manager?
- Do I feel comfortable with my colleagues, and do they feel comfortable with me?
- Is everything comfortable for me at my workplace, in my office?
- Maybe it’s time for me to go on vacation?

The answers to these seven questions can be a starting point for understanding the need for change - and, most importantly, what kind of change.

The situation can be corrected by a conversation with the manager about growth prospects, a change of office that is closer to home, a transfer to another department, or simply a rearrangement in the office - away from the air conditioner or closer to the window. And sometimes, indeed, moving into another field or realizing one’s entrepreneurial or creative potential is the optimal revolutionary solution. It sounds simple, but to get to this point it takes time and an honest conversation, first of all, with yourself.

Elizaveta Efremova

business coach of the Russian School of Management on personal effectiveness and personnel management

From time to time, each of us experiences crises that can make adjustments to your life plans. Such crises are often associated with our professional activities. For example, a crisis of professional deformation, which is often observed among people who have been in the profession for 10 years. There are also small cycles when once every three years we have a desire to change something. This state in itself suggests that you are now ready for transformation and change.

But is it worth changing everything radically, even if you really want to? Throughout our career, we develop certain competencies and rich professional experience. But a crisis happens and people make rash decisions. Unfortunately, there are quite a lot of financial directors who become cosmetologists and psychologists. However, only a few actually succeed. The rest fail, and the desired positive changes in their lives do not happen.

If you are inspired by the idea of radically changing your professional activity, try to moderate your ardor and turn off this state of dissatisfaction. Maybe the problem lies not in work, but it’s better to make changes, for example, in your personal life? But if you feel that you still cannot do without decisive action, then the easiest way is to try yourself in a new field in the company where you already work. This is less dangerous than going free swimming. Here you know the specifics of your activity, you have more expertise, your management and colleagues know you better. Or you can immerse yourself in a new field of activity in the format of study or hobby to understand whether it is for you or not. Such a horizontal transition will take place with minimal losses.

You need to prepare for the fact that if you plan to change absolutely everything radically, then you will have to pay seriously for it. After all, despite the experience and professional value you have gained over the years, in your new field of activity you will begin to compete with those people who have just entered the labor market, with students whose level of salary expectations is an order of magnitude lower.