Is it time to change professionally?
When considering a career change, can we make sure we're on the right track? And more importantly, can we make sure it's the right time? Unfortunately, that much questioned and sought after “good moment” does not exist. Or at least not as an absolute marker that we could spot. On the other hand, we can much better determine if this change is not coming too soon or too late.
For three years now, Marine has been working in a communication agency. Her portfolio consists of several clients for whom she manages their press relations and organizes various events. But one Monday, this young woman in her thirties received an email that did not leave her indifferent; a job offer from another company. Marine has already received several proposals. But she plans to accept this one.”To change the environment”, she explains.
Guillaume has been an employee in a consulting firm for over eight years. Just hired after law school, he gradually rose through the ranks to join the executive committee. For him, no proposal in his inbox, but a profound questioning of his professional situation. ”I am bored, today I want something else”.
Like Marine and Guillaume, more and more of us are asking ourselves questions about our professional situation, and above all, to want to change. Whether it is for a new position, a new company or a job that would be more suitable for us. The health crisis has also exacerbated this desire for change. In France, 7 out of 10 employees have already wanted to resign from their current job, according to a study OpinionWay for Indeed in May 2022. And among them, 1 out of 6 think about it often, or even every day.
But To want and Take action are two different things. A question then often comes up in the equation: is it really time to change professionally now? Is it a good time for me to change? Both legitimate questions our world is becoming more and more complex and uncertain.
Changing jobs: is it not too early or too late?
In reality, This “good time” does not exist. Sometimes we can say later that “it was the right time.” But we cannot know or determine this in advance. Sometimes there can be a pure synchronicity between what we are experiencing and the opportunities that present themselves in our environment. But you still have to recognize it and know how to grasp it. The question we need to ask ourselves is not “is now the right time”, but rather “is it not too soon or will it not be too late?”
Let's look at the definition of the verb “to change.” Change means above all “to evolve, to modify, to transform, to vary”. We are changing FOR something that will make us grow in the way we work, contribute, and interact with others. Thus, this change can be too hasty if we are not ready to change our way of doing things, our posture in the face of our missions. Change jobs To repeat the same things doesn't really make sense, it will quickly lead to another questioning, shortly after taking on our new duties.
The idea here is to ask ourselves about our current situation: have I gone all the way in my evolution? Have I explored and explored all the learning opportunities that my work could offer me? In some companies, it is possible to enrich your mission according to your talents and desires, in order to find more fulfilment on a daily basis. We can then already change within our job.
On the other hand, it may be too late. Note that it is not a question of age here - we can change professionally at 40, 50 or 60 years old - but of evolution. This “too late” happens when we are entrenched in a situation from which we no longer learn anything: professional obsolescence.
Defined by Michael Kaufman in the 1970s, professional obsolescence means”the inadequacy of the up-to-date knowledge or skills necessary for a worker to continue to perform perfectly in his current or future professional activity”. Our skills are outdated or insufficient to remain useful. We have also entrenched ourselves in a situation in which we can only think in a formatted way. In fact, we allowed ourselves to be locked into a narrow or toxic environment.
Understanding each other to make an informed choice
If it's not too early or too late, then maybe it's A good time. Then, the real challenge will be to make a decision and especially to assume it. No one will take control of our lives, and no one will be able to decide for us if it is time to leave for other horizons. We will never be able to know if the current moment is the most appropriate. On the other hand, if we change too quickly or delay too long, we will pay the consequences. Let's not look for THE right moment, but let's know how to decide when it seems to be An opportune moment for what we want to evolve towards.
Change professionally is an approach that requires courage, but therefore, also and above all, a perfect self-knowledge. What do we really want? Who do we want to be? Where do we want to go? We can only make an informed decision by knowing ourselves.
And that is the whole point of Self-Leadership Program, a personal journey whose first goal is self-discovery.
