Things to consider when changing jobs

Much like moving to a new home or buying a new car can be the very thing you need to bring a little more alignment into your life, changing jobs is a part of moving onwards and upwards that can feel like either a fun idea or a cold necessity at certain stages of our careers. You may wish to change your role for many reasons. Typically, money talks. Or you could want a change of direction or pace. Whatever the reason, moving onto pastures new is becoming more a part of life than ever before, with young people job hopping in ways that the older generations would have found inconceivable – I personally don’t know anybody under the age of 30 who has been in the same role since leaving education.  

Of course, you could have other more pressing reasons for leaving work, such as unsafe working practices, injuries, and slip, trips, or falls, for example – if you have been affected, contact this workers’ compensation lawyer Savannah GA. Otherwise, let’s look at things to consider when changing jobs.

Know your reasons (because it’s going to come up)

When attending a job interview, you may feel that you’ve prepared fully and well composed answers to get through almost any industry related questioning. You’ve studied. Maybe only for an hour, but you’ve got notes. Your confidence is high. You’re ready for anything. Except, you’re not really ready for anything unless you’ve prepared a solid answer to the question of why you’re looking to move on from your current role – stumbling over your words here will make you look like you applied for the new job opportunity on a whim, rather than looking like this move will mean something to you (in terms of your career trajectory) and that you will therefore give it your all. 

The commute is a bigger deal breaker than you might think

Getting to work and back every day is how you spend 39% of your adult life. Ok, that’s a made-up stat that I just pulled out of the air, but it can certainly feel like almost half your life is spent waiting for buses or trains or waiting for the rush hour red light to turn green. Anything more than around a 30-45 minute commute is going to take its toll on your mood. Regardless of how you feel about the job itself, your mindset will be more concerned with the 10 and 11 hour days you’re putting in just to be there on time and get back home at the end of it all.

Ask about culture

This will make no sense if you’ve only ever worked in very similar workplaces, but culture is everything. From the types of workplaces that take part in group activities like in-office quizzes or shared weekly dining plans, to the types of offices where people don’t know each other’s surnames and couldn’t even hazard a guess at the job role of anyone who doesn’t sit within a few feet of them, culture will mean just as much in your new role as the work itself. 

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