Hating Your Job Might Be Making You Sick

• 2-minute read •
Having a job you dislike not only sucks, it might also be impacting your health.

Job-related dissatisfaction experienced in your 20s and 30s can lead to overall health issues just 10 or 20 years down the line, according to a new study from the American Sociological Association.

“We found that there is a cumulative effect of job satisfaction on health that appears as early as your 40s,” said lead author Jonathan Dirlam, a doctoral student in sociology at Ohio State University.

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10 Tips on Making a Successful Career Change

Are you looking for more than just a better job? Are you looking for a more rewarding profession, one that better aligns with your skills, interests, values, and plans for the future? If so, be prepared to face a lot of reflection and planning.

It's important to take a serious look at the many possibilities and outcomes before you jump into a new career or field. Consider these 10 tips as you make a transition from your present career to your next:

1. Have a clear plan. The smartest move that you can make is to carefully map out an effective career-change strategy. This should include a detailed action plan that takes into consideration finances, research, education, and training. Keep in mind that a successful career change can take several months or longer to accomplish, so patience is key.

2. Wait for the right time. The best time to consider a new career is when you are safely ensconced in your existing position. It goes without saying that a steady paycheck can relieve a lot of pressure. There are many ways to take steps toward your new career path; you can volunteer or offer yourself as a freelancer or consultant. This can help you to "test the waters" in your desired new field.

3. Be sure of your reasons. Just because you're unhappy in your current job isn't a strong enough reason to make a total career break. Carefully analyze whether it is your actual career you dislike or whether your employer, supervisor, or office situation is the problem.

4. Do your research. Be sure to examine all possibilities before attempting a career jump. Talk to people in your network; read career and job profiles; meet with a career management professional. The more information with which you arm yourself beforehand, the more successful you will be.

5. Decide what's important. This is the best time for thoughtful self-reflection. Ask yourself what it is you really want to do with the rest of your life. Take an honest inventory of your likes and dislikes, and evaluate your skills, values, and personal interests. Many people who are looking to change careers do so to find a balance between their personal and professional lives, to accomplish the right mix of meaning and money. You may want to consider consulting a career coach and/or taking a career assessment test.

6. Examine your qualifications. Do you have the necessary experience and education to be considered a qualified candidate in your desired career field? If not, you need to find a way to bridge the credentials gap. This might mean making your goal more long-term while you go back to school or receive additional training.

7. Learn about the industry. Get a feel for the field that interests you. Read industry journals, attend conferences, and talk to people in the profession about what they do. Learn whether your target industry has growth potential. Trade magazines, organizations, and entrepreneurs have created a slew of Web sites that offer searchable databases where job openings in many specific industries are listed. Start looking at these sites on a regular basis.

8. Develop your network. Begin nurturing professional friendships early and tend them regularly. Professional organizations and job industry trade associations are a good place to start. Many of them hold networking events and job fairs.

9. Update your job search skills. It is especially important to polish up your job-hunting skills and techniques before you get out there and start networking. Make sure you are using your time and resources as effectively as possible.

10. Pay your dues. Don't expect to begin at the same level of seniority in your new career that you held in your old one. It will take time to move up the ranks, but if you find a new career that you absolutely love, it will be worth it.

Making Your C.V. E-Friendly: 10 Steps

It is important to provide a short, clear and concise electronic C.V.! Some scanning systems and databases stop reading C.V.s after a certain number of lines, often after about one and a half pages, so be sure that your most important information appears early in your C.V.

You can easily take your existing C.V. and reformat it for electronic submission. Here are some quick guidelines to do so:

1. Open your standard C.V. file on your computer and select the Save As command on your toolbar, usually located under the file menu. Select Text Only, Plain Text or ASCII as the type.

2. Close the file and then reopen it to make sure you are working from the new text-only version. You'll see that most graphic elements such as lines, images and bullet point symbols have now been eliminated. But if they haven't, go ahead and delete them. You may use equal signs in place of lines or borders and replace bullet points with plus symbols(+), asterisks (*) or hyphens (-).

3. Limit your margins to no more than 65 characters wide.

4. Use an easy-to-scan sans-serif type font, such as Courier, Arial or Helvetica.

5. Eliminate bold, italics and underlining if any remain after saving as text-only.

6. Introduce major sections with all words in capital letters, rather than in bold, italics or underlining.

7. Keep all text aligned to the left.

8. Instead of using bullets, use a standard keyboard character, such as an asterisk.

9. Instead of using the Tab key or paragraph indents, use the space key to indent.

10. When done, click Save or OK. Then reopen the file to see how it looks. Make any additional format changes as needed.

Now test your electronic C.V. by e-mailing it to a friend who uses a different Internet Service Provider. For example, if you use BT, send it to a friend who uses NTL or Hotmail. Also try sending it to someone who works in a large company to see how it transmits via their I.T. system as the body of the e-mail rather than sending it as an attachment. That way, they will be able to tell you how it looks when it shows up in their e-mail system and whether it is legible. After getting their feedback, make any adjustments necessary to fix it.

Making a gracious exit

The contacts you make at work are your currency. Former colleagues and suppliers can come in very handy for building networks, and may be valuable when you come to look for your next job. Not to mention the need for solid references.

For these reasons, make every effort not to alienate anyone, and stay on good terms with as many people as possible when you leave the company. You never know when you might need them again. Explain why you’re leaving, and keep it as rational and calm as you can, without making derogatory remarks about the company they’re still going to be working for.

People often move jobs within industries or have friends and family at senior positions in other companies. By slacking off or making a bad exit, you could be putting you whole career in jeopardy.

With suppliers, feel free to suggest they’ll be in line to more work off you in the future, once you’ve managed to get to grips with things at your new workplace.

Thanking the right people
Look around you and identify who might be able to help your future career. Make a point of thanking your boss for the opportunities they gave you, and make it clear that you greatly valued your time working with them and the company, whether it’s true or not. Never give anyone an excuse to resent you if you can possibly help it.

Try to talk to other managers and key staff around the company. Let them know that you valued working as part of the team, even if it wasn’t directly with them. There’s no harm in a bit of professional flattery either.

Leaving a clear desk
There’s nothing more certain to undermine your good reputation than leaving your successor with a pile of half-finished business. All your good relationships could be blown away in a moment if you do. Make it your business to tie up all the loose ends and leave your desk tidy and ready for the next occupant.

You’ll make your last few weeks that much more tolerable if you properly finish off what needs to be done, showing everyone how professional you are. If you’re chasing a final bonus payment, staying focussed on you work is even more important.

Creating a handover document
Even if you are sick of the sight of the place and everyone in it, the very least you should do is create a proper job handover document for your successor. This should include details of where important files are kept, passwords, the inside line on supplier or other out-of-office relationships, and any little tricks of the trade that might help the new person. Don’t forget to include important contact phone numbers and email addresses and anything else the may be of use.

Make your handover document as detailed and as long as possible. You never know, your boss may be so shocked about what you know and your value to the company that he will offer you a major pay rise to stay.

Before you leave, don’t brag about where you’re going, how great the new company is or how much you’re going to be earning. Remain humble and respect the feelings of those you are leaving behind. Once you’ve left, never talk badly of your old company or disclose secrets. It may come back to haunt you one day, and your new employer will definitely not respect your indiscretion.