Mid-Career Advancement Questionnaire

IDAK Job Satisfaction Survey

Need a Career Change?

Are You in the Right Career?

What do you want from your job? If you're like most people, your first priorities when accepting a new position are having a sense of job security and receiving appropriate compensation. Once these aims are achieved, however, you may begin to think about the quality of your work life. Are you receiving personal recognition? Do you feel a reasonable "bonding" with the job duties? Are your work relationships cordial and supportive? Is the workplace safe? Are the cultural values agreeable?

If your job does not fit you well, your productivity begins to slow down. You may begin to have accidents or make mistakes. Your reputation begins to suffer. The usual response is to try harder and play cover-up. These normal self-corrections cause stress and may even lead you to feel alienated from your co-workers.

A second problem arising from a poor job fit is a lack of personal growth. "Unless the tree grows, it dies" certainly applies to each of us at work. We hope that our lives will count for something, and when we consider how much time we spend at work, we may begin to realize that we are giving our best years to something that does not matter that much to us. We need to find a sense of personal identity with our work so that it brings out the best in us and we have a sense of reasonable pride in our accomplishments.

A poor job fit can have several causes, including a demanding boss, boredom, low pay and unsafe working conditions. Unfortunately, far too many people put up with an unhappy work situation for a long time and then begin to fall victim to the corresponding negative consequences, such as anger, irritability, depression and low self-esteem. This downward spiral is not inevitable. You can reverse the process by finding the job that best meets the criteria of your values, aptitudes and interests.