Take this quiz and find out if your career or employer is likely to bring you years of happiness and success, or years of regret. Identifying the warning signs can save you wasted and unhappy years in a job that is wrong for you. Really, you don’t need a quiz to tell you if you’re unhappy in your job or not, but sometimes we kid ourselves – it’s only a temporary phase, we say, or we believe we can put up with it, or we may even think it’s something else that’s wrong with our lives… meanwhile, valuable days of our life tick by … we begin to think the “warning signs” are normal and put up with it.
Answer each question quickly and instinctively – they are not presented in any special order because we don’t want your brain forming patterns and thinking of answers before we’ve asked the question!
1) How do you usually greet the end of the working week? Are you often a little disappointed that the weekend is here already, perhaps because you are so engrossed in an exciting work project or some work-related activity that you’d have preferred to continue/finish? YES NO
2) When the weekend is over, do you usually look forward to Mondays and bounce out of bed with enthusiasm to go to work? YES NO
3) Are you interested in and do you willingly participate in your Company’s special projects and employee schemes, perhaps even the social club? YES NO
4) Do you skip over or ignore the job vacancy sections in newspapers because you’re not interested in other jobs or because you’re not looking to see if a better job exists? YES NO
5) Do you have a career plan in place for your current position? Would you be interested if the company offered it? YES NO
6) Does your current position lend itself to interesting possibilities down the track in the form of promotions within the company, or transfers to other destinations or even to a sister company? Any possibilities at all that do or would interest you? YES NO
7) Do you enjoy the specific tasks and responsibilities of your current career? YES NO
Does your present job utilize your special talents and abilities, for example: if you are creative and are good at writing but you work as a clerical officer inputting data on a computer, then you are not utilizing your special talents and abilities. YES NO
9) Are you familiar with and do you care about your company’s Policies and Procedures? Do you know the background of your CEO and President and key people within the company? (Showing an interest in these things is an indicator.) YES NO
10) Do you meet new company initiatives with applause and enthusiasm? Do you believe those in charge are wise and know what they are doing? Do you trust your leaders? YES NO
11) Does any aspect of your current job resemble, in any way, the career you dreamed of when you were in high school? YES NO
12) Are you in your present job because it satisfies your personal aspirations, rather than fulfilling your parent’s “dreams” for you, or because it was expected of you? And did you apply for your present job because you were particularly interested in either the job itself, it’s potential, or the company? YES NO
13) Did you willingly go into this career/job/company without any pressure or influence from parents, family or government agencies who wanted to see you “financially self-supporting”? Was getting the job super important to you for reasons other than simply being employed and earning an income? YES NO
14) Do you tackle your work earnestly, happily working overtime if necessary? Do you approach work projects with gusto and enjoy completing them successfully, maybe even looking for ways to improve the job? YES NO
15) Do you interact positively with your fellow employees? (You see them as friends and not just faces you run into from Monday to Friday). Maybe you socialize with them after business hours? YES NO
16) Are you a willing helper/volunteer if someone is burdened with a heavy workload? Do you feel like part of the team? Is cooperating with your work colleagues easy and enjoyable? YES NO
17) Can you or do you see yourself still in this position or within the same company in say, 5 years time? Do you want to be? YES NO
18) Would you describe yourself now as mostly happy with your life? Are you feeling enthusiastic, eager, and cheerful? Is your health good? Do you sleep well? Do you feel positive? Are you generally satisfied with your lot in life? YES NO
19) If you have a family, do you find it easy to spend quality time (and weekends) with them away from work without stress or arguments at home or at the office? YES NO
20) Are you so content with your current position that you are mostly unaffected by undue stress or frustrations? Are you happy with the way things are and appear to be headed with your career and/or within your company? YES NO
21) When you talk about your job to friends and family, is it more often upbeat and positive commentary? Do you find you usually only have great things to say about it? Are you proud of your job and/or company? YES NO
22) Are you so enthusiastic about your job that you’d be prepared to do whatever it takes to succeed at it? Would you take on part-time study? Travel? Join Associations? Do you dream big dreams about it? Does it feature in your future “goals”? YES NO
23) Would you be sad/reluctant to leave your present position if you were put off or needed to leave for any reason? YES NO
24) Do you feel that what you do is appreciated, that you are appreciated, and that what you do is important – that you are contributing to a worthwhile goal? YES NO
25) Are your suggestions and feedback about your role welcomed by the Company? Does your Company encourage personal growth and offer training schemes to aid advancement, and do you eagerly snap up training opportunities? YES NO
How did you do?
If you answered mostly or all NO’s, you don’t have a job, you have a ‘sentence’. You are in a job that really doesn’t suit you, or working for a company that doesn’t suit you – or it may even be the line of business doesn’t suit you. You may be in this job to please somebody else. You should look for a job that honors who you are and your unique talents and abilities. It is your right to have a job that complements your life, that not only provides an income but also provides joy and satisfaction and fulfills your goals and aspirations. You deserve to work in an environment that provides mutual respect and support. No dream job is too ridiculous to consider… We know a lawyer who’s become a florist, a lower level office clerk who’s become a H.R. Manager, a secretary who’s become a nurse, an engineer who’s become a self-employed landscape gardener, a factory machine worker who’s become an IT specialist, and a Police Officer who now runs his own Boat Charter business. You may not be qualified for one of your dream jobs yet – but you’d be surprised what is possible if you know where to look and what to look for. And you should start looking!
If you answered about half and half Yes and No answers, you should spend some time thinking about where you’re headed. Either the job or the company may not be right for you. Can you find the same position in another company? Or can you transfer to a different position or different department and take a position that will honor who you are and your special talents and abilities and that will see you bouncing out of bed in the morning, happy to go to work in the same company you are with now? Is it possible to redefine your present position, modify it somehow to better suit you? If not, you’d best take more notice of those job columns in the paper! Life is too short to settle for second best. Our careers take up the best of our days – don’t waste your days. When we are merely existing in a job or tolerating a job, we generally lose enthusiasm and interest for many things around us and we are not giving 100% – this is neither fair to ourselves or the company employing us. Don’t feel guilty about looking at other options, inside and outside the company. You may be able to tolerate a lot now, but down the track you are going to feel it more and wish you had done something sooner about the way in which you earn your living. You could even consider opening your own business – here’s a chance to really do something that appeals to you and utilize your special skills and talents!
If you answered mostly or All Yeses – congratulations! You’re one of those lucky ones who has found their niche. Make sure management knows you are keen. Be noticed for all the right reasons! Only two words of warning for you – don’t become so engrossed in your job that it becomes your life. There is more to life than work – make sure you balance your work life with outside interests, activities and friends, and most important, make time for your family! Keep your priorities straight. Second word of warning: don’t become complacent. You never know when downsizing will strike, or financial disaster may hit your company. You may be 100% happy doing what you do where you are now, and that’s wonderful, but keep up a network of useful contacts just in case that “rainy day” arrives. Keep your eyes open on what is available and what the trends are in the market place. You may never voluntarily look for another job, but circumstances may change this for you.
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Very informative blog. Really Great.