How to decide to change jobs if you are afraid to do it?

The desire to change jobs can arise for several reasons. Some are not satisfied with the salary, others do not like the busy schedule, and still others just want to try a different activity. To decide on an important step, it is enough to determine for yourself the advantages of a new place of work.

How can I leave something I put so much effort into?

To change jobs, you need to rethink your professional identity and abandon what is familiar and safe.
Naturally, this is scary. It feels like you're taking a step back and throwing away years spent developing your skills. When this fear hits you, remind yourself that the alternative is not particularly bright. Staying in your old job, which has ceased to bring satisfaction, will constantly make you feel unhappy. In this state, you are unlikely to work well and may make a serious mistake. And even if this does not happen, you will be left with the feeling that there is nowhere else to grow.

“I kept seeing my friends at work with opportunities for growth,” said Michele Westfahl, a nurse with 16 years of experience who went into recruiting. — Some moved to management positions, others continued their studies to improve their skills. But I felt that this was not for me. In my department, I grew as much as possible and achieved everything that was possible.”

If you feel every day that your job is no longer satisfying and you dream of quitting, remind yourself that fear is stopping you. Gradually start doing something to change your life and it will pass.

Stayed in one place for too long

A person must constantly develop. This also applies to the place of work. Previously, in the Soviet years, it was customary to work at one factory all your life. It was prestigious and was considered the norm. Well, the employer encouraged such employees with high pensions, as well as free housing.

Now everything has changed dramatically. Career growth experts say that the most optimal work experience in one company is from 3 to 5 years. After that, you need to move on and develop in a more promising and larger company.

If you work in the same place for more than five years, emotional stagnation appears. Interest and excitement disappear, you don’t want to develop anywhere, you become an office “gray mouse” who simply whiles away eight hours and lives from weekend to weekend and from vacation to vacation.

And that’s how life flies by. To prevent this, you need to change jobs in time in search of better offers. Even management in many large corporations believes that an employee who has worked for more than three years has already lost his competitive edge.

In the first years, an employee has much more aspirations and urges to grow up the career ladder. Later, according to statistics, this excitement subsides. Well, for management it is necessary that the employee strives and is interested in learning new skills in order to obtain a higher position.

In many companies, management is wary of employees who have worked in the same place for more than three to five years. They have the idea that a person no longer needs anything, he simply serves working hours in order to receive a guaranteed salary. This is unprofitable for the company itself, which needs new ideas for further business development. And it’s bad for the employee from the point of view of personal growth.

If you also have the feeling that you have already worked out in your current place, then do not be afraid to change it, leave your comfort zone and go “nowhere”. Perhaps you will find your dream job with a high level of income. Well, if you don’t try, you’ll never know.

I'll have to start from scratch

“The hardest part was leaving something I was already an expert at and going back to being a beginner,” Westphal says. Of course, you will need to learn a lot: master new technologies, adapt to unusual requirements, work according to different standards. But don't forget about the skills you already have. They will help even if you are moving into a completely different field.

Most likely, you already know how to communicate with people, plan your day, and negotiate. You may even be able to attract your old clients and offer them new services or make useful contacts with their help. All this will make the transition easier.

If you feel that you are missing some skills, develop them. Find online courses, video tutorials or blogs on the topic you want and learn. This will increase your self-confidence, and changing jobs will no longer be so scary.

There is a desire, but no determination

Let's imagine a standard situation. The average citizen has been going to the same workshop or office for forty years to perform certain ordinary actions. At home he has one team, but at work - a completely different one. Pendulum swing. A work schedule brought to the point of automaticity, followed by a dull rest in an apartment with a TV. Question: How much patience does a citizen have?

The decision to throw everything to hell and do something more interesting and useful does not come out of nowhere and suddenly. For many people, the decision to quit their job takes many months or even years to decide.

✓On the one hand, many of us want a change of scenery and festive novelty.

✓On the other hand, the fear of change does not allow a person to flap his wings and rush into the unknown.

Changing jobs is not a trivial action. This is an important life step that a person has to decide on personally. He needs to take full responsibility for the difficult choice. No one is immune from costs. At the same time, the winnings may exceed all expected results.

No one will hire someone my age

There is indeed an opinion in the labor market that older candidates are not as energetic, do not think flexibly, and do not understand technology. Therefore, it is important for you to present yourself correctly when looking for a job.

First, determine what broadly transferable skills you have and how they will be useful in your new job. Secondly, remember your experience - it is very valuable, even if at first glance it seems that it is not applicable in a new area.

For example, Westphal believes that it was her long medical practice that helped her move from nursing to recruiting. “During the interview, I was honest and said that I was a fast learner and that I was very persistent,” she says. “And the managers saw that I was a really reliable employee, because I worked in the same department for 16 years.”

Recruiters want to find someone who will do the job well. Show that you have the necessary skills and valuable experience to do this. Emphasize that your indirect path into this field of activity is an advantage, not a disadvantage.

Time for a change: 6 ways to overcome the fear of changing jobs

Your fear is understandable. Firstly, changing jobs disrupts your usual lifestyle and deprives you of a sense of stability. Secondly, you are thinking about changes, but you can’t be sure that everything will work out brilliantly with the new employer. Thirdly, the risk of financial loss, especially if you go “nowhere”. Fourthly, your inner fears manifest themselves. You are afraid of losing some benefits, authority or social status. You are afraid of condemnation from your family or even think about what complete strangers might say. Therefore, overcoming the fear of changing jobs is already half the success. After all, you wouldn’t think about changes if you liked everything.

1. Take a vacation. At the stage of making important decisions, it is difficult to imagine something more effective than a change of environment. And if you consider that the emerging job change is a responsible step, it means that your vacation should be as bright and memorable as possible. Take a break. Switch your brain to positive emotions, let it relax. Having received a charge of energy, it will certainly work with renewed vigor.
2. Analyze your goals. Talk to your inner self. Try to understand and objectively evaluate what you dream of in terms of career and professional growth. Then think about what you actually do to make your dreams come true. Do you find it difficult to mentally evaluate without missing something important? Take the paper. Divide the sheet into three columns and fill them in sequentially:

• First, write down everything you would like to gain in terms of career and professional skills;
• in the second, write down point by point what you actually do to realize your desires;
• in the third, list your job responsibilities that you do day after day.

Compare all columns with each other. Have you drawn any conclusions? It's time to act! Review them again periodically and edit your entries. This will help you assess how close or far away you are from your goals and desires.

1. Study the labor market. Have you analyzed your own goals and realized: to achieve them, you need to change employer? Start by studying the labor market. This will help you assess the real value of your professional skills, as well as understand what direction you can move in and what qualities are needed for this.
2. Plan for change. You need to be very careful when changing jobs. Don’t make decisions rashly, because even super-lucrative offers of a new job are often fraught with a lot of pitfalls. However, you also shouldn’t put off making important decisions indefinitely. According to psychologist Christophe Burge, a career can be made by those who plan changes, and not by those who decide on them out of despair.
3. Identify your fears. Again, take a piece of paper and make a list of reasons why you need to change employer. Then describe everything that scares you. Don’t be shy in your expressions, be as sincere as possible. Tell your silent interlocutor about all your doubts and misunderstandings that stop you and prevent you from taking a decisive step forward. As you work, you may realize that your fears are more imaginary than real. Put the first part of the list somewhere visible. Looking at it, you will constantly remember the need for change. And even taking into account possible difficulties, new prospects are worth trying to overcome the fear of changing jobs.
4. Help yourself. If you have already experienced unsuccessful changes in your professional life, and you are afraid of new mistakes, remember your achievements. After all, despite some miscalculations in the past, you have achieved new results. Do you really have no interest in sports and don’t want to conquer a new career peak?
5. Ask your loved ones to support you. If you doubt something, try not to make life-changing decisions yourself. Ask a close friend or family for help. Show them the list you made. Perhaps they will supplement it with new arguments that it is really time for you to change your job. More than this, tell them that fears and worries can stop you halfway and ask your loved ones to remind you more often of the positive aspects of change and why it is worth making an effort.

When you understand that your progress is stopped only by far-fetched fears, then you will consciously begin to overcome them in order to achieve your own goals.

I can not afford it

It’s scary to give up a stable salary, especially when not only you depend on it. For example, if you need to feed your family or pay a mortgage.

To overcome this fear, make a clear plan.

• How long are you willing to try yourself in a new field?
• How will you know that things are going well?
• What will you do if it doesn't work out?
• How long can you live without work on your accumulated funds?

Answer these questions before making irrevocable decisions. And be patient. You may have to stay in your old place for a while to create a financial cushion. Or juggling old responsibilities with a new beginning. Be prepared that this may take several months.

What if I regret it later?

Career mistakes are inevitable. Perhaps the choice of a new field of activity will also be wrong. But this does not mean at all that you need to give up on yourself. Maybe this failure will lead to what you are looking for.

In addition, it will take time to understand whether you made the right decision. Do not hurry. Of course, if you feel that the new area is categorically unsuitable, change something. But most often it is better to wait. At the beginning of any career path, everyone finds it difficult and uncomfortable. Give yourself time to get comfortable so you don't end up regretting an opportunity you missed because it seemed too scary.

What if I turn out to be a lousy specialist?

In the first months in a new position, you are bound to make mistakes and feel out of place. It will seem to you that your colleagues speak a different language and you won’t be able to keep up with them. Remind yourself that even though you don't know much, you already have experience. Gradually you will integrate into the new culture, understand your responsibilities and learn the professional jargon.

“Trying to figure out how my colleagues spoke and what they wanted to hear from me was like being in a foreign country,” Westphal recalls of the first meetings at his new job. — It is very important for me to know my business well and not make mistakes. The first few months I just watched others. A year later, everything changed completely. Now I feel confident in meetings. I was a very reserved, shy person. Now I’m completely different - and I like it.”

Remember that the skills, knowledge and experience gained so far are valuable and will help you. With this approach, the time of adaptation to a new place will not be terrible.

Dismissal

There are other reasons to change jobs. It happens that an employee is forced to be fired. This fact is perhaps the most unpleasant reason for changing jobs. The reasons for dismissal can be different - from the dissolution of a department or an entire company to the elimination of a position. In this case, the main thing is not to panic and not to look for the culprits of your problem. Even if you were fired due to failure to fulfill official duties, this is a good reason to analyze your mistakes and draw appropriate conclusions. This situation also helps you understand whether you want to stay in the same field or radically change your field of activity.

Dismissal is unpleasant not only for the person fired, but also for the person doing the firing. For most management, this step is not easy. But if this has already happened, you need to conclude that you should say goodbye to this company and look for happiness in a new field.