At times during your career, things may not go your way. You may be struggling to find a new job, or you may be dissatisfied with your current job or with the way your career is developing. When your professional expectations go unmet like this, there’s a natural tendency to disengage, to unplug.
When you aren’t fully engaged, your efforts are scattered. You don’t do your best, which hurts you, your employer, your colleagues and your clients. Your personal life suffers. You’re not using your talents to their fullest. You’re wasting time and are unproductive. You aren’t making a difference. In short, you’re sabotaging your career.
We all have days when our motors don’t run at full speed. That’s fine. However, you should be concerned with identifying if you are habitually disengaged, and if so, resolve to snap out of it.
Here are some statements to test whether your head is in the game or not:
• I am dissatisfied with my work situation, and I haven’t done anything concrete to resolve it.
• I tend to complain, put the blame on others or have a cynical attitude.
• I have one foot out the door, keeping my options open, but never act on them.
• I jump from job to job or assignment to assignment without really settling or making a difference.
• My performance barely meets expectations, or worse.
• I feel bested or outclassed by colleagues or customers when I’m discussing work-related things.
• My presentation is weak, sloppy or lacking direction.
• I don’t have a plan as to what my next steps are.
• Change your attitude. A reality check can do wonders in changing behavior.
• Throw yourself into your work or job search. Immerse yourself and see what happens.
• Identify what motivates you and see if you can inject more of those motivations into what you do.
• Find the good in your situation. What can you identify about your job or situation that is positive? Be thankful this.
• Identify the key success criteria for you, your employer, your colleagues and your customers.
Here are some ideas to build on the change you’ve put into motion so you can turn yourself into a rousing success story.
• If you make a change, do it with determination, passion and focus.
• Adjust your expectations. Goals can be energizing if we actively pursue them, or a real drag on our energy when we keep them alive without making progress toward fulfilling them. Pursue goals that mean something to you – dump the rest.
• Get help. If you recognize a long-standing pattern of behavior and believe its roots run deeper than career-management issues, seek professional help.
As a job seeker, you need to be engaged on at least two levels. Obviously, the first level is applying focused determination to the job search process. The second level is less obvious. You must demonstrate that you are fully engaged in your industry, profession or particular specialty.
– Copyright 2014. Monster Worldwide, Inc. All Rights Reserved. You may not copy, reproduce or distribute this article without the prior written permission of Monster Worldwide. This article first appeared on Monster, the leading online global network for careers. To see other career-related articles, visit career-advice.monster.com. As a job seeker, you need to be engaged on at least two levels. Obviously, the first level is applying focused determination to the job search process. The second level is less obvious. You must demonstrate that you are fully engaged in your industry, profession or particular specialty.
