by Fabianna Mueti | Nov 18, 2019 | Career Happiness, Happy Workplaces, Mapping and Transition
Feeling stuck in our careers is something that most of us have felt at one point in our careers. It’s one thing to be aware of it and take steps to get out of it, but it’s another thing when you’re not aware of why things just feel “different”. So what should you be looking out for to increase this awareness? Read on!
1. You dread Mondays – You used to enjoy going to work on Monday. Thank God it’s Monday, you’d think. And now, the thought on Sunday evening feels dreadful. What could have shifted? Are the responsibilities you hold no longer interesting to you? Has something shifted in your relationships with your colleagues? Did your role recently change and you’re not enjoying the new tasks? When was the last time you went on leave? Has your workload increased?
2. You’re apathetic in work conversations – which is also interpreted by colleagues as you being “different” – People/your supervisor notice that you’ve lost the spark at work. You’re detached from lunch conversations, are not laughing at work jokes as much as you used to and the aura is just “different”.
You’re less engaged in work conversations and are no longer expressing your thoughts and your enthusiasm has dipped. Take note of how you participate in work conversations; are people pointing out that you suddenly seem withdrawn? Do you feel drained partaking in these discussions? This could be a sign that you’re craving a new environment, and are itching for a change.
3. You’re doing the bare minimum – Finding yourself focusing on minimal tasks that are not adding utmost value and procrastinating on completing high priority tasks? Does work that used to energize you now feel draining? Could it be that your work has become monotonous and routine and you are resisting accomplishing these tasks as a way of letting out your frustrations?
4. You’re getting distructed a lot – Suddenly, you’re scrolling through your social media apps more than usual. You get excited when you get a notification because it destructs you from your work, and you almost look forward to these destructions happening because they take you away from something you now no longer enjoy. Does this sound familiar?
Feeling stuck and looking for a way to ignite your passion? This short video shows you where to start.
If you feel stuck, check out this article on 3 ways to get unstuck in a career rut.
Our Career Acceleration Program has supported dozens of professionals to gain the clarity, confidence, and skills to take bold steps. If you are looking for a rapid transformational (and hard-core learning) program, talk to us today! happycareers@edgeperformance.co.ke
Follow us on our social media platforms, where you can also find more content like this: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
by Fabianna Mueti | Oct 31, 2019 | Career Happiness, Happy Workplaces, Mapping and Transition
We’ve all been there. Growing up, most of us imagined that working in big corporate organizations was the ONLY way you could be deemed to be successful in life. With the big fat salaries and perks? Who would not want to work there?
Today, 80% of job opportunities in Kenya are in the small and growing business space. And while most of them don’t guarantee a fat cheque at the end of every month, you’re most certainly guaranteed of rapid growth, hands-on learning opportunities, diverse exposure and your successes are recognized thus making you more innovative and resilient. Don’t get me wrong, the same can be the case in a corporate setting, but the truth is, your contribution in a smaller organization is felt more directly and faster and your ideas don’t need several staircases to be approved. Moreover, the opportunities to grow horizontally are endless thus the options to mold your career can be limitless.
Growing a career in small growing businesses is however not for everyone! If you love order, structure and stability, you may find this working environment quite difficult to adapt and thrive.
Many of us occasionally complain about the workload in the workplace. And while the above advice can seem like it’s well-intentioned and probably realistic, this is not always the case.
Recognizing the need to push yourself out of your comfort zone is critical to you evolving in your career. It’s one thing for your supervisor to ask you to clean the dishes when your role is that of an Assistant Project Officer; then by all means; say NO to that. But it’s another thing when your supervisor asks you to draft a proposal to a donor, a role currently not in your JD. Before rejecting the offer, take a step back and reflect; what skills could you learn?
Obviously, be intentional about how much workload you accept in addition to your day to day, else you risk burn out. There are high chances that your supervisor sees the potential in you but is not communicating this clearly. Take the role and seek feedback, what about this role made you feel I was best fit to take it up?
Money pays the bills, and as some would argue, that money is everything towards having a happy career. But is it? Really? Living a happy and meaningful career calls for us to be intentional and conscious in making career decisions that align with our values. When faced with this type of dilemma, it is thus crucial to take a step back and reflect;
- What values in this organization align with mine?
- Am I really excited about the type of work they do?
- Will I love and fit into the culture?
- Will I grow? Is this a stepping stone to my long-term career aspirations?
At edge we are a great example of the life of a small fast-growing organization. If you are curious to learn more check out our blog with learnings from our team: What does career growth at edge look like
by Fabianna Mueti | Oct 22, 2019 | Career Happiness, Mapping and Transition, Self discovery
Did you just get back from a long or short sabbatical break (to take care of family, study, go on a discovery journey, etc) and the question of how to get your foot back in the job market is bugging you? We got you covered!
Today, we are sharing with you a Sabbatical Come Back Checklist and Tips. Check out the checklist here
As you tick your list, there are a few things that need a bit of thinking through and planning. Read on to find what and why.
- Update your CV to show your career break; it’s important that a recruiter/hiring manager assessing your resume understands why there is a gap in your CV. You want to give a clear visibility of your career ladder and decisions and leave no room for second-guessing. Remember there are many other professionals seeking the same opportunity as you!
- Utilize your network. Your network is your net worth. This is a strategy that should go long back, from when you decide to go on a break. The power of weak ties comes in handy. Who should you keep in touch with? And when you come back, what new connections do you need to create? With social recruiting taking over the hiring world, you want to keep your connections warm and keep building new ones. For more on building and sustaining weak ties, check this article out.
- Reassess your needs and values. Okay; let’s say you went on a break because you were just not feeling that job. Or you were just done with certain types of work environments. What have you learned about what matters to you? How is this aligned to the type of workplaces you need to be and the type of work that inspires you to rise every morning? What needs and values MUST be met in your next job? This way, you’re able to redefine what fulfillment means for you and apply to the right roles, and organizations.
- Research, research, and research – Most likely, things have changed since you took a break. This means that you need to take the time to re familiarize yourself with the industry you want to be in, new trends, roles and even networks. Interviews will then feel like you have been around all along.
- And if the job is taking some time to come along, how about you consider the not so fun things such as volunteering or going to back to school (if these were not your sabbatical options), it will go a long way in bringing you up to speed with the current realities in your career space.
- Lastly, but not least; consider working with a career coach to accelerate your come back. A coach will provide you with the tools and guidance you need to navigate the hurdles that come with job hunting after a break, and will also help you articulate yourself better when packaging yourself.
Or maybe you want to come back to a whole new industry? Check out this video, which contains tips on how to transition into a new industry space as well.
For those of you, who have successfully transitioned into new jobs/careers after a break, what worked? What did you learn?
Share with us on our social media platforms, where you can also find more content like this: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
If you’re in this chapter in your career life, and are looking for a partner to guide you, reach out to us today! Send an email to happycareers@edgeperformance.co.ke and start your journey to a happy career!
by Martha Karimi | Sep 18, 2019 | Career Happiness, Mapping and Transition
Workplace happiness and career satisfaction have recently become a strong buzz in our streets and social circles. How do we measure what success looks like? How do we acknowledge when our jobs are becoming a real threat to our wellbeing? Over the last years, working with thousands of job seekers in recruiting and various career coaching programs, we are seeing 2 key factors that have a direct impact on both workplace happiness and career satisfaction.
Where do you stand? Read on for a brief self-diagnosis.
You know that endless uneasiness that slowly crawls into your day to day work? Do you struggle to get certain tasks started and procrastinate some until they become unbearable and you are lagging behind with your timelines? You feel unproductive and inefficient at some tasks, yet in other tasks you thrive! Only that the thriving tasks are a mere 2% of your work. So you often find yourself excited and volunteering in other people’s work. Sounds familiar? And still: You remember when you had a job you loved. You always felt like work is effortless and you would often lose track of time. This could also be experienced while doing outside the office tasks. All these are signposts that could lead you to discover your ideal job and what you should be spending most of your effort and time on.
Values are those aspects in your life you attach most importance to. Feeling apathetic in your job? A value has been touched. Feeling happy? Another has been tickled. Feeling infuriated? Take a step back, what about the actions touched your values nerves? Reconnecting with your values is easy! First, check out NVC needs list (google is your best friend) Then, take some time out to review the list and pick your 10 core values. Then, the fun begins! Cross-check these with your current realities. Which of these are you living or not in your current job? What impact is this having on you?
How about you start a one month journal? Every day you note down the type of tasks you worked on and how you felt about each. Observe the patterns of what feels effortless, fast, energizing, you are more inclined to jump into doing and the opposite. You can also seek feedback from your trusted colleagues. Somewhere in there, lies the foundation of the type of work you should be investing and growing in. You will also start to learn more about what matters for you and how that has shaped or not your career decision in the past.
Interested in a more in-depth analysis of your career satisfaction magic ingredients? Talk to us today! Email us at happycareers@edgeperformance.co.ke
by Fabianna Mueti | Jul 29, 2019 | Career Happiness, Mapping and Transition
The self-help industry (books, podcasts, and you tube) has made a fortune off of telling us that we should follow our passions and ONLY do what we love and are passionate about.
Contrary to this famous piece of advice; over the years, thought leaders such as Ben Chestnut, CEO of email marketing service MailChimp have challenged this, stating in one interview; “It should be, ‘Love what you do. Take the job, learn to live in the moment and love it, master it, and doors will open for you if you’re good at what you do. Turn it into a passion if you can.”
When bombarded with questions and thoughts around purposeful/meaningful work, we often find ourselves starting to digress towards worrying thoughts;
– So what if I don’t know what I’m passionate about, is finding work I love a dead end for me?
– What if I lack skill and expertise in what I love?
– What if what you love can never make me rich?
There are a couple of things that the above concept ignores:
1. That passions are constant – This is UNTRUE. Passion is built out of exposure, interest, and practice. I could be passionate about film making this year and later evolve into wild life conservation. Why put a limit on yourself?
2. Just because you’re passionate about something- does not mean you can earn an income from it.
3. Its toxic optimism and vague – we all know that finding meaningful work is not as easy as just waking up one day and doing what we’re passionate about. Beyond your passion, what more does it take to have a meaningful career? Follow your passion tells you nothing about the planning that is required to be successful and the layers of mastery required to ACTUALLY be successful.
4. Your passion is not the solution to all your problems – Could it be you’re unhappy because you don’t communicate your frustrations to your supervisor, and maybe, just maybe, you would actually be happy if you took the initiative to tweak some of the situations in your life? Welp!
In her TED talk- Stop searching for your passion Terri Trespicio talks compellingly about how searching for your passion or waiting for it to show up can make you miss out on pursuing exciting ventures, quoting “Don’t sit around waiting for passion to show up. Spend your time and attention solving your favorite problems” adding that “The most fulfilling careers are the ones that have the power to surprise you”. If you’re struggling to figure out what your passion is, or what is it that you want to love doing; listening to this ted talk is a good place to start. Sometimes, you have to learn and experience something in order to love it.
A quote from this article summarizes this perfectly: “Passion doesn’t fall out of the sky or emerge from thin air. It’s the result of experimentation, exploration, and curiosity. You don’t follow it, you find it. And you find it by discovering what you find engaging”.
So what will you try out today?
