In a great economy, you have more options but even then moving and switching jobs has to be done with utmost care and thought. If you just landed today and realize it isn’t a good fit, you need to think about it carefully.

• Is your current position just not a good fit because you don’t like what you are doing? Perhaps you have only started to learn the job. Don’t make snap judgments.
• Do you feel like you are not being listened to by management? If you have just arrived, even if you were in management before, you may not yet have a good feel for the total operation. After a month or two, if you feel confident that you have a firm grasp of the organization and have some honest concerns, share them. Productivity improvement and process improvement have become a keen focus of management. If you know you can improve operations with a few tweaks, share your ideas with someone you trust to listen.

What if there are different problems with the new job?

The above bullet points assume you are in a reputable company and overall are treated with respect.

• What if you know your company or one of the management team is breaking the law? If you know someone is deliberately committing fraud or some other kind of corporate crime, let’s get organized with the value you did get out of the job, update your resume, and move on. You could report them if you had enough evidence but if you know you are in a place that is breaking the law, you can be guilty by association, time to move.
• What if your boss or someone in leadership is harassing you on a regular basis? Time to go. You don’t need that. Start a new search and do deep research to make sure your next position is with a company with people who respect each other.
• What if the salary changed after the offer (downward) or you suddenly find yourself working 80+ hours and being paid for 40? Time to reassess. Companies who change the rules or push unreasonable overtime hours on people without compensation or with no end in sight generally drain the lifeblood out of the employee. Start your search.

You might also find these posts interesting as you contemplate whether to change or stay put:

• What is on the economic horizon for job seekers?
• Why your resume is the foundation of your job search
• Why job search strategy is key to job search success

Stuck in your job search or existing position? Don’t know how to get unstuck? Hire an expert to do it for you. You will hit your target much more quickly and be doing what you do best instead of trying to figure your way through the job search maze. To find out how, Click here!

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If you lost your job during this time, you felt the angst and uncertainty personally. If you are a small business owner or corporate leader during this time, you have made hard decisions and given up many things you took for granted.

Perhaps because I have been a small business owner for most of my adult life, I have seen more ebbs and flows than the average person. I have never been able to count on a dependable paycheck every two weeks. But I also made mistakes and took things for granted.

What not to take for granted

If you still have a job, start by not taking things for granted. Don’t take the paycheck for granted. Don’t assume it will always be there, because it might not be there. Take a good look at your finances. If you don’t know what you owe to who and what interest rates those debts are at, maybe it is time to find out. Use a spreadsheet and put it all down. If you don’t use a budget, it is time to create one. Don’t leave out those cash expenditures either… they add up. Do you have at least $1000 in savings? You should. The car will break. You will have unexpected expenses. When you use up that $1000, put it back in there.

Don’t assume anyone – your employer, the government, or anyone owes you anything. Take charge of your own destiny.

I don’t know when or why I woke up, but I did. I decided that our first goal is to become debt-free. It is work to get there and it will not happen over night. I stopped financing anything with credit cards. Tough decisions.

What have I given up?

1. We’re operating on one car now. This means I don’t have one. If I need to go anywhere, I have to coordinate with my husband or someone else to get me from point A to point B or walk. My friend and WordPress Expert, Kim Woodbridge, shared how she lives car-free here. I am not ready to fund a car, car insurance, gas, and repairs yet. I suspect someday I will buy a used car but not now.
2. Though one of my biggest goals is to remodel the kitchen, we are not ready to do that even though I pulled the old, yucky linoleum out in November 2009. My husband got ahead of me and bought the laminate flooring but I refuse to put it down in a kitchen that 20 years ago needed a complete remodel. But I will not get a loan now. I just plan on continuing to move forward paying down debt and then saving to fund my goals.
3. I had given up health insurance after self paying for about 20 years but in January after 6 years of no insurance, I found a catastrophic policy that will cover a major health issue more to make sure that we wouldn’t get stuck with no income and big bills. But I have never been a run to the doctor kind of person and don’t plan to change that.
4. Colleagues have asked if I am going to the career industry conferences. I had a great time in 2010 finally getting to meet my colleagues in person and learning new resume writing strategies and career coaching methods. It was a great launch for running my business, Design Resumes solo without other contracts or sources of income. But right now, I don’t see funding trips to conferences as a priority.
5. Same thing with vacations. I work from home and work long hours but we have never planned in vacations or even much time off.

What causes economic problems?

Obviously, economic issues are complex and there are many causes. But I think one of the reasons we are in trouble now as a country (United States) and globally is that no one was willing to give up anything. We forgot every lesson we should have learned from people who lived through the Great Depression. We failed to plan and we failed to be willing to give up anything.

In this time of troubled economies, what lesson are you learning?  Are you putting something away for your goals? Are you being proactive with your career management? Or are you taking things for granted?

Stuck in your job search or existing position? Don’t know how to get unstuck? Hire an expert to do it for you. You will hit your target much more quickly and be doing what you do best instead of trying to figure your way through the job search maze. To find out how, Click here!

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1. There are people who totally get what I do and how I can make a difference in their lives and job search or career change.
2. There are people who think they get what I do and the value but are afraid of the investment into professional resume writing and career marketing services.

People who totally get the benefits of hiring career marketing professionals

The first group of people makes the contact and we schedule an appointment, they make the payment, and we get going on their project. They are people who research not only my services but other career professionals like me before they call or e-mail and they understand the value of investing into services that will make a profound impact on their ability to market themselves and they are people who can follow directions to reach goals.

These people are visionary in their approach to life in general. They are goal setters who understand the value of investment to reach goals. They look at the current economy as an opportunity to reach the next step.

When they hit a bump in the road, they rise above it and move forward. These people will land very quickly once we finish their projects. Once those people land, they are destined to be successful because they invest the same way into their new roles.

People afraid of the investment into professional resume writing and career marketing services

This second group works on fear factors. They are afraid of putting money into something that they have never done before. They are filled with self-doubt and fear and are sure that life will never be the same again when they hit a bump in the road.

If they are still employed, they still find it hard to do any career planning. They worry about losing their job but they are never proactive. Often they live paycheck to paycheck.

Why I understand both groups of people

I understand the struggles of the second group. As a self-employed person, I understand cash flow problems and wondering how you will pay the bills. I understand feast and famine. I understand how it can be to struggle with being afraid or depressed. I understand the fears of the unexpected.

But I also very much understand the first group. I have taken the plunge and invested into services to make my business and my life better. And I have worked very hard at managing my finances so I can finance both my present bills and my future goals.

I love working with the first group of people because they do totally get it and they are on the same page from our first conversation. But my heart understands the fears and worries of the second group. They wonder if investing into having someone in their corner who can ease the fears for them and guide them into the career of their dreams is real or just a pipe dream.

My clients are often confidential but you can see the success story comments here or read the recommendations on my LinkedIn profile. My greatest joy is in hearing my clients say, “we did it!” or this: “YAY – I got a job!” because then I know my services have once again proved themselves.

So no, cost isn’t the problem. The problem is letting fear cloud your vision.

Stuck in your job search or existing position? Don’t know how to get unstuck? Hire an expert to do it for you. You will hit your target much more quickly and be doing what you do best instead of trying to figure your way through the job search maze. To find out how, Click here!

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“I was let go so an underling could have my position.

She was an evil little woman who constantly took credit for all the salespeople’s work, even if she was never involved. When she reported to me, I tried to get rid of her a few times but my boss always stepped in.

I even complained of insubordination (going up and down the chain of command) because my employee frequently had closed door, one-on-one meetings with my boss. I was verbally reprimanded for the complaint and told the word “insubordination” had no place in the department.

Once my employee was given my title and responsibilities, things started coming apart. Honestly, she probably thought I didn’t do anything all day and was paid handsomely for it. She couldn’t do the work the position required.

Suddenly every problem was caused by someone else and every success was her own achieved with no help from anyone else (which was well documented in my file on her).

After getting zero credit for all their hard work, and all of the blame for things that really had nothing to do with them, the top sales people started to leave. Not for bigger and better jobs, mind you, but leaving just to be away from a negative situation.

She had been working (even while she was working for me) on getting a new job with one of our vendors. After two years worth of manipulations, she was finally offered a job and left of her own accord. The new sales manager let me know that nothing had been maintained since my departure and everything was in shambles. With the variance in our track records, he wondered aloud how the woman had managed to stay there as long as she had. He also said that as soon as the boss was gone he was going to invite back all the top salespeople.”

Is someone driving away your top talent?

Some people are very talented at making themselves look good at other people’s expense. Like the toxic personality, an individual who is a power grabber will eventually make the actual performers leave the company especially when no one is listening to the concerns of the team. Like the person with the bad attitude who is making the work place hard to enjoy, this individual in her desire to take all the credit will drive the real workers to leave.

I had a few of these people in my life. People who just simply resented others who were praised instead of them. They tended to bully others until they just left.

If I had a guess, I would see these people as very insecure people who lack the creativity and energy to execute the work themselves.

Do you have people like this in your organization?

Stuck in your job search or just ready to move on or up from your existing position? Julie Walraven, a professional resume writer and career marketing strategist, can help you write your resume and teach you how to find a new job. To find out how, Click here!

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