What to Do When You Dislike Your Job

Let’s face it, we’re not always going to be in our dream job, and at times, we might even dislike the job we’re in or the company we work for. Rather than view your job experience as a waste of time, or hate every minute you’re at work, there are ways to make it more tolerable and even beneficial for you and your career.

If you find yourself disliking your job, here are five things to focus on to improve your work experience.

Aspects of the job you enjoy. Rather than think about how much you dislike your job, focus your attention on the parts of the job that you appreciate. There are many things in our work that we cannot control but we can shape the way we think about our work and focus on the positives.

Building good relationships. Developing effective working relationships is a skill that transfers well to other jobs. Use your unpleasant experience to leaner to work with a variety of people with a variety of skill sets. This experience will serve you well wherever you end up in your career.

Expanding your skills. Your job, even if you hate it, can provide opportunities to develop and expand your skill set, either through on-the-job training, courses or classes, or by moving to another department. Take advantage of these opportunities to grow in your knowledge of the industry and to develop new skills that can be useful in another job.

The challenge of staying positive. It can be difficult to stay positive in a job you dislike and, yet, a positive approach to you job and career is critical to future success. Being in a job that challenges your ability to be positive will help you in future jobs, and help you develop the strategies necessary to maintaining a positive approach to whatever your job (or life) throws at you.

Building character. Like the challenge of staying positive, is the opportunity a job you dislike provides for building character by getting up daily and heading off to do great work and build positive relationships despite how you feel about your job. Take this as a challenge to deepen your character and you’ll become a better person and a better employee.  

How to Deal with Your Company's Uncertain Future

Market conditions and business realities can change in a hurry and, with it, plans for a sustained career with a specific employer.

When your company goes through rounds of layoffs or strings a few down quarters in a row, it can be difficult to stay focused on your job, especially if the rumors are flying and others around you have been laid off or are feeling pressure.

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Here are a few steps to deal with the uncertainty.

Stay informed. Be aware of the situation of your company and the state of your industry by attending company meetings, listening to calls with shareholders, or reading industry websites and magazines. The more you know about the situation the better prepared you will be to manage whatever comes. Be sure to have regular conversations with your manager or boss to discuss the specific situation your company is facing and how it might impact you and your team.

Manage stress. This is a particularly good time to practice self-care and focus on ways to feel healthier, both physically and emotionally. Eat well, reduce alcohol, eliminate unhealthy habits like smoking, sleep well, and practice meditation or yoga. The better you are at managing the stress levels in your life, the better prepared you will be for any eventuality at work.

Be prepared. It’s possible your company could file for bankruptcy, be sold, or go out of business. Any of these possibilities could lead to you losing your job. Prepare for this possibility by deepening your network of contacts, updating your resume, and becoming familiar with job search sites that will be most relevant to your work interests.

Diversify skills. The more valuable you are to the company the better your chances of remaining employed, and like the NFL, one way to increase value is to be able to play multiple positions. What that looks like in your company is specific to your work and industry, but it also means developing your soft skills, like conflict resolution or empathy, while also being a good accountant or engineer. Think about the skills and abilities your company needs to succeed and find ways to develop the skills needed to make a positive contribution.

You might not avoid a lay off or the impacts of the market on your company, but you can find ways to better position yourself for a more positive future.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: The Question Successful People Ask in a New Job

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

• Successful People Ask This Question When Starting a New Job: "Successful people are less interested in learning what they are supposed to do in a new job than they are in learning what value they can create."

• Should You Work at a Startup?: "When there’s a smaller workforce, you’ll spend more time interacting with your colleagues. This can present unique and fulfilling learning opportunities."

• How to Identify the Skills that Energize You: "Don’t let fear keep you stuck doing only what you’re already good at, especially if it doesn’t give you energy."

• 13 Habits to Boost Your Success: "Setting goals and boundaries, both personally and professionally, is necessary to sustain the life you’ve worked so hard to achieve."
• How to Boost Personal Performance and Improve Your Business:"This triple threat of mental and physical boosters is the total package that entrepreneurs need to thrive."

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: Why a Safe Life is a Mediocre Life

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

• Why a Safe Life is a Mediocre Life: "There’s a lot of risk and mystery in taking the first step. The inherent risk in taking a first step is found in embracing when you’ll fall, not if you’ll fall."

• 8 Daily Rituals That Keep You Laser Focused: "By taking short breaks, ideally about once an hour, you give your mind a chance to decompress and relax so it can refocus and concentrate again."

• 5 Skills to Put on Your Resume to Boost Your Appeal: "whatever the job they were trying to fill, communication skills and customer service skills were among the most sought after."

• How to Use Vlogging to Give Your Personal Brand an Edge: "Vlogging is growing at an outstanding rate for a good reason. People are invested in their favorite brands and the personalities behind them."
• 3 Things to Consider About Your Income and Retirement:"These are three key components to help ensure that we don’t run out of money. Make sure they are all taken into consideration when developing a plan."

High Five Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 8 Steps to Reaching Your Full Potential

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

• 8 Steps to Reaching Your Full Potential: "Commit to regular time for personal development and strategic thinking — space to think and feel. Begin with a couple of hours each week and expand from there."

• The Ultimate Guide to Bulletproof Habits: "The most direct, fulfilling route to greatness is not through grand strategy, clever maneuvers, inborn talent or the right connections; it’s the path of small, consistent and patient steps repeated again and again."

• Why Mindfulness is a Must-Have Mental Skill: "mindfulness provides for a non-confrontational intervention where you develop the skill to choose to pivot your thinking and stop the broken record of unhelpful thought looping on repeat."

• 4 Ways Working Dads Can Make More Time for Family: "The men surveyed rated work-life balance as the primary factor to consider when measuring success and as the third most important criteria for choosing a job."
• 5 Tips on How to Find a Mentor:"Ask what you can do to help your mentors. You may have assets they need. Don’t be a pest, but do send a relevant article or a post they might find interesting, or promote their work to your network."

Five Areas to Be Grateful for in Your Career

As we approach Thanksgiving Day it’s good to think about our career and the parts of our work lives that we’re grateful for. We’d also recommend a daily gratitude practice but that is a story for another time.

There are many aspects of our career that we might be thankful for but for now let’s focus on the following five areas.

The opportunity to do work that benefits your community and the world, while utilizing your strengths, talents, skills, and interests. It’s fulfilling to find work that interests you and enables you to use your strengths and skills to make the world a better place through your company’s products or services.

Working with good people. You’re fortunate when you work with a competent and dedicated team that you enjoy working with toward a common goal. You earn bonus points when there is one or two co-workers you consider a friend or enjoy socializing with outside of work.

Flexible work arrangements. Be grateful for opportunities you to work from home, leave work early to attend to family matters, or benefit from a four-day work-week.

A mentor. We should always be thankful for those people who have taught, guided, and mentored us along the way in our lives, education, and in our jobs. A good mentor should not be taken for granted, and he or she likely played an important role in where you are now in your life and career.

The occasion to advance in your career and to develop your skills. A great workplace enables you to gain new knowledge, enhance your skills, and provides opportunities for advancement. Be grateful for these opportunities at work.

These five areas can offer you the chance to reflect on your current job, be thankful for the positive aspects of your work, and can help you consider whether a change in scenery might be better for your career.

5 Ways to Think More Intentionally About Your Job

We pursue jobs and career paths for a number of reasons, including the basic need we have for paying our bills and experiencing quality of life at a level we’ve grown accustomed to.

However, we should take the time to think intentionally about our career choices and consider how the work we do impacts us, others around us, and the world. By taking the time to ask ourselves a few questions we can do meaningful work that not only allows us to make a living, but also makes a difference in the lives of others.

Answer the following questions and consider how you can use your talents and skills to make the world a better place.

Am I clear about the talents and skills I possess, and do I put them to use in my current job? If you haven’t taken an inventory of your skills and talents now is the time. Identifying what you are good at and the things that interest you can ensure that you are doing work that is satisfying and meaningful to you.

What problems in my community or in the world particularly trouble me, and do I have the talents and skills to help solve any of these problems? Many successful businesses and products start with attempting to find a solution to a problem. The same approach can help you with you career. Are there problems or issues you are passionate about? If you are passionate about the environment, the fair treatment of animals, reducing gun violence, or any number of other social issues, you might find the right job or career by thinking through some solutions to the issue or problem and, if you have the skills and talents, joining a company or organization that currently works on that issue, or perhaps taking on a entrepreneurial role and starting something of your own.

What good does my current work or company bring to our customers or clients? Take a serious look at the work you are currently doing and ask yourself who benefits? And how do they benefit? Consider whether your products or services enhance the lives of your clients and customers, supporting them to be better people, or whether your company primarily enriches the owners, without any noticeable social benefit to your community or the world.

Does the work I do, or am interested in doing, cause harm to anyone or anything? Do the products or services provided to your customers or clients cause harm? This can be a difficult question to ask and we might be tempted to downplay the harm. For example, does your company primarily sell food that is unhealthy for people, or produce products that expose customers to toxins? How might you answer that question if you work for a cigarette company or an arms manufacturer?

If the answer to the previous question is yes, is there a way to mitigate that harm by changing processes or products? In many situations, companies can mitigate or eliminate the harm their products cause by making some changes, eliminating a toxic ingredient, or instituting new practices that are more environmentally responsible. If you’re not in a position to recommend such changes you might need to reconsider your current job or career plans.

Take some time today to think more intentionally about the work you do and the impact your products and services have on your community and the world.   

5 Skills to Develop to Move Ahead in Your Career

Fortunately, for those who want to get ahead in their careers and continue learning, there are abundant opportunities to develop new skills that can benefit us in our jobs and business life.

Obviously, not all skills are equal or equally-applicable but the following five skills will serve you well in just about any career path you go down.

1. Public speaking. The ability to clearly and effectively articulate your ideas and thoughts to an audience--whether one person, a small group, or at a large conference--can make you a sought expert in your field. Sign up for a public speaking class at a local community college, or join your area Toastmasters club.

2. Project management. Developing the ability to manage a team around the completion of a project or product is a skill sought by many companies. There are many project management training programs and certification options available through local colleges and training companies.

3. Foreign-language. Learning a foreign language can be particularly useful if you work for a global company or want to in the future. Perhaps your company is expanding into a new country or you want to expand your opportunities here. Learning Spanish is a great option for workers in the U.S. and there are classes everywhere, from community colleges and language schools, to online courses available in your home or at the library.

4. Financial management. For anyone interested in moving into leadership or management roles in the future it is important to develop finance and accounting skills. A good understanding of financial management can give you an edge when looking for that first management position.

5. Coding. The influence of technology on the workplace will continue to grow and there will be an increased need for people who can create new technologies and develop new apps. You can learn to code at a local technology school or in the comfort of your own home through an online program like codecademy.