Psychologist Shares The Simple 5-Word Test That Will Tell You Whether It's Time To Quit Your Job
It can help you identify what you want and what might be lacking in your current position.
Dean Drobot | Shutterstock In a perfect world, the moment we felt even slight discomfort or distaste for our jobs, we'd immediately bail and go do something better.
The reality, of course, is a lot more nuanced and complicated, especially in today's economy. It can be hard to decipher whether you're in the wrong job or you're just dealing with normal work bugaboos. An expert has a method that might help you figure this out.
A psychologist's simple 5-word test to know if you need a new job.
It's worth noting that January is, for understandable reasons, the time of year when workers tend to become the most dissatisfied with their jobs — according to Glassdoor data, job applications surge by about 22% in January each year.
Surely that's in part because of New Year's resolutions about career development. However, it's also likely because all that time at home during the lengthy holiday break can provide a lot of clarity about how unhappy we are at work.
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Dr. George Sik is a psychologist at UK firm Eras, which provides recruiting teams with psychometric testing — assessments that help determine which candidates are best suited to be a success in a position based on their psychological make-up.
He said that workers can use these methods on themselves, too, to help them find their way through the mess of emotions often involved in making career decisions. It all comes down to values.
Dr. Sik said to identify the top 5 ways your favorite job matched your values.
“When it comes to job [dissatisfaction], it is more than likely that our values — work or personal — are not being totally fulfilled," Dr. Sik said. "Just like companies who hire candidates who fit their values, happy employees work for companies where, day to day, their values are being met."
He that to figure this out, you should think back to the best days of your career and ask yourself three key questions about that time.
- What job were you happiest in?
- What are the five aspects you enjoyed the most about that role?
- How many of those values are met in your current job?
Some examples could be the creativity you were able to exercise, the security of the job, the social aspects, the pay — whatever five words represent what you liked best about the job, write them down.
Dr. Sik said if 3 or fewer of those 5 words apply to your current job, it's time to start making moves.
Here's where the rubber meets the road: "If your top five values are being met, or even four out of five, you’ll likely be happy in the role, even if there is some day-to-day tension or problems," Dr. Sik said.
Even when there are moments of struggle in a job like this, they're most likely to be easy to solve. "Those problems are likely to be related to things that can be solved by your manager," Dr. Sik added.
However, if your job has fewer than four of the items on your top-five list, it's time to start thinking about your next chapter. "If zero to three of your values are being met, it is highly unlikely that your job is ever going to be fixed," Dr. Sik said.
In that case, it's time to let it go. That doesn't mean you throw up your hands and yell "Eff this, I quit!" (Though by all means do that if you can.) But putting your resume out there is definitely in order because you deserve to have a job that fits your values.
John Sundholm is a writer, editor, and video personality with 20 years of experience in media and entertainment. He covers culture, mental health, and human interest topics.