5 Signs You Should Switch Jobs

We're halfway through January and interviews are doubling down. Are you wondering if you need a new job? Get your pink highlighters out. If you identify with anything on here, you may want to consider your options.

1.  You hate Mondays. Like really hate them. Dread them. Not because you'd rather go brunching and drink more mimosas, but because you fundamentally don’t want to put any effort into the success of the company you work for. In fact, you'd like to see it dissolve.

2.  Politics > ethics. This is an important one. Let's be clear: politics will exist in every job you have, wherever you go, it’s the nature of working within (large or small) groups of people. Politics, however, should not outweigh ethics and ethical decisions in the workplace. Politics can coexist, but ethics must win. If decisions are being made to support political BS vs. what's actually right for the company on a consistent basis, it’s probably time to look elsewhere.

3.  You are consistently underpaid market value. It’s one thing to be underpaid, do good work, prove your value and ask for a raise. But if you are consistently underpaid below your peers and colleagues, you may want to move. I'm talking years and years, and I've spoken to candidates who have been underpaid for 10+ years in the same company.

4Ms: Moving Means More Money.

4.  Are you on Instagram all day stalking someone you knew 15 years ago? Pinteresting your basement? If you have the time to mindlessly scroll through social day after day, probably means you aren’t being challenged enough at work. If you aren’t being challenged, you aren’t growing. Go somewhere where they force you to grow.

5.  Sleep. Are you getting any? It’s fine to go through phases at work when you’re busy, stressed and can't sleep. If you’re not sleeping for an entire year or more (also have had candidates tell me this), you should probably take a step back and realize you aren’t a heart surgeon and deserve a break. A sales director at a big network once told me and my team, "Relax. We aren't brain surgeons. No one cares if we miss the deadline by an hour."

My friend’s husband is an ER surgeon by the way, the one that does those surgeries and delivers babies, and even he gets to sleep every 4-5 days. 

The point is, you can be happy at work. It does exist - the balance of being challenged, pushed, stressed, happy, scared, excited, fulfilled and paid adequately.