5 Critical Exit Signs – Time for a Job Change

5 Critical Exit Signs – Time for a Job Change

Often, Exit Signs are quite obvious, yet we are so caught up that we fail to pay heed to these signs as definite signals for a transition, as signals that it is time to quit the current job and move on. At times we may acknowledge the signs and yet choose to be in denial because of the fear of quitting and subsequent financial and professional insecurity. In this post, we talk about five most telling signs for quitting your current job

Exit Sign 1: Even if it’s a Friday, you drag yourself to work 

It is not just the Monday blues, the blues last through the week and even a Friday morning does not drive them away! You find yourself thinking of new excuses almost every day to call it a sick day and eventually give up and drag yourself to work.

Exit Sign 2: The work-life balance is off-balance 

Remember how we spoke about work life balance in our previous posts? Well, if you find yourself nodding your head to this sign, you might have truly understood how important work – life balance is, at the cost of its disruption. If you find your professional frustration making its way into your personal life and affecting your personal relationships, it sure isn’t a healthy sign.

Exit Sign 3: You have stopped growing as a professional 

You do not find your job intellectually stimulating anymore, and feel like you have hit a dead-end. Stagnation in a job is one of the most obvious signs for you to quit. If there is no growth financially or in terms of responsibilities it makes sense to move on. If you feel your skills are not being made use of to the fullest and the profile does not accommodate what you have to offer as a professional, do give change a serious thought.

Exit Sign 4: You are no longer comfortable around your colleagues

You no longer are able to function efficiently as a part of the team and find yourself at arm’s-length with your colleagues and are unable to connect with them anymore. Not to talk about appetite for even formal conversation. You find it difficult to adapt to the work culture and environment. Office parties are more of an obligation and pain than pleasure or an opportunity to interact.

Exit Sign 5: Your passion lies elsewhere

You’ve suddenly started feeling existential and questioning your purpose in life. You feel crabby most of the time and feel like you have been wasting time all this while, while your friends have done so much better than you. You find yourself wishing, you had followed your passion, your heart. What was it? To become a writer? An artist? An architect? Well you know, like they say, it is better late than never!

These are a few critical exit signals. It is true that the prospect of change and diving into the unknown can be terrifying for most of us, however, we are only afraid of what lies ahead because of our lack of foresight as humans. Always remember that if you are qualified professional, or an entry-level professional eager to learn, or want to do your own thing, the job market is waiting for you, and sky is the limit.

Besides, your first job should not be your last job and money should never be the prime motivation – it always loses its sheen sooner than we think. Our Indian audience must be familiar with a popular beverage commercial – a dashing Bollywood actor pronouncing with great confidence while sipping the soft drink after having sky dived for the first time – “darr ke aage jeet hai!”  or  “victory lies on the other side of fear!”! Err, excuse the cliché, but in our defense, it’s not every day that we get so filmy! 

Need some help with drafting your resignation, or on how to quit gracefully? Read what we would like you to know about it, or get in touch with us!https://www.sincera.in/contact-us/

Resigning With Grace – How to Resign like a True Professional

Resigning With Grace – How to Resign like a True Professional

As professionals, it is only natural that we may want to quit the job we currently have, in order to move on and progress – for whatever reason we may have. There could be many reasons for us wanting to quit and we could be quite distracted/disturbed when the moment of truth approaches. Anger, nostalgia, pride, nervousness, a sense of loss, excitement are only some of the emotions you could be experiencing in your notice period, leading up to your last day. However, no matter how you feel, a graceful exit is a non- negotiable. Here are five things that need to be done, for resigning with grace, and leaving behind respect for you as a true professional:

  1. Resigning with Grace: Prepare them. And yourself.

    If it is in your control, prepare your manager/team in advance about your exit. It is bad enough for them that you’ve chosen to move on. The news should not be jolting. Have a conversation in person with your manager first. Be clear and courteous, and serve your notice period if that is what your manager needs. The time in hand will allow your work to come to a closure, a suitable replacement can be brought in and it is respectful!

 

  1. Resigning with Grace: Stay honest and polite in your exit interview

    Exit interviews are not venting sessions. But if you value your time at the organization and care for them, it is important that you give honest feedback about your experiences. Don’t trash talk. Tell them what you feel. You can be honest, but not rude. We believe many conversations must take place to make the world of work a better place. And if something needs to be addressed, exit interviews are the places to share.

 

  1. Resigning with Grace: Reach out to all the teams

    If you have been a person who has worked with multiple teams in the organization, and have some skills which others depend on, inform them about your exit. It is only fair that you make an open offer to them regarding working on transitioning anything that they need from you. That way they won’t be left in a vacuum.

 

  1. Resigning with Grace: Celebrate your journey

    For whatever reason you quit, once you decide to cross the bridge, know it is a new beginning. Your work stint would have brought you in contact with different kinds of people, allowed you to pick up skills, taken you towards your calling and helped you grow as a person. Celebrate that. The farewell might be a difficult time, an emotional time as well. But bringing in some joy, appreciation and fun will make your experience extremely worthwhile. And help reinforce the all-important friendships with the now ex-colleagues. Remember that it is these relationships that are the true assets that you take along with you.

 

  1. Resigning with Grace: Allow and acknowledge the possibility of a future association

    You never know when you may feel the need to associate in some way with an organization you leave, in the future. Be it in terms of work, or partnering with a colleague, reference from your manager, anything. It can happen. Don’t burn bridges. Leave a door open. Send appreciative emails/messages, be thankful. Tell your team/managers that at some point you would love to associate again. For an organization, it is always good when ex-employees come back to contribute again. As they say, it is a very small world!

 

Given the multitude of circumstances we may leave under, it may be difficult to leave on a good note. However, to end the post with the same note we started it with, resigning with grace is a non-negotiable!   Have similar thoughts? We would love to know! Do share your experience with us.

Changing Jobs? 5 Tips for a Smooth Job Transition

Changing Jobs? 5 Tips for a Smooth Job Transition

If you’ve made up your mind to change jobs, the transitional period between quitting and looking for a new job, or joining a new job you may already have landed, can be quite unsettling. But remember, “this too shall pass”. In this post, we suggest 5 tips to help you with a smooth job transition.

Think it through

Is your decision to quit a well thought out one or an impulsive one? If impulsive, then think it through once again. Career decisions need to be gradual and well researched, not sudden and abrupt. Of course, we agree that you do need to take risks at some point in your career if you really believe it is for the best. However, diving headlong into something you have absolutely no idea about, leaving behind a secure job and pay, can be a tad too risky.

Do a SWOT Analysis

A SWOT Analysis is a Strengths Weakness Opportunity and Threats Analysis. Use this opportunity to assess yourself along SWOT lines. Think about your new job and relate your Strengths and Weaknesses to it. Think about the Opportunities and avenues that the new venture will open up for you. At the same time, assess the potential Threats to your career if you decide on changing jobs. Write these down for clarity and talk to a senior colleague or friend who’s been working for some time and has an idea about the high and low tides of the job market. It is seldom wise to make such decisions in isolation. Talking always helps.

Make peace with your decision to quit

If you haven’t been impulsive and have thought this job transition through, you need to put behind any feelings of guilt you might be experiencing. Be loyal to yourself first, and then the company. You may have had a long and fruitful association with the organization, however, if you have realized there is no more scope for you to grow as a professional and that you desire more from your career, resigning is the best thing to do.

End Well

If you’ve been reading our previous posts, you must have noticed the stress we have been laying on this particular point. We are going to repeat it for you anyway. No matter what the reason for your resignation is, you must end your relationship with your current organization gracefully. It is more important for you to end well than start well, if you’ve landed a job with another company, you’ve quite obviously already made an impression! Ending on good terms, despite differences, sets you apart as a thorough professional.

Handover

The notice period will be your last few working days at the organization before your job transition. Winding up can be an exhausting process. Give the organization what you owe it and, make sure you receive what the organization owes you. Discuss this with the HR to avoid any last minute confusion regarding your cumulative pay at the end of your notice period, and/or any bonuses, benefits, insurance, share values you should receive.

Bonus Tip : Keep Calm and  Chant  “this too shall pass” – the odds of faith in the face of doubt! 🙂

Be #HappyInTheNow 🙂

Your Job Search Websites Checklist – Top Job Portals – Part I

The title of the post says it all, so let’s dive right into learning about some of the best job portals you should definitely check out when actively looking for a job.

Monster 

Monster is how it all began. This site is the one of the oldest  job portals in the world and has very successfully managed to sustain itself still as one of the most efficient search engines. The site not only lists full time jobs, it also lists part time and hourly jobs in every career field that there is. Monster (monster.com/monster.co.in) goes beyond simply listing jobs, it also publishes tons of relevant career related articles and advice.

The privacy feature on Monster works as a boon if you do not want a company to come across your resume, and especially if that company is currently where you are working at! Speaking of sustainability (and scalability) of a business model for over 2 decades in the most fiercely competitive market – the internet, Monster has probably been able to thrive and grow by constantly innovating. It is the father of the BeKnown application for Facebook, which allows you to take your job search to the biggest social network in the world.

Naukri.com

is another job-hunting behemoth of India that has been around since 1997. Naukri has a well organized website, advertising jobs by sector, location, designation, skills and company. It also provides career services by the name of Naukri FastForward, which include resume writing help, resume reviews as well as getting connected with recruiters in your domain. Having survived tough competition for decades, the quality of these services can be trusted.

LinkedIn

It shall come as a surprise to none that LinkedIn is the world’s largest network of professionals, approximately 225 million! LinkedIn has surely become the go-to site for job hunters and for employers alike. The user interface is fairly simple, your profile on LinkedIn is your resume which lists all your work experience and skills and connects you with other professionals. The site also directly lists jobs by employers.

A unique feature of LinkedIn is its inbuilt referral system, if one of your LinkedIn connections is LinkedIn with a professional at a company you are applying or wish to apply to, you can ask them to connect you. A lot of companies require you to just apply through your LinkedIn profile, which is increasingly becoming a trend. It is surely worthwhile to spend some time every once in a while updating your profile and connecting through LinkedIn just for the sake of networking, even if you may not be actively looking for a job at the moment.

Sheroes.com

Sheroes is a Careers community for women in India. Sheroes has a group of mentors to coach women and help them find the perfect job. Much more than a job-listing search engine, Sheroes organizes events in major cities across India frequently and has succeeded in forming a community of over 5000 ‘Sheroes’ – women who have benefited from this website. Along with job listings including flex-work opportunities relevant to women, this website also provides the opportunity to connect with a lot of people who have been through the job-hunting process.

Craigslist

Craigslist is what you might call your old school classifieds gone tech savvy. Starting from jobs, to housing, goods and services and even romance and advice, it has it all! The good thing about Craigslist is employers directly post their requirements and it is not moderated, also, it specializes in finding jobs in your vicinity. On the flipside however, the listings are way too broad and you may have to spend some time trying to narrow down on your searches, also, it does not have a feature where you could post your resume or sign up for emails.

Facebook

Though one wouldn’t say Facebook is competition for all the other platforms listed here, one wouldn’t be wrong in saying that it is more than just social networking, it is more than just check-ins, pictures and posts. Employers and job seekers alike are increasingly taking to Facebook to look for jobs and also for reviewing their prospective employees or employers. The free Facebook page facility has been a blessing for especially the startup scene, in trying to draw attention to the work they are doing and also post their requirements for employees/entrepreneurs. The highly successful Delhi and Bangalore Startups pages are only two examples of the same. Also, while you are on Facebook looking for a job, do spend some time cleaning up and organizing your profile, it really means more than you can fathom!

Read on in our next post for all the other top job portals /channels/platforms that you need to check out when searching for a job.

Happy Hunting!

Stop! Before You Say Yes To The Job Offer – 5 Questions You Must Ask Yourself Before Taking A Job

Stop! Before You Say Yes To The Job Offer – 5 Questions You Must Ask Yourself Before Taking A Job

In our previous post, we spoke about what the five most important questions are that you must ask your prospective employer before accepting a job offer. In this post, we talk about the more important bit – the five questions you need to ask yourself  before accepting the offer.

Do I really want this job?

Answer the question in all sincerity and honesty. Understand what the profile expects of you and if you will be able to deliver. Go through the job description again and check if this was what you had signed up for. Once you receive the job offer, it is important to understand if you are taking up the job because you need  it or you want  it. Of course, we all need to earn money. That in itself though, may not sustain as motivation enough in the long run. Analyze what your motivation is for taking up the job and whether it is going to be sustainable in the long run.

Am I getting what I deserve (in terms of salary and benefits)?

The pay package you receive can sometimes be the only thing to pull you out of bed on groggy Monday mornings. While the negotiation ideally should have been done before you received an offer, make sure you do not settle for less than what you think is a fair deal. Also, it must be a package. Consider the additional benefits that you should be receiving like transport, accommodation benefits, and tuition reimbursement should you decide on further education. You may also compare the package you are receiving to that of friends or colleagues holding similar positions.

Can I grow here?

This question will be your moment of truth. For a healthy career graph, the job offer should give you scope to grow in terms of responsibilities as well as financially. Ask yourself if the job will provide you sufficient opportunities to grow and learn as an individual and professionally. It should also be an opportunity that makes use of your talent and skills, only then will you truly enjoy what you do.

Do I see myself blending into the work culture here?

You must realize that you would be spending about eight hours, if not more, on an average per day at your chosen work place. Give the work environment and culture some serious thought before committing. If possible, also try to meet and interact with your future co-workers, especially if you are going to be working as a part of a team. A lot of times, this may not be possible practically.

A good way to go about it through the official route, would be connecting friends or acquaintances working in the company informally. However, your informal interaction must be strictly in a professional manner. It should not affect your reputation or career if you go ahead and join. Virtual spaces like Quora, Glassdoor and LinkedIn are your safest bet, to give you an idea about how happy employees at the given organization are, and what their views are regarding the work culture there.

Will I be able to maintain the work-life balance?

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. If the job schedule is so tough that it will keep your nose to the grindstone, you will get frustrated with it very soon. “Me time” is more important than we give it credit for. Ask yourself if your work life will complement your personal life and whether it will allow you enough breathing space. Whether the work hours be flexible? If you will get enough paid leaves? And if you will have enough time to enjoy a fulfilling personal life? Do you think you will look forward to Monday mornings? (Well, said no (wo)man “yes” ever!)

So before you say yes to a job offer, weigh the pros and cons very carefully to arrive at a decision. Spending some time introspecting about how you actually feel about taking up the offer is something worth doing especially if this is something you have been looking forward to for some time now.

In short, look before you leap!