Does Anyone Really Care What I Say? Thoughts on Job Changing

On December 20th, William C. Taylor posted a piece on Yahoo Financial entitled Is It Time To Leave Your Job? In the piece he asks several questions that may give you an indication that it is time to pack your bags and head out to another job depending on your answers. These questions include:

• Does my company stand for something-anything- special?
• Am I excited to see my colleagues when I show up to work on Monday morning?
• Do I have a voice at work-- does anyone who matters listen to what I say?
• Am I learning as fast as the world is changing?
• Am I making enough money?

The first question implies we all want to work for some "noble" cause such as world peace, curing cancer, etc. Well I am not sure that is necessary. I think rather than asking "does my company do anything special?" you should ask "how does my company do something special?" You don't have to be a "noble" company to make peoples lives easier, more fun, less stressful, more convienent, save them time, save them money, entertain them, etc. Whatever your company does think of it in terms of what "good" it does its customers.

The second one is a great indication of whether you should leave. If you don't like the people you work with then you do need to do something about finding another place. You spend far too much time in that environment to be miserable. But ask yourself "why do I not like these people?" You may discover the fault is yours and not theirs. If you have work habits that make you a less than desirable workmate that will not change if you change environments. So do some introspection before you jump ship.

The third question about having a voice at work also begs another question and that is "Why don't I have a voice at work?" Has your work been substandard? Do you seem uninterested? Do you seem irrelevant? If these are the reasons no one pays attention to your "voice" then work on correcting these items.

Am I learning as fast as the world is changing? At the rate knowledge doubles (every 5 to 8 years) it will be an absolutely impossible task to keep up. A more important question is are you keeping up on your relevant body of knowledge in order to stay relevant in what you do? Do you read? Do you study? As one of my favorite authors, Brian Tracy says "If you read an hour a day, one book per week, you will be an expert in your field in three years. You will be a national authority in five years, and you will be an international authority in seven years. All leaders are readers."

The last question of "Am I making enough money?" perhaps can be replaced by "Am I maximizing my efforts to make as much money as I can in my chosen field?" If the answer is "no" then do something to change that before you change jobs. If the answer is "yes" and you still feel you are not making enough money then you are in the wrong field and more than a job change is needed.

How would you respond to these questions? Have you ever asked them? What did you do?

Social Media as a School Subject: Guest Post from Ben Eubanks

The following is a guest post from Ben Eubanks.

Newsflash: social media still isn't being taught in college

 

Sure, some people get a little bit of education in that area, but most of us must go forward learning what we can freestyle. But just because I didn't get it doesn't mean nobody else should.

 

The changing (social) world

 

There are some different ideas that are changing our world on a daily basis. Here are a few that could be helped with some social media education.

• Education is not over when you get a degree-it's just the beginning. Use social tools to continue a lifetime of learning.  
• One of the greatest tools that hardly anyone is taught in college? Networking. And social media has completely revolutionized the arena of networking.  
• Free is not going anywhere. For the most part, the available tools are completely free. You no longer have to have buckets of money to get access to top-shelf tech. 
• Branding (whether corporate or personal) is one of the hottest topics today. Knowing how to use social media means you can significantly influence how people view you or your organization.

 

My Story 

 

Social media wasn't taught in my school. In one of my earliest posts I talked about how school didn't seem to teach me much about what a job in HR would be like. If they, as I mentioned in that post, didn't even mention some of the more traditional HR tools like the HRIS, ATS, etc., then they certainly didn't talk about innovative new tools and technologies like social media. 

 

When Mike reached out to me for this guest post, I was surprised. Why? Because I didn't have much to share on the topic. I didn't hear a single mention of anything social media related in my entire four years of college.

  

Since then, I have learned an incredible amount simply by allowing my natural curiosity and need to guide my exploration of the social tools available. I don't know how things would have been had I learned some of it in my formal education, but I think it's turned out pretty well so far.

  

What do you think? Should social media be taught in college? If so, should students be taught based upon their major/focus or just as a general group?

  

Photo credit: Oversocialized

 

Ben Eubanks is an HR professional from Huntsville, AL. He pretty much lives online, and you can connect with him on Twitter or LinkedIn. He also writes a blog for the entry level pros, seasoned veterans, and zombies in the human resources space.

 

Ben Eubanks is the author of UpstartHR. He brings a new perspective to the field of HR.

Work and Education in The Year 2040

2040... only 30 years away. Some of you reading this will still be in your HR jobs. I hope to be retired by then.. but you never know... But I digress. Author/Futurist Edward Cornish, in his book Futuring: The Exploration of the Future surmises about what the year 2040 MAY look like. He covers several areas, but the one that I thought had more relevance to HR was his statement on Work and Education. He said "Due to rapid technological change, globalization, and other factors workers will need to change jobs with increasing frequence to stay employed in 2040. There may  be few jobs that assure lifetime employment. Most workers will have to reinvent their careers to keep up with the fast-changing workplace. To cope with the complexities of the job market and find positions suited to their talents and interests, workers will be more dependent than ever on career counselors, coaches, and mentors."

He goes on further to say "To meet changing job requirements, workers will be forced to constantlly update their education and skills.  Education will no longer be viewed as an activity for young people but as a continuing necessity throughout life."

Cornish even projects that the world of 2040 may have LEGAL requirements for adults to continue their education so they can remain economically productive.

In this post of mine from last year on the importance of continuing education there was a call for life long learning. A short video points this out. So start now!