10 Things to Do Besides Complain About Your Job - When I Grow Up

10 Things to Do Besides Complain About Your Job - When I Grow Up I know your job sucks. It might just be sucky enough that youre bored, or checked out, or exasperated with your responsibilities or work environment or it might be so sucky that its leaving you feeling ill physically and/or emotionally or it might be somewhere in between, falling on the scale between soul-crushing and barely tolerating. If you find yourself  complaining about your job, heres 10 things to do instead: 1. Write down what you enjoy about your job.  Thinking about it in your head aint enough get it out on paper! What was it that made you interested in the job in the first place, and are those things still resonating? When have you felt useful or helpful at work? What is it about the culture, company mission, and/or people that you like? 2. Write down what youve enjoyed about past jobs.  I dont care if youve had 20 jobs in 7 years. Answer the questions above for each prior position. You dont have to write a novel. A bulletpoint or three is more than fine! 3. Find the connecting threads, and ask yourself what would need to happen to feel more positive about this job.  What do you see as a common theme for you?  You might find that you like being a relationship-builder, or that you enjoy working with children. You might be someone who thrives with autonomous work, or someone who knows you do your best as part of a team. Now that you know that,  how can you articulate what you need in your current job? 4. Uncover your mission statement.  When you can articulate your personal mission statement, you can use it as your compass throughout your career. Its not enough to be an accountant, but to teach and empower women to be in control of their financial future.  Why do you do this work, and  who would it be most meaningful (and enjoyable!) to do it for? This, this, and this could help. 5. Send an APB to your trusted peeps about what type of job youd like to have, being as specific as possible.  Did you know that half of all jobs are never advertised? Thats because recruiters and HR staff know that theyll probably find the best candidates from their own network as opposed to putting out an ad and getting hundreds (or thousands!) of random applicants. Stop spending the bulk of your time blindly applying online, and instead, send an email around to your trusted people about the type of opportunity youre looking for and dont shy away from specifics! Saying Ill take anything! Get me out of here! might seem like itd lead you to every available opportunity, but it wont ring any bells for the reader of your email. If you say, instead, I want to utilize my experience in customer service and my passion for building relationships in a start-up environment, then thatd be just the thing for the reader to introduce you to their friend who needs a customer service rep, and/or wo rks for a start-up. Dont be afraid, either, to stress whats most important to you. Some of my clients realize that their job responsibilities are secondary to the environment they work in, and you dont need to hide that from your perspective connectors or employers. 6. Spend time on LinkedIn, searching for connections to jobs and/or companies youd like.  Youd be surprised at how useful LinkedIn is when it comes to searching. Take advantage of your 2nd and 3rd connections to ask for introductions and/or informational interviews. 7. Treat your career as if youre an entrepreneur. I honestly believe that there is no such thing as stability any more, and anyone who isnt an entrepreneur  also shoulders a fair amount of risk as to their employment status. By putting up a personal site and/or blog and/or About.me page and/or twitter account and  controlling your own reputation, youre only doing yourself a favor to ensure that your next job is an even better fit for you. Danielle Maveal and I talked all about this on Grown Up Gigs last year, which can be watched here. 8. Start a project in your free time.  I know its tough to do when your sucky job zaps your energy, but it can make a huge difference in your perspective if you have something tangible happening in your personal life that you feel is meaningful. Dont censor yourself or only start something productive. Instead, pick up and work on what feels fun, enjoyable, and fulfilling. You might find thats just what you needed to feel better day-to-dayor that nope! its still time to transition out of your current gig. 9. Be honest as to whether its the actual job, or just the people/culture/environment.  Ive had a few clients and Career Campers  discover that it actually  wasnt their job that they hated it was where they did it! If you have an abusive boss, snobby co-workers, or work for a company that doesnt align with what  you care about, then you might feel much better doing a similar job somewhere else. If this sounds like you, take some time sussing out your ideal environment, and get the word out as to what  that looks like for you. Again, specifics are key here! 10. Discover your passion-based lifestyle biz.  Ive said it before and Ill say it again: 1 in 10 women is an entrepreneur, and those women make over $20K more AND report 3x as much happiness as their counterparts. If this sounds like something you wanna start thinking about for yourself, lemme help you figure it out at Career Camp! Registration is only open for another 48 hours, and it wont be offered again for at least another 6 months. Join us!