“Get a better job” is a common New Year’s resolution. That’s one reason why Career Counseling Connecticut gets so many calls after January 1 of each year. This year is different due to Covid. But it also more important because of Covid.
“Doug” became a Career Counseling Connecticut client last year. He had graduate UCONN several years ago. He worked at an organization where he got along well really well with his colleagues. His boss was also really nice. So he stayed at the company even though noting that what he liked about his “work” was lunch with his buddies and happy hours with the other young staff members. He didn’t like the work so much.
We worked together to identify a different path. He was excited. But…. like many people when things are not terrible, change is hard. So although he left our last meeting enthused, he did not follow up.
Doug called a few months ago. He was really unhappy. As I had suggested, the delightful working environment he had would begin to fade as he got older. I recall my own experience as a young lawyer in Philadelphia and in Washington. There was a great deal of collegial interaction among the twenty somethings but as the thirty somethings became parents less so and the forty somethings… well, they just were intent on cranking out work and getting home as soon as possible.
Doug was still young but he saw it happening pre-Covid. His best friend at the company now had a serious girlfriend and was not as eager to go to happy hours. His somewhat older friends were similarly less interested in get-togethers. So, Doug was left with the “work”, which he never liked.
Then Covid hit. Virtual environment. All he had was the “work”.
2021 will be his year to change careers. Will it be yours?