Or do you hate it?
Or do you tolerate it?
Are you hanging on to pay the bills, or are you excited and fulfilled?
How do you know when it’s time to move on?
Here are 4 questions to answer, so you can make a rational decision.
1. Do you love the people?
Are you eager to join your teammates?
Do you feel valued or undervalued?
Are you respected or disrespected?
Do you get constructive or soul-crushing feedback?
Are you allowed to grow your skills, or do they wither away?
Are you allowed to participate in decisions, or are you micromanaged?
Being miserable at work is a great way to end up bored, bitter, and burned out.
Are you taken for a ride?
Pay increases, new equipment, more training, bonuses, benefits, more support team members, a bigger CE allowance, are common carrots that are dangled in front of employees – and sometimes they don’t seem to ever materialize.
The biggest unfulfilled “promise” is being allowed to become a partner.
Countless associates have been promised an ownership stake in their practice, yet it never happened.
3. Are you paid what you deserve?
It’s not exactly difficult to figure out how much you should make. Compensation resources, colleagues, and professors can help you ensure you are making what you should in your field, and at this stage of your career.
Are you able to pay your bills and your loans?
If you’re on production, then make sure the percentage you’re receiving is acceptable.
Also make sure you’re receiving the benefits you should.
Contracts are not immutable. If something doesn’t seem adequate anymore, be bold and have a casual conversation with your boss. Everything is negotiable. Just be ready to justify the changes you would like.
4. Are you excited to start a new week?
How do you feel on Sunday evening?
Do you get the Sunday blues?
Are you excited about the upcoming week, or are you dreading it?
Do you count the ways you will make the world a better place, or would you rather break a leg?
Are you incapable of enjoying your Sunday because you can’t ever truly relax?
Does the thought of starting your next shift give you an ulcer or does it put a little pep in your step?
So consider these 4 questions like a quick quiz: answer them with a yes or a no.
No maybes are allowed!
1. Do you love the people?
2. Were all promises fulfilled?
3. Are you paid what you deserve?
4. Are you excited to start a new week?
Say you have 1 yes and 3 nos.
Multiply the number of yesses and nos by 25. That will give you a percentage.
That means your score is 25% yes and 75% no.
Now let’s say you have 2 yesses and 2 nos.
That’s a 50-50 score…
Hoping for 100% of yesses, i.e. finding the perfect job, may be wishful thinking…
75% is probably the lowest percentage you should tolerate.
Anything under 75% should be a clear sign that you are not fulfilled, and you should explore new horizons.
I bet you already knew it deep inside…
No matter where you are located, there are practices that are wonderful to work at.
You deserve to work at one of them.
You deserve to be happy.
Don’t you?
Phil Zeltzman, DVM, DACVS, CVJ, Fear Free Certified