Is Your Job the Right Fit?

Life is too short to hate what you do! Although it is rare to love every aspect of your job but for the most part, you should enjoy a vast majority of it. A good job fit will challenge and engage your interests, internal motivations, and fit your personality. Skills can be learned if the motivation, personality, and values match. Here are a few signs that you may have landed a great job fit:

• CREATING VALUE: You are initiating ideas and thinking about ways to experiment, innovate, or improve what you do. You often think, “I hope I get to” verses “I hope I don’t have to.” You are adding value to the organization and feel good about your contribution to the organization.
• PROMOTION: You would recommend your organization and/or the type of work you do to friends even if there is no personal incentive to do so.
• RELATIONSHIPS: You have a good relationship with your supervisor and view your relationship with him or her as a teammate you work with verses work for. You genuinely want to see your organization or department win and desire to see your supervisor successful as well!
• TEAMWORK: You do not want to disappoint your colleagues and teammates. You genuinely enjoy the differences of the people on your team, in your department, and in your organization. There is a mutual accountability to one another and you don’t mind stepping in to help the team win, even if it is not your job.
• FULFILLMENT: You view a success in your current job by the gratification and fulfillment you feel when you do your job well. Even though promotions, money, and incentives can be motivating, there is a deeper level of satisfaction that goes beyond those rewards. You are genuinely there because you feel like you’re supposed to be there.

These are just a couple of benchmarks you can use to internally audit your current job fit and self-assess your level of fulfillment in your current organizational culture, job role, and/or industry. Recruiters can also be a great resource in helping you decipher the questions around the job fit. It is never too late to make adjustments and this process takes time. It happens over the course of your career experiences and should eventually guide you towards the best possible fit for you.

Kristina Burroughs is a recruiter for the Center for Shared Services. This piece was originally posted on the CSS Blog.