Finding satisfying jobs throughout your career, plays a role in achieving personal happiness and overall wellbeing. It can be daunting making the jump from a current role to a new unknown one. Following are some factors to consider when job hunting.
1. Will this job be a positive step on your career and life path?
Ask yourself what direction you would like to head in now and in the future. Will this job bring you closer to or to the destination you have in mind? What is important to you in this stage of your life? Perhaps if you have family or other commitments, a less stressful and more flexible role will hold higher value to you.
2. Is the location of the job practical for you and align with your lifestyle values?
The perfect job may seem less perfect if you commute for an hour or more to reach the workplace. Major city clinics may not require after hours commitments but if you are a country person at heart, you may not enjoy fast paced city life.
3. Is the role advertising for full time, part time or casual hours?
It is important to get work structure clarified right from the start. If only casual hours are being offered, you cannot assume this will increase to your desired full-time hours. Flexibility might be valuable to you, but does this mean when the clinic is quiet, that you may have reduced hours?
4. What are the values of the organisation and do they align with yours?
Where do the priorities of the organisation lie? Is optimal patient care paramount? Is work-life balance considered important?
5. Do you think the leaders will support your professional goals?
If you aspire to be a surgeon, dermatologist or ophthalmologist or even just hold a special interest in these areas, will the organisation provide time, equipment and educational opportunities for you to pursue these goals?
6. What do past and present employees or even clients say about the business?
It is always a good sign if employees (past and present) are prepared to give glowing testimonials about leadership, the team and the business in general. Conversely, if there has been a history of high staff turnover, you should start asking some more questions.
7. What is the remuneration?
They say money is not everything, but it does pay the bills. A competitive and fair remuneration rate with knowledge of future reviews and room for progression is attractive and will help to make you feel valued as an employee.
8. Will you be a good cultural fit?
Cultural fit can be hard to pinpoint but it so important to feel connected with colleagues and have a sense of belonging. Consider doing a trial day or more at a proposed new workplace to get a feel for general in-house sentiment. See how things run and how colleagues interact.
At the end of the day, a change of job can be a great opportunity to grow as an individual, increase your repertoire of experience and meet your individual professional needs at a given stage in your life.