I attended a breakfast event not long ago when I saw a short video that resonated with me. The video was an advertising campaign by Seek looking at employee satisfaction and how we can live and achieve more fulfilling and productive working lives. The video also encourages people to reflect on their work choices and understand why they come to work each day.
The video was about a man undergoing a Benjamin Button style ageing and revealed that the majority of our workforce are under the impression that we spend most of our lives at work. When actually the statistics are quite shocking; out of 82 years in their life, the average Australian will only spend a total of 13 years at work when calculated off the average work week of 40 hours.
This completely shocked me as I had always considered my career would span over a 40 year period. However, according to these statistics, this assumption is far from reality. It got me thinking about what I am doing, where I am in my career and whether it gives me the opportunity to evolve and achieve what I want in life.
Over the past six months, I have received a number of calls from candidates telling me they have decided to change careers; a change into something completely different. One was going from audit to nursing and another from accounting to property management. My sister recently decided to move from processing accounts into vet nursing. There was one common theme amongst all answers as to why they made such a decision. The answer being they were simply not satisfied by what they were doing.
A recent Seek survey also revealed that 68% of people would like to work in another industry or role, while 38% are actively looking for a new job. Another survey showed that only 40% of working Australians are flourishing in their current roles.
The underlying message behind it all is, out of the small amount of time we will spend at work, are we encouraging ourselves to make the most out of it and are we in the right profession? Are you doing what you want to be doing and can you achieve what you want to achieve career wise in just 13 years? If not, this might stimulate the thought or appetite for a change.
Mikahla Smith – Team Leader