Career

Take it easy: stay in your job if you feel good

You do not have to look for a new job just because you have been in the same place for years or because someone tells you to hurry up. There can be several good reasons to stay in your job, say IDA careers counsellors.

You need to develop constantly. It's a mantra that has taken hold as the job market has become increasingly fluid. But pace, development and change should not become ends in themselves. And you shouldn't quit your job just because you've had it for a long time and feel you "should evolve." That is the advice from IDA's careers counsellors.

"If you go to work happy and feel you are developing personally and professionally. And if you have fun, are recognised, learn something and have an impact on your job, there's no reason to keep looking," says career counsellor Jeanette Svendsen.

So don't worry that you dismantle yourself in the labour market just because you stay in your job. The reality is quite the contrary.

"When you have been with a company for many years, it shows that you are a loyal and valued employee. And if you have many exciting tasks and enjoy your work, why should you apply for another job?" says Jeanette Svendsen.

Talk to a career counsellor

Remember that as an IDA member you have the opportunity to get a career counselling session of approximately one hour every six months.

Read more and book a career counselling session here. 

Our career counsellors will help you with your challenges and identify your skills, strengths and aspirations.

Miss out if you want to avoid capsizing

However, there is sometimes a focus — by companies and employers — on the value of making changes in working life, challenging one's own adaptability, getting new impulses and so on.

Yet, some experts point out that it can be valuable for individuals not to chase change all the time. Speaking at the launch of his discussion book 'Gå glip' [Miss out], psychology professor Svend Brinkmann said: "If we humans want to avoid capsizing, we have to accept that we may miss out."

And you don't have to worry about missing out because you stay in your job. New opportunities can easily be right under your nose where you are, and if there's something in particular you're tired of in your job, you should also remember that such things often follow you to the next one, Jeanette Svendsen points out:

"You certainly need to think hard about what it is you're looking for — because it might be the same in a new place. If you're unhappy, find out the trends and patterns in what makes you unhappy and see if you can change that in your everyday life," says Jeanette Svendsen.

A long working life

Another thing to remember if you get caught up in "development panic" is that working life is now really long and you may not be in such a hurry to change jobs. Because we are getting older, and we are healthy for years. It also means that our working lives are getting longer, giving individuals more time to pursue careers or professional dreams.

"If you look at the traditional working life, you get educated, work and retire. The long middle period — the working period — has been seen as a continuous progression forward and up the career ladder — step by step. In the future, it will be less one-step. We will have more years when we are healthy and fresh, and I think we will see more work with varying intensity throughout working life, says career counsellor Morten Esmann.