When you’re crushed by an ill-fitting job, it can be hard to talk to your friends for fear of burdening them with your career problems.
But today, I actually want to talk to the people who know someone who is crushed and are watching the struggle without knowing how to support the person they care about. That can also be a really tough position to find yourself in.
What can you do to support someone who is crushed by their job?
Your friend/family member/colleague is clearly struggling. They don’t want to burden you with their challenge and yet you would do absolutely anything to support them. The question is what can you do?
I want to help relieve you of your feelings of helplessness with a couple resources and steps you can take:
READING: I’ve put together a list of my favorite books that have changed the way I think about careers. There are books that help reset expectations about the pressures we put on our job, give reminders that almost no one has a grand plan for their career, reframe dysfunctional beliefs about your career and design a really structured job search of today.
EXERCISES: If they prefer a hands-on approach, I put together a series of exercises here with the spreadsheet genius of the guys at UltraWorking. These exercises can help them learn about their values, assess their current role and make changes and know what working conditions they need in order to thrive.
TALKING: The Muse is a fantastic career resource in general, and I love that they have career coaches you can consult with on a variety of topics. So, if your friend is struggling with job search strategy or they’re stuck in a rut or they just want to do a 30-minute career Q&A, you could connect them with someone who can help.
COUNSELOR SUPPORT: I also want to mention an incredible resource for anyone dealing with workplace issues that would benefit from speaking with a trained counselor. Empower Work is a free, anonymous, and immediate text chat line for workplace issues. It was born from the belief that every person should have an advocate to support their professional journey and equip them with the skills to successfully handle complex work challenges.
GROUP SUPPORT: If the person is analytically minded and crushed by an ill-fitting job, my newest group program pilot is launching in August 2018 and I would love to give them the support of a group. The program, Crushed to Confident, is designed to get you un-crushed, help you rigorously evaluate and understand your current job, and confidently make decisions that feel good to you. Send them the link to the list here to be the first to know more about the program when it opens, we start in August and there are only 10 spots.
Please let me know if there are other resources you recommend for supporting someone who is crushed by their job!
*This post contains affiliate links for bookshop.org (an online way to support local bookstores) which means that I will earn a commission if you choose to click through and make a purchase.