Choosing a career is a difficult task and many people end up making that decision when they are young and inexperienced. Some people grow up wanting to work in a specific industry and study towards a particular career. Some people are influenced by their parents or friends. And other people take the first position they qualify for so that they can start making a living. But it doesn’t matter whether or not you planned ahead and wanted to end up with the job you have, you can still wake up one day and realise that it’s not for you.

So, if you’re wondering whether your career is headed in the right direction or if you’re actually happy with your current employer, here are four signs it’s time to look for a new job.

You find that you get bored easily

There is a big difference between not knowing how to do your work and being challenged by your work. Not knowing what you’re doing means you were assigned to perform a task you aren’t trained to do or don’t know enough about to do it well. Being challenged by your work, on the other hand, means that you are having to come up with ideas, change your perspective, learn new skills, solve problems or handle new and exciting projects. It’s important that you are challenged by the work you do because it will keep you interested and encourage you to grow in your position. If you aren’t being challenged at work, you will start to notice that you become bored easily. When this becomes a regular experience, it may be time to apply for that municipal job you’ve been thinking about.

You have nothing good to say about your job

Just because you don’t go home every night and complain about your day doesn’t mean that you aren’t feeling negative about your work. You don’t have to be outspoken about how much you dislike your job and go on about wanting to apply for municipal vacancies in another province for it to mean that you’re unhappy with your career. Instead, it could be about what you’re not saying. If you can’t think of one genuinely good thing to say about your work, then that may be a sign that it’s time to move on.

You struggle with daily tasks that used to seem easy

No, you are not becoming slower because the same tasks are becoming more complicated. You are not struggling to complete work on time because it is harder than it used to be or because you have more of it these days. No, you could actually be finding your job tedious and dull, which is making you dread doing your work. So, instead of finishing a task, you waste time and overthink things because you know there is another task just like it that you have to start when the one you’re currently working on is done. This is a definite sign you should consider looking for other municipal jobs in South Africa than the one you currently have.

There is no room for you to grow in your position

If you are an ambitious person who wants to develop your career and climb the corporate ladder, then you are not likely to be happy in a position where there is no chance of a promotion. This sign can be easy to miss if you are not looking for it. Many people don’t acknowledge that they have no upward mobility in their current position because they actually like what they do, the company they work for and the people who they work with on a daily basis. They try to convince themselves that it’s not time to move on to a new job because they aren’t actually unhappy with their current one. But that will eventually change and you might regret the time you wasted being in the same position when you could have been pushing your career forward.

At the end of the day, it’s all about what makes you happy. And since you spend a large amount of time at work, it’s important that you like your job. If these signs seem familiar to you, you should probably start thinking about updating your CV. And there is no better place to find a job than through Ayanda Mbanga.