How long will you stay in your job?

Cast your mind back to your school days… a time when a 30cm ruler, was a daily companion.  You used it for drawing straight lines, taking measurements, honing your straight drive (if you dreamt of playing cricket for Australia), and maybe even engaging in epic sword fights with classmates.  You probably had several rulers through the period of your schooling, some wooden, some plastic and some metal. 

The humble ruler took on a new meaning for me during a discussion with my Tax Accountant on the weekend (yes, my weekend involved a tax return!). 

The longer the ruler the more time you have

She shared a poignant story about a recent client who picked up the bright yellow 30cm ruler from her desk, held it up high, and said, “imagine this ruler represents my lifespan. One end marks birth, and the other signifies death. I wonder how much of my ruler I’ve got left.”

Wow! How do you respond to that during a tax calculation?

She showed me the same yellow ruler and it got me thinking about a whole range of timelines we have playing out in our lives concurrently.  How long is my life ruler, my marriage ruler, my career ruler and my current job ruler?  How long, indeed?

She then mentioned that this would be her last tax return for me, as retirement was on the horizon. She tapped her pen thoughtfully on the end of her ruler and stated, “This is where my career ends.”

What about you?

How long are your career and current job rulers?  Most likely, you will have several jobs during your career, so how long will you spend in your current role?  At what point along the ruler are you right now? 

You may not have an immediate answer, but the question, reminds us that everything has a finite timeframe, so consider what you want to accomplish, learn, or teach in the time you have left in your current job.  The ticking clock is a powerful motivator, encouraging us to dive into our goals with renewed vigour before we reach the end.

So, what’s your next move?

Perhaps you’ll opt for the extended ruler option, just as my Accountant did two decades ago when she embarked on her journey to establish her own business, carrying her through to retirement. Alternatively, short-term contract work might be more appealing, punctuated by brief respites in between—imagine a series of short rulers with gaps in representation of those well-deserved holidays.

Whatever your plan, think about where you’re currently at along the ruler and how you want to use the remaining time.  It’s your call.

BEN WALSH
General Manager – Recruitment

Ben is General Manager – Recruitment at Optimum Consulting Group, an Australian employment advisory firm. He has been actively recruiting and managing teams for twenty years, with industry experience gained in Australia, Canada and Ireland.