I’m bored rigid in my job – should I tell my boss I’m looking to jump ship?

Dear Aunty B, 

I’ve felt conflicted for a long time. I’ve been working in my job for just over a year. At first it was great, and then it just became boring and dull. I honestly don’t feel like I’m achieving anything. It’s depressing.

I’ve been feeling for a while now that I want to move on to greater opportunities and I really didn’t know how to tell my boss that I wanted to start looking elsewhere.

Here’s the kicker – we’ve just had a few redundancies.

I really don’t know how to handle it now. There will be an increased workload on everyone now and I’ll be handed additional responsibilities.

Remember the saying, when a ship starts sinking, you get out? How do I get out of this one?

Please help!

Worried,

NSW

Dear Worried,

You used to love your job but now you say it’s boring and you don’t feel like you’re achieving anything. You need to try and get that love back before starting to look elsewhere.

It sounds to me that you aren’t being challenged enough. When you started the role everything was new and different so you were kept on your toes, now you’ve mastered things and so you’re finding it “dull”. 

Have a chat to your boss and tell them that you aren’t feeling challenged enough and would like more opportunity. These redundancies may mean an increased workload but the positive is the chance to take on more responsibilities which are also more senior. 

Give it a go and then if it doesn’t work out you (a) won’t feel so bad about telling your boss you are looking elsewhere and (b) will have some new skills to put on your CV.

Be Smart,

Aunty B 

What are you waiting for? Email your questions, problems and issues to auntyb@smartcompany.com.au right now.