I’m 29 and already hate my career. Am I wanting too much?

Each week, Dr Kirstin Ferguson tackles questions on workplace, career and leadership in her advice column, “Got a Minute?” This week: timing a career change, navigating a lengthy notice period and being replaced after redundancy.

Career building doesn’t need to be linear.Credit: Dionne Gain

I’m 29 and less than four years into my career, after graduating from university. I don’t like my job or the industry I’m in, I’m already burnt out and can see the long hours my very stressed managers have to do – I don’t want that for myself. The only thing keeping me here is the good pay and benefits. I’ve been looking into a career change to secondary teaching, but what if I get to the end of two years of study and realise I’ve made a mistake and sacrificed great pay? I have some big life events I’m preparing for (buying a house, getting married, starting a family), but am I asking too much? Should I put off the study until after these events? I dread the thought of continuing in my line of work for too much longer.

Do not keep working in a career you hate, life is simply too short. Too many people spend their careers in a role they loathe, and it becomes much, much harder to change the longer you stay. If you are burnt out now, you will be mentally and physically in far worse shape during those important life events. You will be a better partner, better parent and better person by pursuing a life you feel is fulfilling and challenging, even if it pays less. You are not wanting too much. All you know for sure is continuing as you are is not an option.

Career building doesn’t need to be linear – you are picking up skills all the time, and they will simply add to your toolbox. Make a change and see where it takes you. Once you are feeling more yourself you will also have a clearer picture of what you do and don’t want to do.

I am a middle manager at my organisation and my employment contract (like those of my peers) has an eight-week notice period. I’m finding it difficult to find another employer willing to recruit me with this lengthy notice period, as four weeks is the norm for an employee at my level. My colleagues have had the same experience. Can we quit and only give four weeks’ notice despite what is in the contract? Or can we use our annual leave to cover the extended period? I don’t feel it is fair that this has meant I can’t find another role.

Notice periods are the clause in employment contracts that I reckon don’t get nearly as much attention when we are excitedly joining a new company as they should. We tend to focus on salary and benefits, and it isn’t until you are looking for a new role, often years down the track, that the reality kicks in. The best-case scenario, if you find a new job you want to take, would be to give your current employer notice and negotiate to finish earlier than the stipulated eight weeks. In most cases, they are probably likely to agree since no one wants to keep an unwilling employee on (especially if you have sufficient annual leave to cover the period anyway).

Unless you are going directly to a competitor and you hold some particularly secret inside information, I would imagine a decent employer will agree to waive the full eight weeks. You could challenge the period as being unreasonable, but that would mean getting some legal advice, which would be expensive. In terms of getting a new employer to take you on, I would explain that you are keen to start in four weeks and just want to make sure your current employer is OK with that first. Hopefully, they can also be flexible; if you are the person they want, they will wait.

I have recently been made redundant from my part-time role after 16 years. I had a work injury last July, and I wonder if it was related? For some time things were not great and a new graduate has now started in my same role, but full-time. Perhaps it was a business decision, but how can I stop feeling and thinking that it was personal?

It is very hard not to think a redundancy is personal, so I won’t pretend that will be easy. The reality is though this was probably a decision your employer made, sadly, without thinking too much about you at all. It sounds like they wanted someone who would cost less and be on hand every day. I hope you can find a new role where you feel valued and thrive.

To submit a question about work, careers or leadership, visit kirstinferguson.com/ask (you will not be asked to provide your name or any identifying information. Letters may be edited).

Make the most of your health, relationships, fitness and nutrition with our Live Well newsletter. Get it in your inbox every Monday.