Last year, the company that I work for was acquired. From the fact that I’m using the present tense “work” here, you can correctly conclude that the acquisition worked out fine, and I’m still happily employed at the same company. However, when the acquisition was first announced, I was definitely shaken up. I didn’t know what to expect. As I watched the changes unfolding around me, it was fascinating to observe how different everyone’s reactions to those changes were.
Having gone through this, there’s something that I would now recommend to anyone, whether or not you’re going through an acquisition, and that’s to decide how you’re going to measure your satisfaction with your job. This can be a challenge, but it’s important to figure out in advance. If you ever decide to leave your job, you don’t want that to be a rash decision, and if you decide to stay, that should be your choice, and not inertia keeping you somewhere where you’re unhappy.
There are lots of different ways that you can evaluate this, so I’ve just put together a few of my favorite techniques below. If you have any other suggestions, I’d love to hear about them in the comments!
Must haves vs. dealbreakers
One option is to make a list of your must-haves and your dealbreakers. This is the technique that I used to decide if I wanted to stay at Atlassian. These are the things that you absolutely have to have in a job, or the things that are a no-go. It can be tempting to make this list based on picking attributes from your current job, but I’d encourage you to make your list as objective as possible. You may even want to revisit it from time to time to see if your priorities have changed. Then, when you’re looking for a new job or evaluating whether or not you should stay with your current job, you can use that list to keep you grounded in your decision.
Smiles or frowns?
The next technique is one that I have personally used in a previous job. When you have a bad day at work, or a couple of bad days in a row, it can feel like everything is terrible all the time. But then, as soon as you have a good day, you’re filled with optimism again. Because everything feels bigger while you’re experiencing it, it can be difficult to get a clear idea of how you feel about your job over time by relying on memory alone. A simple solution is to print out a calendar page, or use your journal or planner, and draw a smiley face or a frowny face next to each day. If you get to a point where you’ve been unhappy every single day for 2 weeks, something needs to change.
2 out of 3
One last option comes from some advice a friend of mine gave me, around the same time that I was drawing frowny faces on my day planner. She had heard that a good job has at least two of the following criteria: great co-workers, high pay, and fulfilling work. You probably won’t always have all three of those things, and that’s ok, but you should aim for at least two. If that’s resonating with you, this framework is described in more detail by Cal Newport in his book, So Good They Can’t Ignore You.
Whatever method you choose, it’s never too early or too late to consider what you need in order to be happy. Setting some guidelines for your career now can help you stay calm and evaluate changes rationally when they come up, rather than hitting the panic button.
Caity Thinks 