The fear of change – Is it holding you back?

Nothing in life is more certain than change – and this is especially true in your career. The days when a person leaves school or college and settles into a job for life are by and large long past.

The speed of technological advances in industry and in societal changes ensures that, on average, people change jobs 10 times during their working life. People are creatures of habit by nature and the fear of change can have a significant impact on your career. While fear is, of course, a normal human condition can, if left unchallenged it may become an impediment to you achieving your full potential. 

Fear of change

In the world of recruitment the fear of change is the final hurdle that the recruiter and candidate has to overcome and will by its nature only come to a head at the very end of an interview process when a decision to accept an offer or not has to be made. There’s the fear of going for it – of making a change, fear of failure, fear of looking like a fool, the fear of the unknown, and the fear of leaving behind a life you’ve invested so much in. It is often easy for candidates – especially passive candidates who have been approached by an agency for a role to drift through an interview process only to get last minute nerves when faced with a decision on a real offer of employment.

Most commonly we see the:

Article by Diarmuid Buckley (Senior Recruitment Consultant)

Fear of inadequacy: This is probably the most conscious reason people are reluctant to leave a stale job– even the most talented employee will worry about not meeting their new employer’s expectations. Candidates should be confident that an employer would not make an offer unless they were 100% convinced that persons suitability for the role. The recruiter’s knowledge of the client companies’ ethos and culture can be pivotal in ensuring the right candidate fit and minimise any uncertainty for the candidate. Open communication between the client and the recruiter is key to ensuring that the candidate is fully up to speed on the role and company that they are looking to join.

Job market uncertainty: Political changes and potential economic impact are very topical at the moment. Is it a good time to move, what if economic conditions take a turn for the worst? The truth is that no one can predict with any certainty what the next 5 years will bring. Do you stick with what you know and put your career on hold?? There will always be a reason not to move, to hold what you have and not to take that leap. There is an old saying that opportunity strikes once – and having the self-belief to grasp that opportunity will give you the confidence and determination to succeed.

Professional and experienced recruiters will work closely with their candidates to understand their motivation for wanting to change and to support them during the interview process to mitigate those fears.

We in CareerWise are happy to support our candidates considering changing jobs and will work to ensure those fears of change are kept in check and allow you achieve your full potential.

Joe Robbins

(Director) BBS (Hons), MBPICS – Shannon Office

Joe Robbins is co-founder of CareerWise Recruitment. A graduate of the University of Limerick (Degree in Business Studies, 1985), Joe worked in the UK for five years where he specialised in materials management, production management and plant management for a number of companies.

He returned to Ireland in 1992 to become Operations Manager for a Cork-based start-up, FMC Automotive Division which was subsequently taken over by Snap-on Equipment. Joe managed the business re-location of this company to Shannon in 1997 before setting up CareerWise Recruitment in 1999.

He is a committee member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) Mid-West region, and a former Director and Vice President of the Shannon Chamber of Commerce. Joe is former Chairperson of the Sixmilebridge Camogie Club and current Chairperson of the Clare County Camogie Board.

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