Sital Ruparelia

As a recruiter, when I interviewed candidates I would always ask that usual interview question “Why are you looking to leave your job?”

But to truly understand what motivated them enough to start looking and attend an interview, I would usually follow it up with: ”So what was the trigger?” 

A ‘trigger’ is a catalyst that actually makes you get off your bum and start taking action to change your situation – the change that you have been ‘thinking about’ for months, but never quite had the motivation or confidence to embark upon. 

Most of us need some kind of trigger to get out of a rut. 

Often the answers given in these interviews revolved around what I call ‘negative triggers’ – people looking to move away from a situation:

The Negative Triggers:

- ‘The department restructured and my role has changed – so decided it was time to move’
- ‘There is a lot of uncertainty and rumours of a takeover so made sense to start looking’
- ‘My wife told me she’d leave me if I didn’t change jobs” (that’s a real answer!)
- ‘My boss threw a stapler at me in a rage, so it was time to go” (yes, another real answer)

These people were probably thinking for months about changing – but these specifics situations acted as a catalyst to take action. These situations gave them the required energy (frustration, anger,) to take action.

I have been in several ruts during my career – and indeed helped many clients get out of a rut.

In my experience, the single most important factor in getting out of that rut is finding that trigger to start making the change.

It does not matter how much your partner, family, friends and colleagues say “come on, get your CV done, apply for jobs, call the recruiters – just do it!” – unless you have that trigger – you won’t take significant action on a consistent basis to get out of that rut.

The real key to getting out of a rut is to focus on creating ‘positive triggers’ – positive reasons to get you to take action – instead of the negative triggers which you have no control over.

The Positive Triggers:

- ‘My long term aim is to achieve xyz by the end of my career and so it is time to take the next step towards that”
- ‘I love leading and developing people – it’s what I am passionate about. I want to move back into a role leading large teams and hence why I am moving’
- ‘My real talents lie in doing xyx type work – it’s my unique ability. I want to spend more of my time on that and so it’s time to make a change’
- ‘I really want to spend more time with my young family whilst the kids are young –  I don’t want to miss out on the kids growing up. So I want to find a role with less hours and less travel away from home”

Unlike the ‘negative triggers’ these come from inside you. They are intrinsic reasons for you to make a change – and so totally driven by you. You’re not waiting on something to happen externally to get you to make the change – and so you are more in control of your career.

So if you feel you are in a rut, stop waiting for an external catalyst that forces you to get off your bum. Instead, create your own trigger by fixated your mind on what’s really important to you, where you want to go in the future – what you love to do and what you are great at.

Once you focus your mind on those, it gives you the energy (excitement, enthusiasm, inspiration, motivation) to take action and get moving out of that rut.

Like any change, you will have set backs – but the fact that you are passionate about the move gives you the energy and tenacity to overcome these. All of which gives you the confidence to get back to your old self again – well before you actually achieve the change.