You know a job is too hard when you feel chronically exhausted, stressed, and unable to cope, leading to physical symptoms (headaches, sleep issues) and emotional changes (irritability, apathy, feeling like a fake), consistently missing deadlines, receiving negative feedback, or feeling your skills are mismatched despite trying, indicating a need for support, boundary setting, or a potential job change.
Having a heavy workload and working long hours. Struggling with work-life balance. Working in a helping profession, such as health care, that involves a lot of giving to others. Feeling of having little or no control over work.
The "42% rule" for burnout suggests dedicating roughly 42% of your day (about 10 hours) to rest and recovery activities like sleep, hobbies, exercise, and socializing to prevent mental and physical exhaustion, countering the "always on" culture that leads to burnout. It's a science-backed guideline emphasizing that sustainable success requires balancing intense work with sufficient downtime for your brain and body to recharge, not just a quick nap.
The "3-month rule" in a job refers to the common probationary period where employers assess a new hire's performance, skills, and cultural fit, while the employee learns the role and decides if the job is right for them; it's a crucial time for observation, feedback, and proving value, often with potential limitations on benefits until the period ends. It's also advice for new hires to "hang in there" for three months to get acclimated and evaluate the job before making big decisions.
A ``red flag'' in a job interview is a sign that something may be off about the job, company, or team, even if it isn't immediately obvious. Candidates often overlook these red flags because they're excited about the opportunity or don't want to seem overly critical.
Five key signs of work-related stress include physical symptoms (headaches, fatigue, sleep issues), emotional changes (irritability, anxiety, mood swings), cognitive difficulties (trouble focusing, poor decision-making), behavioral shifts (withdrawal, increased substance use), and performance decline (lower output, errors, procrastination). These signs often manifest as a persistent feeling of being overwhelmed, leading to physical tension, mental fog, and strained relationships at work and home.
The "7-second resume rule" means recruiters spend only about 7 seconds scanning a resume initially to decide if it's worth a deeper look, making first impressions crucial for grabbing attention with clear formatting, a strong summary, and relevant keywords from the job description. To succeed, focus on clean layouts (ATS-friendly), a concise professional summary, tailored keywords, and bullet points highlighting recent, relevant achievements, ensuring it passes both Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) and the quick human scan.
This is where the 70% rule comes in—a powerful job-search strategy that encourages you to apply for roles where you meet at least 70% of the listed criteria. Here's why it works: Your Skills Are More Transferable Than You Think.
Most people agree that five years is the max amount of time you want to stay in the same job at your company. Of course, this answer changes depending on your pre-established career arc and the promotions within your company.
While many professionals recommend working for an organization for at least one year before pursuing another opportunity, there are certainly valid reasons for leaving a job sooner. Some other reasons professionals may choose to exit a company after three months include: Being offered another job with a higher salary.
Ideal shift schedule: Late-morning to evening shifts (9 AM–5 PM or 11 AM–7 PM) work best with their sleep cycle. If rotational shifts are necessary: A structured weekly rotation (rather than daily changes) gives your team time to adjust and minimizes sleep disruptions.
The 5 stages of burnout typically progress from initial enthusiasm to complete exhaustion, involving: 1. Honeymoon Phase (high energy, excitement), 2. Onset of Stress (initial decline, fatigue, anxiety), 3. Chronic Stress (persistent symptoms, irritability, withdrawal), 4. Burnout (feeling drained, ineffective, physical symptoms like headaches), and 5. Habitual Burnout (deep-seated fatigue, chronic sadness, potential depression, complete apathy). Recognizing these stages helps in intervening before severe mental and physical health issues develop, notes thisiscalmer.com.
However, taking time off for work-related stress might give someone the space and time to recover. This can be helpful if stress is making their physical or mental health worse. If a worker needs time off work, they should follow their organisation's sickness policy, if they have one.
Lencioni identifies the three signs of job misery as anonymity, irrelevance and "immeasurement." Anonymity: Employees feel anonymous when their manager has little interest in them as people with unique lives, aspirations and interests.
The aim of quiet retaliation is to undermine the employee's confidence, isolate them socially and make their working life difficult enough that they back off on the concerns they've raised or leave the company voluntarily.
There are several reasons why someone might feel like no one likes them at work. These can include personality differences, workplace politics, cultural misunderstandings, or a history of negative experiences in the workplace.
The biggest red flags at work often center around toxic leadership, poor communication, and a high-turnover culture, signaling deep issues like micromanagement, lack of transparency, burnout, and disrespect, where problems are normalized and employee well-being is ignored in favor of short-term gains. Key indicators include managers who don't support staff, excessive gossip, broken promises, constant negativity, and environments where speaking up feels unsafe or pointless, often leading to high employee churn.
The 996 working hour system (Chinese: 996工作制) is a work schedule that derives its name from its requirement that workers clock in from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm, 6 days per week, resulting in employees working 12 hours per day and 72 hours per week. It is practiced illegally by some companies in China.
Regular position changes are essential for reducing the health risks associated with sedentary work. Aim to move every 30-60 minutes, paying attention to your body's signals that it's time for a change.
According to recent research, the average time to hire for permanent employees in Australia is now 44 days. That's an all-time high and one of the slowest turnaround times we've seen in years. In sectors like energy and defence, the cycle can stretch up to 67 days .
The five C's that employers want a candidate to demonstrate are: Capability, and evidence of it, to perform the absolute must deliver tasks; Confidence in their own ability; Concern for others and the organisation; Command and the desire to increase this; and Communication ability at all levels.
Conventional guidance suggests that you should stay at a job for at least two years. However, you are typically free to move at your own pace. Explore key facts: According to data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average tenure for employees as of January 2024 was 3.9 years [1].
Resume red flags are warning signs like typos, unexplained employment gaps, job hopping, lack of tailored content, vague bullet points (responsibilities not achievements), poor formatting, and unprofessional emails, signaling a lack of attention to detail or genuine interest, causing recruiters to hesitate or reject applications, according to Novorésumé, Forbes, and Teal.
As you write and review your resume, remember the Three C's Rule — Clear, Consistent, Concise. You are likely forwarding this to someone who knows little about you. Your resume should answer questions, be aesthetically pleasing, follow the same format throughout, and succinct. There can be many components to a resume.
Top 5 Resume Mistakes