Job Satisfaction: Are You Happy At Work?

You may have dreamed of an ideal job in which you are motivated, inspired, respected and well-paid. But in reality, you've had to settle something less of your ideal. Maybe in the beginning it started as your dream job and for a period you loved it. But now you find it harder and harder to get through the day, and you eventually find yourself looking at the Classified Ads on a Saturday morning, insearching for a better prospect.

According to Wikipedia, Job Satisfaction refers to how content an individual is with his or her job. A lot of things play a role in your job satisfaction besides the actual work itself. Your emotions, skills, financial needs and performance are just some of the factors that make or break a job.

• Conflicts between co-workers
• Conflicts with your manager or supervisor
• Not appropriately paid for your work
• Lack of employee welfare
• Lack of opportunities for promotion
• Having little or no say in decisions that affect you
• No direction from the higher management
• Downsizing or outsourcing
• The job nature is boring or not suited to your interest
• etc...

These are just some reasons why you may not be completely satisfied with your job. Remember not everyone loves every aspect of their job. Its a matter of finding those good points that you can focused on.

Take some time to think over what gives you satisfaction. You may even want to look for a career counsellor to complete a formal asssessment of your skills, interest and passion. Then explore some strategies to increase your job satisfaction.

However, if you feel like you do not have any positive aspects of your job and your job is making you physically ill on a regular basis, maybe its time to abandon ship and search for a better one that will kick your negativity and gives you the challenges that you have been looking for.