First time reading through this thread and it’s been sobering/depressing. Next to relationships ending, job hunting is my least favorite life experience.
The last time I changed jobs 5 years ago, I made a move I thought would set me up for a good decade or more, moving into what I thought was a role that would give me extreme marketability (at least until AI replaces me 10-15 years from now). As someone who has been a pretty good saver, I figured this might be my last job until early retirement.
I have a job that most people would kill for. I’m fully remote, I have tons of control over my schedule, I don’t have any direct reports to deal with, my boss trusts me, and I make $150k+/yr with just a bachelor’s degree. For the first 3 years, this current gig was the first real job I’ve ever had that I could legit say I really liked and felt lucky to have.
But the last year and especially the last couple of months, I have been feeling burned out. I think some of that is just my own personality, as it seems like I’ve gone thru a stage like this at every stop once I hit the 3-4 year mark. Some of it is that I’ve gotten some really crummy clients in the last year that have been difficult to deal with and made the role more stressful and less fun. But some of it I think is that I don’t have much more room to grow in this company and feel like I’ve maxed out here, and that I would be stupid to not have my resume updated and feelers out. My job seems very secure but I’m in a sector that appears to be facing headwinds and I’m seeing plenty of folks in my role at other companies get laid off.
Reading this thread has me terrified that I’d be totally fucked if I got laid off. My calling cards are that I’m very good with clients, I’m usually one of the most well-liked people at every job I’ve worked at, and I’m sharp enough to generally pick up whatever is asked of me pretty quickly; but I’m mid-40s and I am a highly paid individual contributor with limited technical expertise. Reading this thread makes me feel like I’d be looking at a big pay cut if I have to make move.
So all that tldr is that I am feeling burned out after 5 years but am worried that my age has already started working against me and my skills aren’t in high demand despite an extremely low unemployment rate. Is it stupid to just accept that without actually going through the motions of seeing what else it out there? When does it make sense to update the old resume and start the absolute grind of looking for a new gig?