What to do if You’re Experiencing a Procurement Mid-Career Crisis
You’re feeling tired. Demotivated. Your confidence is shot. Or you’re experiencing any one of these other signs.
No, you’re not imagining it. Yes, you could very well be experiencing a mid-career crisis.
A crisis of any type is something to be alarmed about, and a mid-career crisis is no different. If you’ve experienced this type of crisis, you’ll know that thoughts of rage quitting your otherwise-good-job, changing career into something outlandish, or simply trying to take a permanent holiday are all common.
While alarming, fortunately there are a few things to do if you are experiencing this kind of crisis.
- Take a holiday
Procurement professionals are naturally hard-working, so much so that we often feel overwhelmed, if not completely burned out. And while sometimes our to-do lists are so long that it’s hard to imagine doing this, often the most important thing to do is to simply take a holiday.
And take a long holiday, at that. As long as you possibly can.
Putting some distance between yourself and your procurement work can help calm your mind, as a start. But it can also help you put things into perspective, and understand that your current feelings of crisis might only be temporary.
- Create some new goals
Feeling lost or demotivated can be a sign that your procurement career is either not going to plan, or that you didn’t have a plan in the first place.
If it’s the former, don’t worry too much: a lot of procurement professionals’ five year career plans have gone by the wayside since the pandemic, and for good reason: disruption can create more opportunities, but certainly not the ones we imagined. If it’s the latter, then it’s time to create a plan.
Creating some new goals can be a great way to ward off feelings of a crisis. Your goals can be anything, from wanting to expand your procurement network with other like-minded women, to wanting to help your procurement team become more sustainable. Whatever your goals, the very fact that they exist can help you feel like you’re working towards something worthwhile, which will help ease your crisis.
- Connect with other like-minded procurement professionals
One of the greatest pieces of advice when it comes to worrying about something is that a problem shared is a problem halved. So if you are feeling stuck in your career, one of the best things to do is to connect with other procurement professionals and seek their advice, perspectives and inspiration.
Now that it’s possible to attend in-person events and conferences, one of the best ways to do that is by attending procurement industry events.
Another great way to connect with people is through seeking a mentor. A mentor can help provide invaluable advice and guide you in the right direction.
Have you ever felt as if you’re having a career crisis? How did you manage it? Let us know in the comments below.
