Does your Career need a Wake Up Call?

Is career sleepwalking a coping remedy that is worse than the disease (burnout, compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma, and secondary traumatic stress)?

Career sleepwalking is old news in many industries, but as a social work profession we haven’t spent much time talking about it.

According to Linkedin data nearly a third of U.S. professionals are career sleepwalking.

Career sleepwalking might look like staying in the same position even after your reasons for taking it are no longer a priority. It can also present as aimlessly jumping from role to role and agency to agency in search of professional purpose or meaning.

Does this mean career sleepwalking might be something we inadvertently do to avoid burnout?

If you have unconsciously checked out of your career to avoid burnout and other attendant syndromes, you might be career sleepwalking.

We need YOU! Let’s talk about it.

YOU are the most impactful tool in the toolkit. And, besides impeding your ability to be you without intervention, career sleepwalking can also have detrimental consequences for social work practice, our organizations, and our communities.

If you are career sleepwalking in an act of self-preservation this post is for you. Read Wake Up From Career Sleepwalking with Professional Self-Care post on The New Social Worker online to begin learning more about social work and career sleepwalking

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Want to know more? Examine the social work implications of career inspiration, motivation, and apathy in our Career Sleepwalking CEU workshop. Join us and discover how to transform your career through professional community, self-care, and career development. This program has been approved for 1.5 hrs of continuing education by the National Association of Social Workers/Texas and may be used to meet some of the continuing education requirements for Social Work Licensure renewal. If you want to know more about upcoming workshop dates and or you are looking to design a workshop or training for yourself or your team please email me Tracey@professionalselfcare.com.

If you are a leader and you are looking to engage purposefully with your team around career sleepwalking concerns Forbes offers these tips: Career Sleepwalkers: Who they are and how to wake them up.