Job security can be a source of anxiety for many. If you're feeling uncertain about your position, it's time to evaluate the signs. Are you actually going to get fired? Let's delve into the indicators that might suggest so.
The key is to find a balance
Worrying is not necessarily a bad thing – it can encourage you to improve and learn
- However, worrying to the point of catastrophizing can be dangerous for you and your career.
- When we focus too much on the worst-case scenario, we lose our sense of reality and our relationships and mental health.
How does your manager think and act?
The best way to assess whether or not you may get fired is to ask your boss directly
- If the feedback you get is overly negative and not constructive, that could be a sign that you should worry
- Critical feedback can be a good thing
- It can show that your manager is interested in your growth
- Look for indicators in your boss’s behavior
- You and your coworkers may have different perspectives on the same person
What are your own personal biases?
Optimists tend to overestimate their own talents and potential, so they may be surprised when they get fired unexpectedly or don’t get a promotion
- Pessimists are often the biggest critics of their work
- Understand where you fall on the pessimist-optimist scale to determine whether or not you should worry
- Being self-aware in this way will help you decode your own predispositions and tendencies, discount them from your take on reality, and interpret your situation more accurately
What’s the general financial state of your organization, industry, and economy?
2020 likely increased your fears surrounding job stability.
- Do some research on the state of the industry, as well as your country’s economy to gauge the general health of your company and industry’s financial state.
What’s the general culture of your organization?
If the company has a transparent, open, feedback-oriented culture, you should worry
- On the other hand, if the culture is generally open and fair, being fired will not be a surprise
- It will likely follow an explicit explanation that there is a gap between what you can bring to the organization and what the organization needs
