Society has fallen into the concept that money is the measure of how successful we are in our careers. As we continue to strive for that next pay jump, we tell ourselves that we will be comfortable, will be able to upgrade the house or go on that long-awaited holiday. 

But we never are!

With more money come more bills and we seem to always be left needing/wanting more.

While salary is important, it is not what makes someone happy within their career.  I often challenge candidates to look back at their career and ask them, “what do you remember most about that role?”

To this day, it has never been how much they were getting paid, but rather the people they worked with. The challenges they overcame and sometimes failed at, the mentor that believed in them and the places they lived in. 

So why is money such a determining factor when considering a new role?

So, what is important?

Well it will all come down to where you are in your life, but it will usually be broken up into three (3) general factors:  What, Who or Where.

The what is what the opportunity exposes you to.

This can be anything from a new working challenge, new ways of operating and new level of responsibility either technical or managerial.  The what will usually involve a skill set you will acquire from the opportunity.

The who refers to the people you learn from and work with.

This is usually the strongest and often most vital reason to stay or leave a role.  It is often said that people don’t leave companies, they leave managers.  While that maybe true, it is also a very strong reason why some people will accept a new opportunity.

The people we work with or report to play a pivotal part in both our work life fulfillment, from a growth and enjoyment level.  The manager/mentor can play an important building block to an individual’s overall career that can last much longer than the role does. The who will usually involve both the skills you acquire as well as the connections acquired in the opportunity.

The where is something that usually involves the location of the opportunity. This can be a physical location or where the opportunity sits within a company.

The where can be a mixture of what the location can provide an individual’s experience out side of work, either location for family or an overseas destination to gain experience from.  The where can also gain you unique experiences due to the location that will give your career a defining moment.

The where will always be about experience obtained than skills acquired.

If you look at money being the defining reason to take a role or stay in a role over the What, Who or Where, while that career you build can be profitable it most likely will not be as rewarding.

How Cormac helps

Cormac’s Technical Search Consultants are experts in the mining industry. We understand the internal and external factors that roles can offer our candidates and create an enjoyable and rewarding workplace.

The next step is understanding our potential candidate. We have extensive conversations to understand what their job satisfaction ‘hooks’ are and what their external environmental needs are too.

This includes hobbies, family life, work life achievements, and ambitions.

Once we find a match, we deliver the best candidate.

See our current opportunities to see if when suits you.