Suffering From Your Return to Work or Does Your Accountancy Career Need an Upgrade?

No matter how much you love your job, the return to work after a break can often cause some uncertainty, anxiety, and even a period of sadness. While many of us haven’t had the opportunity for a traditional “holiday” in the last year, many financial professionals have been spending time away from work due to the government’s furlough scheme, reduced hours, and remote working.  

In the UK alone, 11.6 million jobs were furloughed (as of July 2021) as part of the government’s scheme to preserve the economy in a state of crisis. Time away from work in any situation can offer an opportunity to reconsider your career goals and what you want from your job.  

A question? As a financial professional returning to work, are you just suffering from time away from a regular work routine, or is it time to find a new purpose in your career?  

Is It Changing Routines or Time for a Change? 

First, it’s important to evaluate your situation and ask yourself what you want going forward. 

If you’ve been away from the office for months and you’re about to go back to your regular routine for the first time, it’s natural to be nervous. A lot of financial and accounting industry jobs changed drastically in the last year and a half, and you might even be wondering what the future holds for your current position.  

So, how do you know if you’re experiencing temporary nerves – or if your concerns are a sign of something bigger? The following questions will help. 

Are Your Concerns Temporary or Long-Lasting? 

The post-holiday blues bring a lot of temporary concerns to the surface. For instance, you might be worried about whether you can go back to feeling productive in an office environment after you’ve found your groove working remotely.  

You could be concerned that there will be much work to do before remote and in-office employees can work comfortably together if you’re re-entering a hybrid workplace. Or maybe you’re just nervous that your boss is going to expect too much of you when you’re still getting back into the swing of things. Most of these worries can be addressed in the first few days you’re back at work. 

All it takes is a couple of days for you to determine whether your worries were founded or not. On the other hand, if your concerns are more long-lasting, they may indicate a problem with the job itself.  

For instance, if your biggest concern about going back to work is that you hate the tasks you must do every day, or you struggle to see eye-to-eye with your manager, it’s not the time away that’s bothering you. Long-standing issues indicate that you weren’t in the right role before you took your break. In this case, it might be time to look for something new.  

First, let’s consider what you now want from your financial career. 

Are You on Track to Reach Your Finance Career Goals? 

A good way to determine whether you should be looking into alternative career options is to ask yourself whether you’re making progress towards your goals.  

Ask yourself what kind of position you want to be in within the next 5 to 10 years. Is your current role helping you make progress in the right direction? Or are you slowly moving away from where you want to be? 

Be kind to yourself when evaluating how much progress you’re making right now. There’s a good chance your progress will have slowed down if you’ve been furloughed or working away from the office. However, you should be able to see a direct route towards the job you want.  

For instance, someone who wants a position as a CFO will probably need to spend some time as an assistant financial manager first. If progress is slow but you’re on the right track, you can take some time to see whether going back to work helps to ramp up your progress again. If you don’t seem to be going anywhere after a while, you can investigate making a lateral move to another job.  

If your current role is nothing to do with where you now want to be, it’s time to rethink your goals. Take this opportunity to find your focus and begin looking for the right job. You might have been “settling” for a role all this time, and the pandemic can allow you to make a change.  

Do the Positive Parts of your Job Outweigh the Negatives? 

We all have things we love about our jobs and some things that we’d rather avoid.  

When you’re returning to work after some time away, you might find that the things you don’t like take up more space in your mind than the things you enjoy. If you love going to work most of the time and end each day feeling accomplished, there’s nothing to worry about. The chances are a couple of days back at work will get rid of your anxiety.  

However, if you’ve been dealing with the Sunday blues every weekend for years (even before the pandemic), there might be something wrong.  

• Make a list of the things you like and dislike about your current position.  
• Do you feel like you’re making an impact in your industry?  
• Are you getting the right benefits and salary?  
• Is the company culture suitable for you? 

To consider staying in your current role, you need the “pros” to outweigh the “cons.” If you have a list full of things you strongly dislike about going to work and just a handful of “positives,” reach out to a financial recruitment specialist and start looking for the job you want now. 

Next Steps to Develop Your Financial Career? 

If your anxiety about returning to work is just the issue of getting back into a routine, you should find yourself falling back into the groove in no time. If your reservations are running deeper, it’s time to get some advice from a career expert; reach out to a recruiter who can help you find the job you want.  

The Rebus specialist recruitment team can help you find the right role for your next career move. 

You can connect by emailing us here or calling our direct line on 01282 930 930 

Thanks 

Rachel Mitson 

About Rebus Financial Recruitment     

Rebus Financial Recruitment provides a specialist and focused recruitment service to its customers, which historically range from various organisations, including SMEs, to large PLCs.     

We strive to offer both the client and candidate a seamless recruitment experience. Using our expertise, we get to the heart of employer and employee needs, and, in doing so, we match the two perfectly. To find out more, get in contact with one of our team today, or you can call us on 01282 930930.