Step One: Rekindle the Old Fire

Ivan quickly learns that the first step in assessing his career is finding out if there is a way to rekindle his passion for his current job. Are his feelings of dissatisfaction for real? Does he really need a career change?

Career guidance counselors can provide advice in this area. Many larger companies have them on staff, or can refer you to one of many agencies supplying such services. Fortunately, Ivan finds one, Renee Lonner, a licensed clinical social worker. Let’s see what he discovers:

*

Ivan was nervous as he walked into his boss’ office. What would she think when he told her he felt burned out by his job as head pharmacist of Moreland Drugs? He hoped she would be sympathetic and offer some ideas on how he could freshen up his job. But he wasn’t sure.

To his surprise, the boss was very understanding.

“I’ve noticed that you seem restless and dissatisfied lately,” she told Ivan. “I thought maybe it was an early case of spring fever. But I’m glad you’ve come to me. I don’t know that I have the answers. Perhaps I’m too close to the situation to be able to offer the best advice. What I’d like to do is send you to talk to someone at Moreland’s employee assistance program.”

“What’s that, some kind of a shrink?” Ivan asked suspiciously.

“Not exactly,” the boss replied. “Moreland Drugs contracts with a company called Robert T. Dorris & Associates, headquartered in Agoura Hills, to provide employee support on a variety of topics. These people are all professional counselors, and they handle everything from substance abuse to depression to family problems. They can even give you a referral if you’re having financial difficulties or trying to care for an elderly parent 3,000 miles away. What’s great about them is that they’re a disinterested third party. They’re not Moreland employees. You go to them and talk through your feelings and they try to pinpoint what’s wrong and how to fix it.”

The boss smiled. “And I stay out of it.”

That afternoon, Ivan cut out early and went surfing. As always, it soothed his nerves, being out there on the ocean, bobbing up and down in his wetsuit. As he drove home, he vowed to call the referral program the next morning. It couldn’t hurt.

The voice on the other end of the phone when he dialed was cool and professional. Dorris contracted with more than 100 counselors throughout California and could provide someone within 15 minutes of either Ivan’s office or his home, depending on where he wanted to meet. Ivan made an appointment for Thursday afternoon with Renee Lonner, a licensed clinical social worker who was the clinical director at Dorris. He agreed to drive out to her office in Sherman Oaks.

“Burnout is a catchall term, just like boredom or stress,” Lonner told him when he arrived. “First I’d like to make sure that something else isn’t bothering you, such as serious depression.”

Lonner asked how long Ivan had felt dissatisfied and whether it was only at work. For instance, had anything in his family situation changed? Divorce, marriage, children?

“Why, no,” stammered Ivan.

“Are you able to experience pleasure outside of work?” she asked.

“Well, yes, as a matter of fact I had an extraordinary afternoon just the other day, when I went surfing off Point Mugu,” Ivan said, brightening.

Lonner looked up at him suddenly, then continued taking notes.

“How did you pick pharmaceutical studies in college, Ivan?” she asked. “Was it entirely your choice, or were family and others influential? Was there a time when you were happier in the job than you are now?

“What I’m trying to determine is whether you’ve always been gung-ho on being a pharmacist or whether you put a part of your life aside to go into this field, maybe something creative that you really liked. We find that a lot with the employees we counsel, and what we see is that those neglected things can come back to haunt a person later in life, and that can make them feel burned out.”

The questions forced Ivan to think hard. How had he settled on pharmaceutical school? He thought it had something to do with finding a career that would be secure. While his parents hadn’t pushed him into it, they had come of age during the Great Depression and certainly had encouraged him to pursue a field where he could always count on making a living.

The social worker’s voice drew him back to the present.

“From what you’ve told me, you don’t have any outside problems that are contributing to your apathy at work. And you’d like to rediscover the enthusiasm you once had for being Moreland’s head pharmacist, right?”

Ivan nodded.

“The key word here is ‘rediscover.’ ”

Lonner leaned back in her chair.

“That assumes there was a point when the job was more satisfying. You’ve got to go back to that time and figure out what changed. Was it increased responsibility? Fewer interactions with co-workers? No time for vacations?”

“I just had a vacation, but it wasn’t long enough,” Ivan blurted out. He had gone to Hawaii with his surfboard. The days had passed in a palm tree haze. Now he was back at work.

“For starters, you need to be nice to yourself. Make sure you’re eating properly, getting enough sleep and exercise, taking all those vacation days that are due to you. But that’s only the beginning.

“Let’s talk about how your job could be made more challenging or structured a little bit differently. You need to create a path for yourself that maps out where you want to go and how to get there.

“Now. Here are some general ideas. Have you thought about applying for a promotion? Taking classes that would increase your skills? Assuming greater responsibilities?”

“A class, like, you mean take up fencing?” Ivan joked.

“No, I mean classes related to your job,” Lonner answered patiently. “How about taking an extension course that briefs you on recent research regarding viral diseases such as AIDS? Or looking at problems regarding patients who use multiple drugs? Those are just two I can think of.

“Secondly, in terms of taking on more responsibility, how about something such as designing a computer system that tracks multiple medication patients are taking? Or developing a training module for other pharmacies? Mentoring younger staffers?

“And don’t overlook the other side of the educational equation, which is teaching,” Lonner continued. “How about becoming part of the extended faculty at a local university or writing an article for the newspaper on new AIDS drugs or antidepressant medication.”

“Whoa, wait a minute. I need to write all this down,” Ivan said. “You’ve come up with so many ideas in five minutes that my brain is spinning. I can see that I’ve been stagnating too long. This is really an eye-opener.”

Painstakingly, Ivan copied down her suggestions. Most intriguing was the idea of teaching a class. He was in a unique position as head pharmacist of Moreland Drugs, and he ought to take better advantage of it if he wanted to reach the top of his field.

The hour passed like an hour in the water, and when Ivan got up to go, he was all fired up with renewed enthusiasm for his job, a job, after all, that many people in his profession would give their eyeteeth to have.

But that night in bed, Ivan dreamed again that he was surfing. In the water beside him bobbed pharmaceutical textbooks, but the ink was smudged and he couldn’t read the chapters.

Ivan woke up in a cold sweat, wondering what it meant. In the following weeks, he thought about what the social worker at Robert T. Dorris had told him and decided that he could use a longer break. One afternoon when it was slow, he pulled out the employee phone book and looked up the number for the human resources director. What he really needed was a sabbatical.