WHEN IS IT OKAY TO CHANGE JOBS?

03 Feb WHEN IS IT OKAY TO CHANGE JOBS?

It is very interesting how people get to ask me questions relating to a particular subject matter within a time window, at such times, I wonder how people seem to be interested in the same subject matter at the same time. Anyways, this has always been an indicator to what I should write about, hopefully, I will be answering the question on your mind and that of others.

So, here is the question – when is it be okay to change jobs?

To be honest, when I first got this question, I thought to myself – this isn’t a hard nut to crack, why will you not know when to leave a particular employment in search of another, but again when I thought about the number of years a person might have spent on a job, the amount to time, brain and emotional capital invested, the stability in the present employment, and the very many ‘what if(s)’ out there, one might begin to develop cold feet.

Like the biblical saying that when we begin to see some signs that means the end of the world is at hand, so also, there are some indicators and pointers to the fact that your time in a particular employment is over and that what you are actually doing is in fact spending extra-time.

So here are the signs and pointers to the fact that your time in an employment is over:

1. When you have gotten to a level in the organization that promotion seem next to impossible: Usually, in any given employment, at the entry level, promotion is always easy and fast, in fact I have seen people get promoted three times in two years. However, when you move up the ladder, promotion becomes a bit more difficult as the next available position is probably occupied by an immediate boss and if your boss’s boss is not leaving the organization, your boss will not be promoted and so you might not be promoted except there is a miraculous breakout and new branches or product lines are created.

So when you get to this level, it is always wise to start thinking of transition so you can go bid for a higher level in the next employment.

2. When you have learnt all that is there to learn: Usually, we learn in two ways – formally by attending courses, trainings and seminars or informally by solving novel tasks and mirroring expertise from our colleagues and superiors.

Just like the law of diminishing returns applies to productivity, it also applies to the  quality and quantity of what we get in terms of learning and growth in a particular environment. Usually, when we first get into a particular environment, there is always a  sense of newness as such; we get to learn new things either passively or actively. When we have however dwelt too long on that mountain, there seem to be no new feats and           engagement in turn reduces. At this time, it is wise to start thinking of transition to another ‘mountain’ where you can learn new set of skills and become engaged and productive again.

3. When reward does not match up with efforts: Like we would always say, the true reward for what we do is not the money we receive, rather it is the satisfaction, happiness and fulfillment it brings. The moment the time and energy you are investing in your employment is not bringing matching reward in terms of satisfaction, happiness and fulfillment, it is wise to start thinking of transition to a greener pasture.

Conclusively, your decision to change jobs should not necessarily be tied to the number of years you have spent in the employment; rather it should be tied to these three factors.

If you have any other question, feel free to contact me. I’d love to help you.