How to think about timing a career move

 
At this time of year, I guess that many people are asking themselves whether it may be time to move on and seek to improve their careers elsewhere.

If this is in your mind, here’s some timely advice from “Mavericks at Work” in the form of an article called: How Do You Know When It’s Time to Go? Five Questions for 2008.

The author suggests asking yourself these key questions:

• Does my company standing for something—anything—special? It’s hard to be thrilled with your job if the company you work for is struggling to succeed, or feels stuck and irrelevant.
• Am I excited to see my colleagues when I show up for work on Monday morning? “Working for” a company is an abstraction. The reality is that you work with the people closest to you.
• Do I have a voice at work—does anyone who matters listen to what I say? There’s nothing more depressing and demotivating than feeling that you don’t matter as a person.
• Am I learning as fast as the world is changing? In a world that moves so fast, the most dangerous thing in anyone’s career is the sense that you’re standing still.
• Am I making enough money? Strange as it sounds, this is the worst reason to leave a job.

Seems like good advice to me

Part of the benefit of slowing down is the chance it gives you to ask yourself searching questions — and find the time to answer them fully. Many people move on for all the wrong reasons — I’ve done it myself. They get bored, or fall out with an individual, or simply see others moving and fear they may be missing out.

A career is a long-term activity, not a group of short-term jumps for immediate gratification: that’s just a series of jobs. Jobs exist mostly for financial reasons; your real interest is elsewhere. Careers exist to provide personal development and a place to express who you are and what you can become.

You don’t have to commit yourself to a career, but, if you do, it’s wise to treat it like a major capital investment: something you think about very carefully before getting in, then manage with both eyes on the longer-term.

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