The Wisdom of Switching Jobs

Everyone from your mentor to your mother has something to say about the best way to switch jobs. “Don’t leave until you have your next job lined up, or you have to stay in a job for at least two years.” The job market has constantly been changing over the past few years. Experts see this current labor market as “candidate-driven.” So, what does that mean for you? From personal experience and based on some job research trends, here are some wisdom and perspectives that might be helpful to you.

Structure Your Decision

Getting a job offer is a significant ego boost. It shows that your skills are desired, and you are a potentially valuable asset to the team. However, it’s important to think beyond the flattery and give careful consideration to what’s most beneficial for you and your career. Both long-and short-term. Career decisions can get complicated and risky, and maintaining objectivity without a plan is next to impossible. Before you begin to think through your decision-making process, outline your career goals and criteria for acceptance, laying out a roadmap for evaluating each element.

Ask Questions

We all know not every promise made during an interview will eventually be fulfilled. There are employers who optimistically paint that overly rose-colored picture of an incredible work experience in their organization, which can fuel unrealistic expectations of job candidates about what to expect. This happens more often than you think.

You can mitigate being led astray with a bit of preemptive planning by taking a deep dive into the culture and environment during interviews. It’s essential to ask exploratory questions about employee engagement, expectations, metrics, challenges faced, growth potential, and, just as vital, how long people historically stay in their roles. Some good questions to start with:

• What would success in the role look like to you?
• How often do one-on-ones take place with your staff?
• What do you like about working here?

Beware of Cognitive Bias

The tendency to favor information that supports what we believe, like noticing and buying into stories that align with our current views, is known as Confirmation bias. Confirmation bias comes in many forms, such as giving more credence to information linked to recent memory, so it’s essential to identify and counter these biases quickly before making any life-altering decisions, such as a career change.

Seek an Outside Perspective

An organization’s genuine commitment to employee development and determining whether it walks the walk should be a purpose bigger than just its tagline. To learn whether a company’s values are in sync with your own is hard enough to do without first talking to people who already work there. Before accepting any offer, you would benefit from making it a priority to network with employees who work for the company if you can. Let them know you are interested in joining, and get their view of what it’s like on the inside.

When you do reach a tentative decision, ensure you discuss your decision-making criteria with those you know who will challenge your assumptions rather than relying on people who share your views. Look for individuals with no vested interest in your ultimate choice and tell them they can help you most by being entirely honest.

With some thoughtful planning, lay out a roadmap for your decision and career goals. Pay close attention to your assumptions and biases, and take a minute out to ask the right people the right questions prior to accepting a new position. Recognizing and discussing the realities of your role, responsibilities, and relationships upfront can help you avoid a painful career misstep.

When You Make an Impulsive Move

Switching jobs without rationally thinking it through may tempt you to accept a job quickly just to get away. Soon after starting the new career, you’ll question why you acted so impulsively. For example, the recruiter may have pushed the role too aggressively,  or perhaps the interviewer(s) over-promised and under-delivered. In your haste to join the resign-my-job club, you may have overlooked the obvious red flags (personally been there, done that).

You may find yourself stuck in a rebound job. Now you may be faced with this dilemma. Do you quit after only a couple of months, or do you try to stick it out for another year or so to keep your résumé looking enticing to recruiters? Truth be told, you have every right to worry about looking like a job hopper. Every time you go for an interview, you’ll be grilled over the short stint. It’s not fair, but this is what happens.

To make matters worse, being unhappy in the new role, you start searching again. Feeling disappointed and desperate, it’s likely that you’ll take the first offer to escape. The odds are high that this wasn’t the best offer or job. Now, you are in another dead-end role. These will be two instances you now have to suffer through explaining to human resources for the rest of your career.

To make matters worse, when the topic of your job switches arises, you’ll understandably feel angry and frustrated. This is not a good look in the interview. The hiring manager may question your decision-making process and surly attitude and take a pass for someone with a “cleaner” job history.

Lateral Moves

You are advised not to make lateral moves; a new job appears to be your only chance of making a giant leap in title and compensation. Yes, if you are going for the title and salary, and if that’s your goal, you may find what you are looking for. However, more money and a better title rarely are what makes you happy in a job. And given how flat some companies are today, there is often nowhere to go in your current position or another one. It would be best if you focused on finding exciting work and instead look for autonomy, mastery, and purpose rather than worrying about lateral moves.

Always on The Lookout for Your Next Job

In a perfect world, you should never be looking for your next job if you love what you do and are in a flow state. You want to be happy and not feel like you’re constantly searching. Research points out a form of “flow” as a neurological condition of our brain where we can achieve maximum productivity while simultaneously, our brain consumes very little energy. In effect, we are fully immersed in what we do in our job. We remain fully absorbed, even losing a sense of time, yet we can function at our best. When you have found this “flow” in a particular job, then looking for your next one would be seen as unnecessary.

Regardless, even if you’ve found a role that you are happy with, you should still be learning and growing. It does not have to be a new role with a new company, but it can be a different role or maybe a challenge in your existing job. As we know, the world is changing so rapidly that you must be agile or adaptable. Look for training or projects that give you more skills and allow you to do things outside your comfort zone, not just the ones you need for your current role.

When Changing Jobs or Careers is a Good Option

• Let’s say you dread getting up in the morning, with the thought of work leaving you feeling stressed, anxious, or with a case of “the Mondays”? It may be an excellent time to begin thinking if this is the right job or career for you. As many who have or have ever had this feeling know all too well, it doesn’t go away without making a meaningful change in your life.
• You lack interest in the role. It has become an old “familiar shoe.” You could probably do this job with your eyes closed. You may be feeling bored and even no longer motivated to do more than what’s required of the position. You are no longer passionate about it. It might be time to seek new opportunities or challenges to get you out of the comfort zone you are in right now.
• There are no career advancement opportunities. An important motivational factor in one’s career is often advancement itself. You may want to be a manager or a leader, but there is no clear path at your current company. Or you may have plateaued in your role, and there are no paths available to make an impact within the current organization. Whatever your professional objectives, if you can’t see a clear path to landing your ideal position, this may no longer be the best fit for you.
• You would like more compensation. Research to know what your peers in similar positions are making. Sites like Glassdoor and Indeed can help you identify the average salary for any given job title. You could discover that your income is either above or below the industry average for your position. In any case, knowing this information will help you determine if leaving your current work will result in higher pay.
• You no longer share the ideals of the organization. You could no longer be in line with the company’s goal, purpose, or vision as a result of a restructuring or a change in leadership. To increase your clarity on this, looking at what you value is a great place to start. Describe the ideals you uphold on a personal or professional level. Decide on the 4-5 basic ideals that apply to both areas of your life. This might assist you in finding discrepancies between your values and those of your firm. Additionally, it will make it clearer which kinds of businesses you want to work with in the future.
• Your job is impacting you personally. Whether it is a lack of work-life balance, work stress coming home with you, or your relationships being affected, it may be time to consider a change. One way to notice if this is the case for you is to check in with your body. Are you not sleeping, having headaches, or having gastrointestinal issues? All these can be signs that something is off and needs attention. A notable change in your work environment may be warranted.

Over your career, you are likely to switch jobs multiple times. I would not feel so bad or consider myself a job-hopper. There are always personal or professional circumstances that bring about change; regardless of the reasons for change, whether a volunteer or forced, in the end, everyone is looking for a fulfilling, meaningful, and challenging role. In addition to work-life balance and learning opportunities, that creates a state of flow and satisfaction. Until this need is fulfilled or satisfied, seeking new changes or career moves will constantly be an evolving door until you find what you desire.