How to understand that it’s time to change jobs – experts answer

Stable work in the same position or insignificant horizontal movements within the same company have certain advantages: the familiar environment, the predictability of colleagues and superiors, a well-functioning scheme of work and life processes. Day after day, a comfort zone forms that relaxes the specialist, and he is not immediately able to understand what is standing still.
Meanwhile, conscious career management is the trend of the time.
According to a recent study by Rabota.ru, 41% of Russians consider the possibility of career growth as one of the main factors in choosing a job.

Most recruiters recommend changing jobs every 3-5 years. This is the optimal period for which the specialist gains enough experience and can qualify for promotion on the career ladder.

The following signs and circumstances will help to understand that the time has come to change jobs.

You have reached the ceiling in professional knowledge and skills, and the company or position does not allow you to grow

  • You have been performing the same duties for quite some time.
  • To do the job well, you no longer need to learn anything.
  • You perform many tasks on the machine, not including the whole job.
  • Your company does not organize corporate training, and you yourself do not have professional and material motivation to improve your qualifications.
  • Before you for a long time did not set new and interesting tasks that can reveal your potential.

In this state of affairs, you can still work in one place for a long time without the threat of losing your job. Some professions suggest such stability, since the industries themselves are growing at a slow pace.

But in such a dynamic field as IT, the “ceiling” means stagnation, which threatens not only the loss of opportunities, but also a serious problem when applying for a new job. For example, if other companies are already working on a new, unfamiliar stack.

You work well, but you are not offered vertical growth

Not all people are created for leadership work, and not all specialists strive for it. At the same time, many heads of IT companies are also inclined to the position “a better developer is better than a bad team leader.”

But the situation is changing, and if it is you who strive for career growth within your company, feel the strength, potential and possess the necessary set of qualities and qualifications for the next step, but you have not been offered vertical growth for more than a year (or even hinder it), then this is an occasion to think.

For such purposes, many companies have a personal plan for the development of a specialist, but sometimes it focuses only on horizontal growth, a slight increase in salaries at each stage and a constant increase in the number of duties without changing their status.

If you repeatedly had a conversation with your immediate superiors and in response you heard: “there is no budget,” “all posts are occupied,” “we will return to this conversation later,” it’s time to think about changing jobs.

You don't want to go to work

No matter how good the work, all people from time to time tend to get tired of it, dream of staying home for a couple of days or take an extraordinary vacation. Your attitude to work may be affected by the time of year, physical health, and fatigue after the completion of a major project. This is normal.

It is worth considering if this condition lasts a long time and does not at all give way to bursts of inspiration and activity.

Bad relationships in the team are an important factor in the treasury of lack of motivation. If you are sure that you have made every effort to establish contact with colleagues, but have not yet become “your” person, this will add a sense of inner tension and increase unwillingness to come to work.

Lack of motivation, neglect of the results of one's labor, a sense of drive, boredom and moral exhaustion are symptoms of burnout.

If it does not pass even after a full vacation, most likely, only a change of work will help.

You are not appreciated

You linger after work, take on the training of beginners, come up with new ideas after the weekend and do more than your plan suggests. But at the same time, you get extreme disapproval from colleagues, and the authorities turn a blind eye to this. Or even neatly but persistently asks you to "go about your business", despite the fact that you have good results …
If this story is about you, you fulfill your duties well and on time, the solution of the main tasks does not suffer from your initiative, then you can safely admit to yourself that you are not appreciated. It is possible that all roles are already strictly distributed in your company; perhaps your superiors are afraid of too active employees; maybe there are no funds in the budget to support your activity in rubles. Quite often, specialists are needed to perform only specific tasks, and the company is simply not interested in your initiative.

In any case, it is worth starting to look for a new place where you will receive not condemnation and restrictions, but a field for activity, emotional support and reward for your work.

You are not sure about your company

In the life of any organization, there are crises when it is necessary to suffer a couple of months without bonuses, work on the weekend or take on the job of an employee who has been reduced from his post. If the management has a clear plan to get out of the situation, and you see that it is improving day by day, do not rush to send your resume massively.

It’s worth worrying if the work in the company is like a roller coaster, the falls are deeper and the ups are harder. An alarm may also be technological stagnation of the company due to a lack of funds for new projects or updating the equipment park.

If you notice that the best employees leave the company, if for a long time you don’t know the exact date of salary payment and the industry is “shaking” in general, it’s better not to wait for a critical point and start looking for a new place.

If you are offered a job in a more successful company with better conditions and promotion

It would seem that when this happens, one does not have to persuade anyone for a long time, but actually it is not so simple to decide to take a step forward. Especially if everything suits you at the current place. Self-confidence, reluctance to change something, and doubts about a new company can interfere with career growth. With the latter, information collection will help. Take your time to say no, ask potential employers for time to think things through, but do not delay too long. Having made sure that your competencies are suitable for the new position, and there are no negative reviews about the company, feel free to decide on changes.

According to the forecasts of the Rabota.ru service, in 2019 staff shortages will remain in the IT and digital segments, where there are especially not enough professional and knowledgeable employees in almost all directions.

Return to the resume regularly to replenish it with new achievements. If you have a need to change jobs, this will help not to spend a lot of time filling up your portfolio. In addition, to see the whole path traveled is useful for motivation.

Periodically monitor vacancies – this will give the correct idea of ​​the level of salaries in your area. Perhaps it’s time for you to justifiably ask for an increase in salary. From vacancies you will also learn about how you meet the current requirements for specialists at your level and one level higher.

The decision to change jobs in any case should not be made in one day. It is worth weighing everything carefully, asking yourself a question about the objectivity of your own judgments. Too frequent job changes repels employers from the candidate no less than his long stay without development in one place.

From an employee with extensive experience in one company, new managers expect loyalty, a serious attitude to the business and stable results, but conservatism, lack of initiative and motivation can be written in the negative.

At the same time, even the most loyal employers are not ready to invest in “flyers” (often changing jobs), because there is no certainty that these investments will pay off. The minimum time in one place is a year, the ideal is 3-5 years, and the maximum is determined by your desire and capabilities.

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