Sometimes you need to switch gigs. You’ve stopped learning, you aren’t as energized, and it’s time.
You may not even know it. Plus, it is a pain to look for jobs (the black hole of applying online is painful) and hard to switch. But sometimes you need intervention and need to move on – so here we are to help.
Here’s 5 signs to look for:
1 – You’ve mastered the job. Congrats – you have mastered the job. You know all the ins/outs & maybe you can even do your whole job in 1/2 the time it used to take you (and spend the rest of the time surfing the ‘net). While this feels great, this is actually the #1 time to start looking – you always want to be learning/growing.
2 – You’re the last one left. So you came to work with a certain cohort. 5-10 people roughly joined at the same time as you. You did cool work, it was fun, you learned a lot. It is 3, 5, 10 years later. Everyone else has left and changed jobs 2-3 times and are learning new things. You are still doing the same exact thing and start talking about the glory days like a high school QB (how things were so much better 5 years ago).
3 – Your organization stops expanding & starts shrinking – The best learning experiences are when an organization is growing. Yes it may be chaotic at a CFPB or DHS in its growth days but the opportunity is huge – you learn a ton as you are setting up procedures for first time, launching new programs, and have huge opportunities for promotion. It’s time to start looking when there’s no growth & actual shrinkage – there’s fewer promotional opportunities, more people on line, and simply less interesting
4 – You are at end of DOOM loop – I love Frank DiGiammariono’s DOOM loop (picture on the right) on career happiness (download the free guide). He argues that you want to start a job in quadrant 1 (you like the job but aren’t good at it yet). As you grow in the job you eventually are good at it and like it. The downside is when you basically get stuck – you become jaded (good at it, don’t like) and eventually spiral into #4 (not good, don’t like)
5 – You’ve officially learned all the acronyms. It all actually makes sense. So well that you start referring to the 4 times that same acronym was used and all the program names.
That’s my 5 signs – how do you know when it’s time to move on?
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