5 things to consider, if you want to quit your job

My friend worked for a great boss. The team culture was fantastic. She had the last say on most things pertaining to her department. The team, extended team, and peers were a close knit friends group too. It had taken almost 6-7 years to build that kind of camaraderie.?

And now she wanted to quit.?

She was ready for the next thing. She had applied to jobs, and was hoping for something to work out somewhere. But in all these conversations with me, her one constant worry was - Saurabh I have to prove myself all over again from scratch no matter where I join. Here the buck stops with me.?

Now this is what I want to talk about. I have at times too been in a place where things are going great for me, but I just feel ready for the next bend. Over my career, these are the 5 things that I have considered to keep me reasonably regret-free.?

I - Evaluate all my options at the current job and see where I stand.

The biggest driving factor for my friend was that while the buck stopped with her, she had stopped learning on the job. She felt like she had learned all that there was to learn from her current peers. And that was fueling her search for newer pastures.?

So can you do anything to change that situation? An internal job posting is one of the most overlooked ways out of this situation. You stay on in the culture and comfort of your choice. All your good work in the past just beefs up your position in the new team.?

Basically if I love 80% of my job, and hate 20% of it, is it worth changing the 80% in an effort to get rid of the 20%? That’s for you to answer.?

II - Evaluate the impact of this job change on my overall quality of life?

Now here I might draw some flak.?

If you are switching for the money, any place that gives you a 25-30% hike is good. It’s even better if you continue in the same city, so your expenses don’t go up.?

And I will put this out there - switching for money is a real thing. It’s okay. There needs to be no shame around it. I doubt if any of us reading this, work just to be charitable to an organization.?

If you are switching for culture, or to escape a toxic boss, or a toxic work environment - be prepared to devote some more time than usual to work. You will be starting from scratch. It will take time to build relationships, to understand the nuances of a new culture, the said and unsaid norms - it will take time.?

If you are switching to explore something new, or just because you are bored - understand how you place your job in your life. If a job is one of the many things that you do, this switch might entail some pressure on the rest. You might have to move to a new city or maybe leave family behind for a few months or lose touch momentarily with your friends.?

If a job is a primary thing for you - where you define yourself closely with what you do at work- then this switch is a great idea.?

III - Really sit down and think on the following lines.?

?1. What is the incremental change you are looking for in your next job? Compensation , position / title, geography , learning / growth, change of function, change of industry??

2. Evaluate your job opportunity against the change that you are seeking. This is a little complex to my mind. While it’s easy to get carried away by the aesthetic aspects of a new job - there are certain internal changes that you will need to think through.?

I don’t just mean quality of life. That we have covered in the second point. But rather in defining success factors for your new job search.?

For example, you might want to switch to the next higher designation, say- Senior Manager. But success also lies in the diversity of what you are getting to do. If the role is the same that you have been doing at a manager level - it might not add in a big way to your growth, but compensation will go up. So ideally if you want more money for the same thing, and that's your only criteria - then this is a good fit.?

IV - What does your career decision framework say??

Let’s go back to the career decision framework that I talked about a few weeks ago. Evaluate which bucket you are prioritizing in your life at that particular point of time and how does a new job stack up against that priority vs. your current job. This will also allow you to see what you will be compromising on.?

There are trade-offs in the best job situations. You have to be sure that even though you are choosing most of them, there might be some factors that you will have no control over.?

For example - your spouse could absolutely hate the new city, or they might be unable to get a role or job of their choice there. So these things you have no agency over. And they are not minor irritants.?

V - Push versus Pull

This is a simple question - are you quitting because there is a massive push from your current org or a humongous pull from the next job opportunity.

Push from organization means that nobody might be flying political cover for you, you have stopped growing completely, just showing up is draining you.?

Pull signifies a situation where there’s such good stuff about the new organizations or possibilities that you are finding it hard to maintain your status quo. Social media and employee engagement content often depicts companies in a certain way - it is so easy to get swayed. But before you take a call, always ratify the veracity of this.?

____

A job change is a tough decision.

It’s an emotional and logistical decision.?

The more facts you have in hand, the better decision you can take.?