The Role Fear Plays in the Decision to Change Jobs

When it comes to contemplating a career transition, our emotions weigh heavily on our ability to rationalize change. The most difficult decision is determining when it is okay to leave your current job behind in favor of a seemingly better opportunity. The problem is that our ability to effectively rationalize is dependent on our current level of career happiness. The comparison seems simple enough, weighing out the pros and cons of our current position compared to those of another opportunity, including our current feelings and emotions vs the hypothetical feelings and emotions that will seemingly change during the transition. The happier we are in our current jobs, the more we are unable to justify change, quickly dismissing other opportunities. This mental shut-off is what allows us to focus our attention on our daily tasks, maintaining a feeling of contentment. The opposite effect would be mass chaos, resulting in an endless quest full of chasing one opportunity after the other.

The happier we are in our daily grind, the more we fear change. If things are going well, why risk leaving a job we are perfectly content with? Fair enough, but what happens when that contentment starts to fade? This usually starts when you start to question your long term happiness. Are there other companies that would put you on a faster track for growth? Are you fairly compensated in today’s market? Is your company starting to lag behind in technology compared to your competitors? The more dissatisfied you become in your current situation, the more questions that seem to pop up and the longer they tend to linger.

What is special about the role that fear plays in decision making is not only does it heavily influence when you make a career change, but its effect is directly correlated to your level of job satisfaction. The happier you are, the more you fear change. To quote Tim Ferris, author of the The Four Hour Workweek, “Fear comes in many forms, and we usually don’t call it by its four-letter name. Fear itself is quite fear inducing. Most intelligent people in the world dress it up as something else: optimistic denial.”

Fear of change works well when we are smitten with our jobs, but it’s this optimistic denial that keeps unsatisfied employees stuck in a state of long term unhappiness in a career that lacks fulfillment. Another word we can use to replace optimistic denial is—comfort. While most people think of comfort as a positive attribute, after all discomfort leads to stress, there is also a dark side to comfort, which manifests itself in stagnancy and lack of growth. To not be consistently challenged in a career is to be missing out on professional growth.

Assuming one is gainfully employed (those who are unemployed or soon to be unemployed have more to risk by continuing unemployment rather than actively seeking a new job) fear/optimistic denial/comfort, or whatever you want to call it, has to be tamed in order to prepare oneself for a career change. What makes this increasingly difficult is that fear is such a strong emotion that has a powerful effect on our behavior. It takes quite a bit of discontentment before fear starts to loosen its influence, allowing the ability to compare and contrast opportunities in a more unbiased fashion. 

To further quote Tim Ferris, “Most who avoid quitting their jobs entertain the thought that their course will improve with time or increases in income. This seems valid and is a tempting hallucination when a job is boring or uninspiring instead of pure hell. Pure hell forces action, but anything less can be endured with enough clever rationalization.” It is this clever rationalization that needs to be cautioned.

Working with people across North America in various stages of their job search has taught me there are varying mental states that surround career change. The way people rationalize career change differs depending on their level of fear of change along with its impact to create the aforementioned clever rationalization mechanism. It is important to note that not everyone goes through each of these states in order and sometimes people are stuck in one state longer than others. However, what tends to be true is that the deeper the state, the more likely the person is to make a career change for the simple fact that the fear of unknown becomes more comfortable while their current situation becomes less acceptable. In short, with each state, fear loosens its grasp, little by little, altering the decision making process. The transformation takes form in is a six step process detailed below:

The Six Mental States of Career Change

State 1: Absolutely not open to career change. 

·        Fear of change: High

Whether just starting a new job or absolutely in love with their career, those in this first mental state have no reason to make a move. They are not questioning the market or wondering what life would be outside of their current company. This group has the highest level of fear of change since they have the most to lose. A sudden layoff or downsizing can create a devastating circumstance.

State 2: Open to hearing about the market, but would only make a change for the ideal position.

·        Fear of change: Moderately High

This is the mental state that classifies the majority of people who are happy with their current job. There is no driving factor to explore opportunities; however, if the perfect position falls into their lap, they are not averse to moving into a clearly better position.  Because they are satisfied, fear of change is still moderately high as there is still a lot to lose if they walk away from the job they have come to enjoy. That said, if the perfect position falls into their lap, which either lowers the risk of change or greatly increases the reward (let’s say a 20-30% pay increase), they would be willing to make a change.

State 3: Passively looking. 

·        Fear of change: Moderate

This is the state where there is a likelihood to respond when presented an opportunity, but there isn’t any active outreach. This is where the fear of the unknown starts to be balanced by curiosity of the job market. This newfound curiosity is usually caused by mild dissatisfaction and is characterized when either questions about long term satisfaction start to arise or there are daydreams of greener pastures. This state is also characterized by a level of comfort and things are still bearable. This is where you are damned if you do or damned if you don’t. When faced with these decisions, the fear of change usually has the upper hand which makes it easier not to take action. However, if potentially better opportunities are presented, they are intrigued enough to listen to and are ultimately more willing to make a change. 

State 4: Actively, yet selectively looking for the right new job.

·        Fear of change: Moderately Low

By now, questions about the outside world have been looming, most likely for a little while now. The glass that is half full starts to become half empty and the lack of satisfaction, which can be caused by hundreds of different reasons, is great enough to finally grab the bulls by the horn and actively seek new employment. What is important is not just finding a new position, but finding the right position. Like those who are passively looking, any career change has to be clearly better, usually involving a pay increase, additional responsibilities, or maybe even a promotion. Fear loses even more ground and a change, the right change, becomes almost welcome.

State 5: Actively looking for a new job.

·        Fear of change: Low

At this point, dissatisfaction becomes overwhelming. This is the state where there is even contemplation of quitting without have a job lined up. Maybe something terrible just happened at work or some of the small issues you have been experiencing have been snowballing downhill for too long.  This is where the theoretical straw breaks the camel’s back. At this point, fear of change seems to disappear. I hear it all the time, “any job is better than what I am doing now.” In this state, not only is there an active job search (which may even include daily applications), but this is the point where a lateral move, doing the same job for the same compensation, seems appealing and even a slight pay cut becomes justified in order to buy your happiness back. This is the first state where a scent of desperation begins to loft, something that is usually picked up by interviewers.

*Side Note: As mentioned before, these states don’t necessarily apply in the same way to those who are unemployed or soon to be unemployed. Someone who is unemployed (and who we can assume is not independently wealthy and needs to work for a living), will be actively looking and may be open to a lateral move because they aren’t giving anything up. Fear of not working can be just as powerful of a motivator.

State 6: Complete desperation.

·        Fear of change: Non-existent

Career change is now a requirement. This is also the state that leads employees to walk up to their bosses, tell them where to go, drop the mic, and walk out without a job lined up. This is a very dark state caused by an accumulation of frustration, anger, and potential disdain for the job, the company, or specific coworkers. Fear is a very strong emotion so it takes an even stronger emotion to completely exile the “what if” factor of leaving your job. This can also turn into a very sad state of mind and I suggest changing your state before you start looking for a new position. This state also includes those who seem helplessly unable to find work, need money in the worst way, but have lost confidence in their abilities. If at all possible, don’t let yourself fall to complete desperation.

How do you know what stage you are in?

It is easy to determine if you are completely blind to outside opportunities or if you are madly desperate to get back to work, but what if you are in between? If you sent out one application does that mean you are now actively looking? Not necessarily.  These mental states tend to overlap. The best way to assess your situation is to assess your fear of change. It is important to note that you may skip states and can work your way up and back from different states. For example, let’s say you love your job but absolutely hate your manager so you start to actively interview. A couple of weeks into your search you find some interesting prospects, but in the meantime the manager that has been driving your crazy has been let go and has been replaced by someone that you immediately click with, therefore removing the negative stimulus from the environment. You may decide to cancel all of your interviews now that your situation has changed.

When is it best to consider a job change?

There has to be a balance of risk/reward to feel confident that a career change is right for you. If you are in State 1 where you are absolutely not contemplating a change there is no need to move so a job change isn’t recommended. If you are in State 5 or 6 where you are actively looking and either borderline desperate for change or fully desperate for a new job, you begin to lose negotiating power and fear of losing out on an opportunity becomes debilitating. Don’t get me wrong, I think it is important to be a little nervous going into an interview. Being nervous is a sign of being interested; however, the more desperate change becomes, the more nervous you become, and being too nervous negatively affects your ability to execute a successful interview.

I have found that the best time to consider a job change is when the risk is worth the reward. In State 2, it will take a clearly better position to make a move. This is really a win-win situation. You win if you stay at your current job that you enjoy and you win if you find a position that is just too good to turn down. State 3 is similar, but you now become more informed in the market. Talking with previous colleagues about openings in their departments or networking with recruiters will give you a state of the union on the job market allowing you to better evaluate your situation. Lastly, in State 4, you have finally started to cage the fear of change and are starting to welcome a better situation. You are still looking for the right position, a better position. Not only do you retain a higher level of negotiating power, but you are more likely to be more confident that you are making the right long term choice.

Keep in mind, though, the reward must be higher in State 2 than in State 4 as the risk is greater. Therefore, you may be more likely to better your situation to make a career change when you are in a mental state of satisfaction, but the chances of a perfect opportunity coming out of the woodwork and slapping you on the face is slim to none. By passively or actively, yet selectively, looking for a new job you will find a greater number of opportunities to entertain.

How to rationalize fear to make a better informed decision.

While fear of change can help maintain focus, it can also paralyze growth by disguising stagnancy as comfort. The best way to conduct a mental checkup is by asking yourself specific questions about your situation and being honest with the answer. This means answering truthfully rather than pointing out the easiest path. To end with some examples, I will divert back some examples from Tim Ferris. If you are contemplating a change in the first place, and are starting to question your job satisfaction (which can happen as early as State 2 to some degree), “do you really think [your situation] will improve or is it wishful thinking and an excuse for inaction?” The keywords here are wishful, meaning you might be grasping at straws, excuse, meaning you might be rationalizing fear resulting in inaction, which although may be the easier route, won’t lead to best possible outcome. To take this one step further, “if you were confident in improvement, would you really be questioning things so?”

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