Sometimes, the grass is greener on the other side. Sometimes, it’s just more of the same. So when it comes to leaving your current job for a new one, how can you tell beforehand if the opportunity is worth it? Changing jobs keeps you on your toes and helps you develop valuable professional skills. While there’s always going to be risks involved when changing jobs, you can make a more confident choice by considering some key factors. Here are nine important variables to take into account before changing jobs.
Why.
First of all, know why you want to change jobs? Be honest with yourself. Let’s say the answer to that question is broadening your knowledge and more importantly you feel the capability of offering more, then consider getting a new job. If you have reached a point where you feel you have learnt and exhausted all the skills in your current job then it might be the right time for you to change your job. Look into getting a job that will help you broaden your knowledge, widen your thinking and learn new skills.
Action tip: People change jobs for different reasons. Be certain of the reason why you are considering transferring to a new job, it could be the need to broaden your knowledge, change your career path or change location to a new city.
Time.
When it comes to making a career change, there is one question you should ask yourself first. Is it the right time for you in your life to change roles/company? Will this be a positive impact on your current situation? While there is no perfect time to make any meaningful change in either your life or your career, you will find that there are ‘optimal’ times. These optimal timings are when the circumstances around you are shifting to a degree that making any meaningful change will meet less resistance than before. Timing is key in most cases especially when considering a career move, the implications of this could be overwhelming and you may feel under pressure if the time is not right.
Action tip: Look out for signs at work that could indicate it’s a good time to change your job role. Consider signs like a change of leadership at work, mergers and acquisitions that change the working dynamics or poor working conditions.
Job Role.
Consider thinking it through when picking your next job role. The more similar the job is to your experience, the easier it is for you to handle. A good choice for those who can’t take stress in large doses. On the contrary, a job that allows you to do challenging tasks and projects will equip you with new skills, including prioritisation and critical thinking. This way, it is better for your career development in the long run when you accept higher and more challenging positions.
Action tip: Consider choosing a job role that is more engaging compared to your previous one. Choose a job role like being a senior developer or team leader where you will have more involving duties.
Learning opportunities.
Imagine how you want your career path to be in the next 3 or 5 years. What kinds of positions are you aiming for? What exactly does this new position offer you that your current one doesn’t? Then think about the types of skills you would need to fit in those positions and try to learn relevant skills along the way. Say your were working in the project management department and now your aiming at being a senior software developer, this will expose you to a different technology stack which in turn will require you to learn new skills about the newer tech or different programming languages you will encounter. Technology is extremely fast-moving, in case you want to change to a different role in software development, you need to be able to learn new programming languages and technologies and adapt to your new environment quickly.
Action tip: Be aware of the kind of job role you’re changing to, then imagine the kind of skills you will need while executing your job and try to learn those skills. Once you’ve decided to change, for example, to a new programming language, go out of your comfort zone and do some Udemy courses on the topic, watch YouTube videos, do certifications. Your new prospective employer will love that!
Resigning.
Have you ever thought what your employer might decide the day you choose to leave and hand in your notice? This is often the difficult part of the process as you form connections within your workplace and saying goodbye can be tough. This stage needs to be addressed at the start of the process so that you are fully committed to making a career change. Counteroffers and promises of career development often happen at this stage, these are not necessarily positive actions as they question your ability to make your own life decisions. You must resign from your current job, to be fully committed to your next job.
Action tip: Make sure you resign before you move to your next job, it will keep you focused. Write the letter to your current boss at least two weeks before resigning from your job. The most important information to include in a resignation letter is the date you plan to leave the company. This helps ease the transition for the employer, as well as for you. State this date very early in the letter.
Hierarchy.
Look into moving to a job that will help you advance hierarchically. In small companies, it is more challenging to progress hierarchically though you tend to have more autonomy and more influence to decide the languages, libraries, databases, frameworks, or technologies to use. It depends what you prefer, change to a job role that has greater chances of you being in a better position.
Action tip: Many organizations order their employees to an authority or relative status. Spot organizations that have a system where employees are ranked according to their authority, ask employees at your new job what it’s like to work there, look for company reviews on glassdoor which state about hierarchy or inquire about the hierarchy and company structure during your interview.
Corporate culture/Workplace culture.
Corporate culture refers to the beliefs and behaviours that determine how a company’s employees and management interact and handle outside business transactions well as workplace culture defines the proper way to behave within the organization. Consider moving to a job where the company possess and embraces great awareness of both. Corporate culture such as clan culture or hierarchy culture can help attract higher-quality candidates. A company that has a workplace culture such as strong leadership, task-oriented or customer service excellence is driven by purpose and clear expectations. These cultures will motivate and inspire you to be more engaged in your work duties and interactions with others. And also lead to effective communication which drives productivity.
Action tip: During the interview, ask about both the company’s corporate culture and workplace culture, inquire from fellow employees what it’s like working at the new company or evaluate the company and it’s current culture.
Money.
Money is a core factor that motivates many people to change jobs. It’s what makes the world go around, keeps roofs over our heads and pays for your lifestyle. Change to a job that pays a significant amount of money and offers great benefits packages. As much as the salary is a huge part of the package that the potential employer is offering, there are other benefits that you need to consider. These include things like holiday allowance, retirement contributions and matching, insurance, bonuses, and healthcare. Before accepting a job or signing the contract, you need to ensure that all these extras are negotiated.
Action tip: Do market research on rate or salary, compare what increase you will get plus how it balances with benefits ie. pension, health insurance, vouchers etc or speak to a number of companies regarding salaries and make sure to do a deep comparison.
Code quality.
When moving to a new job, consider inquiring about the company’s code quality policies. For example, Do they have a style guide or do they do code reviews to improve the quality of their code and if they do, how do they execute them. Good code should be easily read, simple and sustainable, ensuring you aim at making quality code. Therefore choose a company that prioritizes code quality and technical debt to avoid the risk of working for years in deteriorating code and annoying yourself in the process.
Action tip: Join a company that strongly implies code quality policies such as code reviews or pair programming. In case the company does not prioritize these policies, you can recommend the usage of these policies to ensure that the company produces a quality code.
Conclusion.
Changing roles can be an exciting time – and it’s also a good time to check in with a few key aspects of your life to make sure you’re set up for a smooth transition. That way, you’ll be able to step into your new role with a little more ease and confidence. Consider factors such as corporate culture, money, hierarchy or learning opportunities when changing job roles.
