4 Biggest Factors to Consider While Switching Jobs

From coping with Monday morning blues to feeling pumped on Fridays in anticipation of a relaxing weekend, most employees go through a rollercoaster of emotions during a work week. On some days, you feel like you are on top of the world – everything seems to click, you have delivered a massive project, closed an important sales deal after several rounds of negotiations, or found some much-needed inspiration to elevate your marketing campaign. Yet, on other days, you feel stuck at rock bottom – nothing seems to fall in place despite your best efforts, your relationship with a client has soured, your boss seems disinterested in your success, or your annual appraisal falls significantly short of your expectations. Doubts start to inevitably creep in as you wonder if you should still grind it out in your current job or explore greener grass on the other side of the hill.

The decision of whether to continue with your current employer or make a job switch can be a daunting one. It’s not always something that you can solely decide after doing an extensive pros and cons analysis. There are feelings and interpersonal relationships at play, not to mention the discomfort of leaving a place and people that you are familiar with to unchartered territory where you have to start all over again. Often, things get tricky when your head and heart are at odds, leaving you in a state of limbo on whether you should pivot or persevere.

• "Is there value in staying put and seeing if I can get promoted? Or should I explore what’s out there in the market and jump ship soon before it’s too late?
• "I see Mei who moved to a competitor and absolutely loves it there. But there’s also John who resigned after an argument with his boss – he has been frantically job hunting for over four months with no success."
• "The offer on the table does look appealing. But I’m still not sure if this is right job, the right organisation, and the right timing for me to make a move."

We have all experienced similar confusion at some or the other point in our careers. Sometimes there are certain telling signs prompting you towards a job change, sometimes there aren’t. While there is no single magic formula, the good news is that there are some common considerations that can help you make an informed decision on whether now is the time to change up your career.

To Switch or Not to Switch Jobs – That is the Question

While there is a plethora of factors to consider while deciding on a job switch, here are four of the most important ones that you should take into account in your decision-making:

1. Satisfaction with Your Day-to-Day Work

One of the biggest sources of job satisfaction or lack thereof comes from the tasks and activities that you execute on a daily basis. Are they aligned to your skills, interests, and career goals? Do you see the purpose of doing those tasks and how they are adding value to the organisation, or are you simply ticking off your to-do list and aimlessly executing? Naturally, not every aspect of your work may be exciting or intellectually stimulating – we all have to complete standard housekeeping tasks every day, regardless of our job function. But if your overall feeling is that you don’t enjoy the majority of your day-to-day work, it’s important to diagnose the root cause behind it – whether it’s a competence issue or simply a misalignment between what you were expecting to do when you first started versus what your job scope actually is right now.

For example, if you are a pharmaceutical sales representative and you feel dissatisfied in your current role, here are some questions worth pondering upon. Would working in a sales role at another pharmaceutical firm change things? How about switching to a sales role in another industry with better growth potential? Or, if you don’t enjoy bulk of the job duties in your existing sales role, is it time to change careers to something else that is more aligned to your skills, interests, and inner calling? Give yourself enough time in your current role to see how you feel about your day-to-day work and then make a call. Experience, gathered over time, is data.

2. Team Culture, Management, and Workplace Environment

Culture eats strategy for breakfast – and it isn’t difficult to see why most employees crave to work in a positive, open-minded, inclusive, and supportive environment that brings the best out of everyone. Internal politics, power struggles, and a “toxic” internal culture of blame and psychological danger all contribute to employees eventually quitting their jobs.

If you feel that your team’s culture is not healthy, it is important that you voice it and strive to find solutions to bring about change. The same applies to the relationship between you and your manager. If you constantly feel belittled, threatened, micro-managed, or uncomfortable due to your manager’s actions, finding the courage to bring up your feelings to your manager or other relevant stakeholders is key. If things continue to remain the same or deteriorate, it could be time to potentially look out elsewhere. During the job application and interview process, it is pivotal that you assess the culture, values, and team dynamics of your prospective employer and how that aligns with your expectations. Finding the right employer who not only talks the talk about culture, but also walks the walk can go a long way in shaping your performance, fulfilment, and mental health at work.

3. Professional Development and Career Progression Opportunities

A major trigger for why workers look for alternative employment is the lack of on-the-job learning, development opportunities, and clear progression pathways within their existing company. To make an informed decision, it is important that you enquire extensively during the job interview process about the training methodology and opportunities for promotion and upward mobility within your prospective employer. Look up the LinkedIn profiles of employees who have worked there and gain first-hand context regarding career progression by interacting with them.

Once you join a company, it is important to engage in regular conversations with your manager and other relevant stakeholders on what it takes to be promoted and benchmark your progress. If you feel like you are not receiving enough support and guidance to deliver your work or being consistently overlooked for promotion despite fulfilling the relevant criteria, it could prompt you to look for better progression opportunities externally. At the end of the day, you are not only choosing a job but also choosing a long-term career that helps you grow personally and professionally – a commitment that needs to be reiterated by both you and your employer.

4. Remuneration, Additional Benefits, and Work-Life Balance

As much as enjoying your work and having a positive team culture are key, everyone has bills to pay at the end of the day. When you have performed to the best of your abilities and surpassed your goals, it is fair to expect that your work is recognised and, as a result, you are appropriately remunerated. If you feel like your financial package falls short of your expectations, you can explore the earning potential in the market by speaking to credible recruiters and industry professionals. While it is common to use external offers as leverage during salary increment negotiations, remember to tread carefully and operate in good faith. Otherwise, you risk burning bridges on both sides.

While your remuneration is a critical piece of the puzzle, there are other aspects that are also of profound importance – medical insurance, annual leave, retirement savings plans, tax subsidies, and other in-kind benefits. An important factor that has emerged, particularly off the back of the COVID-19 pandemic, is the flexibility for remote work with 49% of employees preferring a hybrid (2-3 days in office per week) mode and 25% now seeking fully remote employment. This is tied into the wider conversation around work-life balance, which is key for your overall mental and physical well-being both inside and outside of work. If you are overwhelmed by your current workload and continuously working until very late every day, it’s a sign that you need to either recalibrate your responsibilities with your manager or look externally before the situation become untenable due to prolonged fatigue and burnout.

Remember, this is not an exhaustive list of considerations. There is no one-size-fits-all approach as different parameters might have different degrees of importance to you depending on your situation. To some, having a hefty paycheck matters the most; to others, work-life balance or team culture might be of a higher importance. Ultimately, it’s your call.

It goes without saying that a job that ticks all the boxes probably only exists in utopia. All workplaces have their mixed bag of positives and negatives. Rather than looking at one or two incidents in isolation, it is important that you make a holistic assessment over time as to whether your current job is the right fit for you or not. Although it may be tempting to make a switch, changing your job frequently can make your profile look jumpy and be detrimental to your long-term career prospects. Sometimes, staying put in your current role might be the less attractive but more prudent decision – especially when you look back in hindsight.

When in doubt, trust that time and experience will provide you with clarity and conviction. And more importantly, trust yourself to own and embrace whatever choice you make in the end – whether you switch jobs or not.