Why do you want to change your Job?
I have been in the middle management layer for some time now. It has given me an opportunity to work with some very talented people. I have hired many professionals at various levels. One common question I ask them all during the interview is “Why do you want to change your job?”. I have also seen a lot of people leave my team to take up a new job. I always wish them good luck and growth in their new assignment. On occasions when people have asked for my suggestion on whether to change their job, I have tried to give them my point of view. Again, one common question I ask them is “Why do you want to change your job?”
I have got different answers to this question. When I am hiring, I gets the most creative answers. Almost every answer is appealing and appears genuine. But it’s not difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff. On the other hand, when people have come to me seeking advice, the answers are genuine. Sometimes, my advice is to just grab the new opportunity. But on many occasions, I have advised people not to take up the new job. However, the final decision is always made by the individual and I respect it. In this blog, I am going to write about few things that one must consider before deciding to change their job.
First question that you should ask yourself is “Why do you what to change your job?”. I have seen that people in their twenties and early thirties primary change jobs for better pay. Pay hike is good reason but it should not be the primary reason for you to change your job. Being closer to their home town is another major reason for changing jobs. Of course, there are certain comforts that you enjoy by being closer to you home town. But prioritizing comfort over knowledge would be foolish. Especially if you are in your twenties or early thirties. Here are some important things for you to consider
Is your new job is going to throw challenges at you?
Will you get to learn new things?
Will you be doing something better that what you are doing now?
Do you have an opportunity to enhance your skills?
Will your new job help you to be up to date in your domain?
If the answer is yes, you have a reason to change your job. Find a job that challenges you, that brings the best out of you. Stick to it as long as you get to learn something new, relevant and helps you being up to date even if it means you have to miss job offers that give you just pay hike. Trust me, if you do this in early days of you carrier, you will not regret when you choose to change jobs later in you carrier. I am surprised when people attend interviews and happy answering questions from the interviewer. Majority of them never ask questions to the interviewer. I rarely come across people who ask, what would be my roles and responsibilities, who will I be working with, what kind of work does the team do, what challenges do they face in their work, what is the road map for growth and learning in the organization. These are very important questions for you to understand what are you getting into.
In today’s scenario job roles and opportunities are compartmentalized. This is common in big organizations where one work is compartmentalized and divided between various teams. People specialize in narrow piece of work. While this offers depth in one specific area, the lack of breadth would hurt your prospects in the long run. When you are limited to one kind of work you will find it difficult to fit into bigger roles that need both depth and breadth in knowledge. The early years of your carrier is the best time to push yourself and get the best out of you. If you invest time in developing your skills during this time, your knowledge will fetch far more higher returns that what you would have got by switching jobs just for the sake for pay hike. You will be relevant and will be sought after by prospective employers. Ask the right questions and understand what is in it for you before you switch jobs. People who fail to do so will simply struggle to be relevant.
Remember, things change faster that you think. Organizations and individuals should evolve and keep pace with these changes. We have seen mighty organizations crumble simply because they did not keep pace with the change, they did not innovate, they did not learn fast enough – Blackberry, Polaroid, Kodak, MySpace etc… We as individuals are no different.
Note: All pictures are from the internet