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Should You Change Jobs Now?

Changing Jobs Can Be Scary

Who wants to be judged worthy of being hired? Who wants to be rejected? Who wants to have one's every career move dissected by strangers? Who wants to risk a known for an unknown quantity that could be far worse? Nobody. If you are disinclined to subject yourself to these issues, congratulations! You are normal.

But what if you were asked the following questions instead?

• Do you think that you are not good enough to be hired by another company?

• Do you think that you are lucky to be paid what you are paid or lucky to have the responsibilities you have?

• Do you think that you have no other career choices?

• Were you raised to believe that "being a good worker (and a good person) is being liked by your boss?"

• Do you think that  it is immoral or unethical for you to work for your firm's competition or even to look at other jobs while you are under someone's employ?

While we probably would not like to admit it, most of us on occasion would answer "yes" to at least one of the above questions. If you believe one or several of the above questions accurately reflects your current career, the likelihood is high that you are being underpaid, underutilized or worse. You might not know it. You might feel it is necessary for you to "grin and bear it" for only the time being, not knowing that "the time being" could mean years and that continuing your present situation might actually be hurting your marketability for future desired jobs.

You might be a division President, a single-income family head with a child in college, a shirtsleeves Manager, or a recent immigrant with less than perfect English. Anybody could be in this situation. Such conditions of employment are not only unnecessary, it is important for your present and future well-being and for the present and future well-being of those dependent on you that you allow yourself the possibility that you could be doing better and that it is good for you to be doing better.

We at ART like the cautious approach. We prefer to minimize risk and chaos by analyzing as many of the variables before jumping into a final decision.
 

But Before You Begin Your Choices, First Please Consider the Following:

If your current employer thought you had the right skills and personality to hire you, it is likely that another employer--a better employer offering a better position--would also believe you a good and valuable person to employ.

You were probably hired or promoted not because you were lucky or because your employer liked you, but rather because in your employer's eyes you represented at the time the best available candidate at the best cost. That situation may change at any time--afraid to ask for that raise for fear of being fired?--and if your employer thinks to underpay or under-promote you,  it stands to reason that your employer is always on the lookout for someone who will require less than you. That is the mindset of many small-minded employers and it need not be encouraged by your accepting less than you deserve.

You may not like your job but you may believe that you have job security. Unless you are the owner of your company, you are not likely to have job security. Forget promises. Forget pats on the back. Go by your employer's track record with you and with your colleagues. A boss who thinks to take advantage of a loyal employee and good producer often is erratic enough to fire that employee at the drop of a hat.

Regarding choices. You may be an executive in a narrow market where everyone knows everyone else. You already have worked at several other firms in your field. You now are at the best one, and while you believe you could do more elsewhere, you do not know where "elsewhere" is or how to get into "elsewhere." Perhaps your skills are very adaptable to a different, more exciting industry that needs managers with your depth. Or how about this? You may be working in a commutable range where practically there is only one company in your field. You may wish to leave your present employer but you feel your family would not want to relocate to places better for your career. Have you seriously asked them? Sometimes the theoretical is harder to analyze than the real. If you could tell your family about a real position at a real company--a better firm that offered you more compensation, benefits, and above all, opportunities--in a real location where all the pluses and minuses could be sorted out, your family might be receptive. And your children's schools and the career prospects for your spouse might be far superior.

If your boss likes you and you like your boss, it could be that you are a likable person who could be liked anywhere and respected as a valuable asset to the firm. It must be remembered, however, that there is a difference between personal affection and respect and corporate affection and respect. Although hardworking public relations people would prefer you to believe otherwise, corporations are not capable of love. They are money-making enterprises existing to return money to their stockholders. The people who run companies may choose to believe that the best way to attract the best employees is to offer them good and fair salaries, benefits and growth opportunities. They may choose to behave ethically with their employees and customers. Or they may not.

If you believe in the almost feudal notion that you "belong" to your company and that it is wrong or immoral for you to apply your skills to other firms in the marketplace, please be advised that your boss and your boss' boss may be interviewing for jobs at the competition at this very moment without the slightest fear or concern. And there is nothing wrong with it.! Your labor and wits are your tradable capital, and it is the price that you get for your labor and wits that determines what neighborhood you can afford to live in, what schools you could send your children to, and how comfortable you will be in retirement.  

Compensation

If you feel that you are underpaid currently, you might well be underpaid. But to get a better sense than "feeling," first determine if it is reasonable that your employer might consider offering you a salary raise. If you believe that they would either strenuously object or might dismiss you if you ask for a raise, you really should consider looking elsewhere for another job. We recommend that if an employer is a good one that you are happy with, then you should first consider speaking with your boss about a raise before looking elsewhere. The theory here is that every job change involves some degree of risk, and if you like your job, perhaps your employer might consider renegotiating your compensation. If this is the case, go to your employer and coolly, politely, and diplomatically make the case about your achievements during the last year and about your value to the company’s current and future goals.

Do not express your case in emotional terms or in terms regarding loyalty or friendship. (Friends would not underpay friends. Your boss is not your friend.) Rather, focus on specific numbers: how much money your work saved on this project, how many work-hours you saved on this other project, what percentage of improvement in a particular process resulted from your ideas. Keeping in mind that companies make offers based on money, you can see in this manner how they appreciate your work.

Speak to your current employer before you start interviewing at other companies. See your boss' receptivity to your needs and concerns when you need your company to care for you. Do not wait until you have another offer to test their interest in you! They will feel extorted and cheated, your loyalty to the company will be forever questioned, and your chances for promotions and normal raises will likely be jeopardized. In "counteroffer scenarios," some employers will have Company Security escort you to the door, while others will insincerely promise you riches beyond your wildest dreams—perhaps not right now, but "soon, once we finish this project...."  (Translation: “Once you have lost your ‘opportunity of a lifetime’ and are stuck with us or once we have secretly found your replacement.”)

Some companies cannot pay you as much as you would like, because your immediate supervisor might be making barely more than you, and with your pay boost, the company may have to set off a whole round of raises from department to department. Some companies have very set salary ranges for certain job grades. (You see, those statistics can work against you, too.) Other companies simply may be low-payers for no obvious reason other than they are stingy or short-sighted, not taking into account the hidden costs of losing good people simply because they need more reasonable wages.

• In the average week at your job, do you feel happy? Is driving to work a dread provoking affair, or is it a joy to go to work and to spend 40-60 hours a week with your current colleagues and boss?

• Taking into account a generally good economy and normal raises, are you substantially better off in your present position than you were last year? How so? Could you have done as well or better at a similar or better firm? What circumstances would be required of a firm for you to do a good job?  If you have been at your present company for over two years, have you learned anything in the last two years that would make you more marketable to another employer? If you have been at your current employer for more than five years, are you at the level that you predicted you should be at? Why or why not, and how do you explain your current situation, for better or worse?

• Is your interest in looking at other positions to "see my worth" or to "improve my situation" elsewhere?

• Would you be willing to do a longer commute if the position were better?

• Would you relocate to another region if the position were better? What impact would such a decision have on your family? If you do not believe you would like to relocate, is it because you have many opportunities in your commutable area or because you feel you have no other choice at the present time?

• Do you believe your compensation, including salary, benefits, bonuses, and stock options, is within a reasonable range for your job responsibilities? Is there a way, through promotion or some special, highly profitable venture that you could initiate at your firm, which would boost your compensation to a new level?

• Would you say people from your company's competitors come to work at your company more or less often than people at your company quit to work at the competition? Why do they come or go? Do their reasons for coming or going apply to you?

• Would you say your opinion is sought out by your managers or are you typically told what is going to be done and how it is to be done?

• How many years do you estimate you have left in your career? What would you like to be doing at the end of your career? How reasonably could you expect to get to that point in your current company at your current position? If it is several steps away, what sort of plan do you have to reach that goal? Does your firm offer you the type of career growth that you envision for yourself? Will your boss assist you or hinder you from reaching that goal?

The Graceful Option To Say No

Candidates should demand that the positions offered by them stand up to their most careful and rigorous scrutiny. Usually when considering another position, you should already have a job. Being employed, you are in a far better position to negotiate your salary and new position. There is no pressure to quit your current job and take an unknown position. In fact, when you have the leeway to do the careful homework that career planning requires, you will find that your career decisions will be win-win rather than "just settling."

You can always say no. In fact, good recruiters might suggest that you turn down an offer at one of their client companies if they do not see a good fit for your career. The fact is that in a world of mergers and acquisitions, companies come and go, but the average average working life of a person might be four or five decades. Different opportunities can appear in the future, and we all only have one life to live, So if you don't feel right about a company or position, it's OK to say no.