How To Decide This Is The Time To Leave Your Job
I visit Steve Pavlina’s personal growth site a lot. He recent ran an article about how to decide when to end a long term relationship with your partner. The article specifically addresses the dilemma when someone is “too good to leave and too bad to stay”.
I too, have the same problem and that “someone’ is my employer. I have been struggling with the decision for the last 4 years. Whenever I try to put a sheet together to list the pros and cons, they are perfectly in balance. It’s one of the largest companies in the world. They offer one of the best compensation packages and benefits. And they give their consultants great deal of freedom to arrange their time as long as the clients are happy. But in the same time, they work me to death and expect me to alter my lifestyle to accommodate the business needs. “We pay you well but we own your life.” That’s pretty much what the deal is. Whenever I thought about leaving, I was afraid that I would lose a great deal of money and amount of freedom I am currently enjoying.
Steve’s article pointed out that whenever we are running the “Scale Method”, that is, doing the pros and cons stuff, we end of beating our heads against the wall because the answer is rarely obvious to us. Instead, he suggests using an alternative thinking structure to help us to decide. That is, forget about the current losses and gains, and focus on the future. Although he is addressing relationship issues, I think the same principle can be applied to the job category as well. So I come up with a list of questions to help me to determine if an employer is worth staying based on the future outlook:
- Ten years from now, will your company still be around based on the current data available to you?
Yes. I don’t think this company will ever go down, at least not in the next 10 years. - Do you see yourself gaining a lot of experiences by working in your current position for another 5 years? If you had to leave 5 years from now, do you think you would be a competitive candidate on the market?
My answer: Yes. I am learning everyday. - If you have altered your life style to accommodate your business needs, do you see yourself living like this 5 years from now?
My answer: I have to be a business traveler flying every week for this job and I work 60 – 80 hours a week. If I have a family 5 years from now, this won’t work. - Five years from now, which position would you like to take in your current company? Or, should I ask, are there any positions you are interested in?
My answer: Maybe I can be a regional sales Architect. There is not much else I am interested in. - Is this “dream” position achievable in 5 years?
My answer: I can be a sales solution Architect today. There is not much difference. I don’t want to be a manager, so I don’t have many choices here. - Be honest, will you be happy with this “dream” position you just picked?
My answer: Probably not.
I honestly think that if I answered one “NO” from this list, I should leave. So, I got my answer. No banging my head against the wall anymore.
Ron said,
August 17, 2005 @ 2:48 pm
Dang it Yuma, why do you have to be so dang insightful. I’ve been arguing with myself over this same issue and you put it in perspective from the line “forget about the current losses and gains, and focus on the future”.
Now I’m off to the job search sites. OK, not really because they are pretty useless, but to more targeted tech related sites.
Yuna said,
August 17, 2005 @ 2:52 pm
Banging on dice.com’s door…
kimmi said,
August 18, 2005 @ 2:17 am
live to work or work to live, which one are you?
Travelling Aussie said,
August 18, 2005 @ 4:00 am
Just remember the grass isn’t always greener on the otherside of the fence. Learned that from past and present experience.
Also corporate life sounds great, but if you have spent your life travelling as an consulting sitting in the same office day after day doing the same thing is really hard to do.
Plus who ever you work for wants more from you than what they are willing to pay. Facts of life
Only move when you find the right job, which is hard to know.
Yuna said,
August 18, 2005 @ 10:23 am
Hi Kimmi and T Aussie.. nice to see so many Aussies here…
Well.. Traveling Aussie must know my pain … I did too sitting in an office in New York for 6 months and got bored out of my mind… So if I am going out there looking for something.. I probably won’t settle until I find something I truly enjoy doing… After all these years.. I think I have converted myself from ” live to work” to “live to live”…
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