5 Reasons You Should Always Be Looking
for a New Job
Often, we
get comfortable (a.k.a. lazy) in our current positions and don’t think about
what might be next for us on the ladder of success. But you never know when
your dream job will come along—or when you might lose the one you have. Here
are five reasons why you should be always be seeking out new opportunities and
laying the groundwork for your next career move:
1) Loyalty
doesn’t pay. Gone are the days when people stayed at the same company for their
entire careers and collected a gold watch at their retirement party. According
to a Careerbuilder
study, today’s Millennials spend an average of 2.4 years or less in
the same position—and it doesn’t hurt them one bit. In fact, staying at a
company too long can work against you. You may get promoted but you likely
won’t see the kind of substantial salary increases that you would if you left
for a new job. In addition, unless you’re able to move into different roles
that challenge you and grow your skills, you may max out on learning in the
same job for years. Lastly, while you may feel that your employer values your
loyalty, when push comes to shove, if they need to make cuts or new leadership
comes in above you, there’s no guarantee that your job won’t be eliminated.
2) Things
can change quickly. There are any number of reasons why you could be
put in a difficult or precarious position and, suddenly, your previously secure
gig could be on the chopping block. You could get a new boss who decides
to bring in his own team or doesn’t think you’re as much of a rock star as your
previous manager. Alternatively, if your company gets acquired, the new owner
could choose to clean house or the business could go through a rough patch
financially and be forced to streamline. You want to stay in control of your
own destiny—not leave it at the mercy of shifting business priorities.
3) It
keeps you top of mind. Even if you’re content
where you are, you should always be entertaining other options. Update your
LinkedIn profile on a regular basis, expand your network and stay in touch with
recruiters in your industry so they know to reach out to you when an even
better job becomes available. If people don’t think you’re on the market, you
won’t get those calls—and your competition will. I landed my last job by
reconnecting on social media with the company’s CEO, with whom I had worked
years ago, and asking him to have a catch-up coffee. It turned out that he had
just started thinking about bringing in a head of communications. After I had
started there, he admitted that, had I not gotten back in touch, he never would
have thought of me as a candidate since I was at a much bigger, more
established company and he didn’t think I would leave.
4) Every conversation is worthwhile. So, say
you do get approached about a job opportunity and you don’t think it’s the
right fit or the right time. Go on the interview anyway. Case in point: When I
was director of PR at an internet company years ago, reporting directly to the
CEO and running a department, I got a call from a recruiter for a senior
manager position at a much bigger company, with three people above me, and I
almost turned down the chance to interview. But I decided to take the meeting for
the heck of it. Flash forward: I took the job, stayed there for over a decade
and was promoted three times.
5) It’ll
help clarify what you want—and don’t want. A few
years ago, I got an offer for what seemed, on paper, like a dream job. But the
process was agonizing—spanning five months of back and forth, multiple
interviews, periods of radio silence and a management team that seemed highly
disorganized. I turned it down because my gut told me it wasn’t a good move.
Sure enough, less than a year later, they had eliminated the entire PR team and
had gone through three CEOs. Paying attention to the signs confirmed for me
what I didn’t want in a job or a company, which was indecision, changing
priorities and a leadership team without a clear vision.
The upshot:
You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by getting out there and going
on interviews. At a minimum, it’ll expose you to new companies, businesses and
people—which could help you at your current company. At best, it could lay the
groundwork for future career moves. Either way, you’ll be on the road to
success—and squarely in the driver’s seat.
Jessica
Kleiman is a Branding and Communications Consultant and co-author of Be Your
Own Best Publicist: How to Use PR Techniques to Get Noticed, Hired and Rewarded
at Work.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/work-in-progress/2015/09/28/5-reasons-you-should-always-be-looking-for-a-new-job/?utm_source=followingweekly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20151005
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