Navigating the New Job Market Part 2: Considerations

As an interview coach, my first question to clients is always, “Why are you looking for a new position?” I want to know what they’re lacking in their current role, and what would make them happier elsewhere. I encourage you to stop and really think about these answers, as well. This exercise will help you more clearly identify your impetus for moving in the first place.

But then ask yourself this followup question, one which gives many applicants pause: “Have past position changes usually resulted in a happier situation?” 

We may very well be idealizing positions elsewhere, a natural consequence of comparing ourselves to friends or colleagues who have found new positions. But I implore you: Let go of the FOMO. Avoid believing all the braggadocious new-hires on Facebook or LinkedIn. Take a moment (or two, or three), to consider your contentment at your current company. Identify why a new position would make you happier, and whether it’s absolutely impossible to attain those things where you are now. 

While this is not an attempt to keep you where you are, it is a reminder that changing careers is not a panacea. You are not missing out on anything by staying put, it doesn’t make you unambitious to do so, and, in fact, this might be a prime opportunity to seek out appealing vacancies within your own company.

Sure, there really might be better fits elsewhere. Your current position may very well be inhibiting your lifestyle or stunting your meteoric career. Other companies might indeed have offerings which align more with your priorities. But no workplace is perfect. There are no guarantors of happiness. There will always be intra-office politics to navigate. Team dynamics. Questions of culture and matters of fit. 

Changing positions is somewhat akin to exchanging the devil you know for the devil you don’t, so make sure you’re aware of all the unknowns a new job will confront you with, and make sure you have good reasons for wanting to face them.

Because the devil you don’t know is scary. It’s a management structure working through an unpredictable future. It’s a company wading through uncertain finances, hiring wildly out of necessity but not necessarily for positive reasons. Many companies were adamant about a return to the office in September, but most pushed this date back. Well, what specifically does that mean? January? Next Summer? Permanently? Can you, as an applicant, adapt to any or all of these situations? Will the job still be appealing in a worst-case scenario? Actually, remote work provides us a great, relevant example:

Say you find a remote position which allows you to live your dream of, for example, buying a home in Michigan’s scenic Upper Peninsula. Well, what if that great-seeming company, based in Boston, changes CEOs and then calls its employees back to the office sooner than expected? Or what if they lay you off after a few down months? Will you have any other prospects where you are? Will another substantial life change be inevitable? 

How’s that for a devil you don’t know?

Unfortunately, the entire market is a devil we don’t know. Nobody knows it. This flux isn’t abating any time soon, and the longer we continue our reassessment of professional life, the more substantial that change will be long-term. If you do decide to wade into the job market, ensure you have a contingency plan in place for your next position. 

And take this advice: do your research. Speak to employees at companies you’re interested in, and get a sense of what’s happening within the workplace. 

If you do decide to leave, make sure you’re leaving for the right reasons. Don’t let the tsunami of movement knock you over. If you’re intent on joining a new organization, make sure you understand their orientation program, their corporate structure, how you’ll meet peers and build your organizational knowledge. Not every company has a navigable roadmap for new employees. Not every company can back up what it boasts.

It’s difficult to predict how any given company will adapt to crises, and how that would affect your position, but you must try. The only thing worse than being surprised is being unprepared. Changing companies, or careers, is a massive decision, with far-reaching effects. Make sure you’re doing it for a valid reason, having checked all your boxes, having given the move real consideration, and not just because the tsunami of movement was too strong, and you didn’t plant your feet, you didn’t rise above, you let yourself get bowled over.