Looking For a New Job

Seek out new opportunities to progress or change career

You may have got as far as you can in your current situation and seek new challenges or opportunities to earn more, gain experience or do something different. Or you might just have completed your studies and are looking for a new job after graduation.

Give thought to your longer-term aspirations. People differ in what they want out of life and out of work.

• Where do you want to be in five years time?
• Are you more interested in management or developing professional or technical skills?
• Do you want to work with predictable routines or more creative and varied opportunities?
• Are you looking for greater job satisfaction, more varied experience, more money, or less stress?
• Do you want to completely change your field of work?
• Do you want to remain in your current organisation or are there other places you would prefer to work?
• Do you want to work for yourself?
• If you have a partner with aspirations, how do your aspirations fit in?

For some people career is all-important. Others value a good work-life balance.

You current job itself may prompt change. Reorganisations, acquisitions or mergers may affect your work, changing what you do or your opportunities for advancement. There may be changes to markets that will also change opportunities. There may be changes to legislation that will make it difficult for you to continue as before.

Where do you think your managers and organisation expect you to be at this stage in your career? If you delay making the progress expected of you it may jeopardise later possibilities. You may be regarded as unambitious, reluctant to change, or find yourself competing with a new generation of colleagues. You may be passed over and have to live with your earlier reticence.

Make sure you consider these issues from time to time. Then you can decide whether and when it is time to move to a new job or to a new organisation. Just make sure there is a new job or a new organisation to go to before resigning from a present job or doing something that forces you to move on.

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