When you make choices about your career, the “grass being greener” always carries questions of perspective. If your current grass is yellowing and faded, then most other pastures will look initially appealing – you are being pushed into a move. If, however, a luscious meadow comes into sight that cannot be ignored, no amount of nurture will help your current lawn compete – you are being pulled into action.
When you are considering future options, it is important to be realistic about your current motivations and “why” you want to move.
If your current grass is yellowing and faded, it is vital to understand how it got that way. You are being pushed into a move to a place where the grass seems greener, but what is to say that the grass there may not turn yellow and fade in the near future? You feel that you are being pushed into a move, but is there really nothing that you can do to improve your current situation? All too often people come to recruitment professionals saying that they don’t like their job, but when asked it becomes clear that they have done little to improve their situation.
Are you moving because the new company is aligned with your values and ambitions, or are you moving because your old company couldn’t fulfill them? In the first instance, you will move with hope in your heart – you genuinely believe that amazing opportunities await. In the latter scenario, you will move jobs with a sense of trepidation – what happens if history repeats itself again?
Fear is never a good feeling to have on your first day.
It is also important to separate your job from your company. Your job role will never be constant – technology and disruptive influences are ensuring that people have to adapt their activity to stay one step ahead. You may move for a certain “job spec” but there is no guarantee that this won’t change as the company priorities change as early as six months to a year. What is important, however, is that you are aligned with the culture and values of your future employer. The changes here will be much more subtle, and this should be one of the key reasons to move. If you love what your employer stands for, you will be far more likely to succeed in whatever you will be doing for them. If you move for the job and not for the employer, that grass is likely to go yellow far sooner.
The promise of “better prospects” is the basic reason for anyone to change roles, but if you do not consider why they are better, and the possibility of the situation changing, then you are walking into the future with your eyes closed. Just a glimpse of “greener” grass is not enough – you have to look deeper into yourself and deeper into your new prospective employers.
Are you being pulled towards a place where your career could flourish, or are you being pushed towards an uncertain future of deja-vu decline?