Feeling dissatisfied in your job and not sure if you should start looking for a new position? How do you identify if it’s time to move on? There are several indicators that you can use as a determining factor.

2. 1. You’ve outgrown your job:
Maybe you started somewhere to learn about the industry you love, but now you’ve reached a
brick wall? If you can’t use all your experience at your current job, then perhaps it’s time to
find a position where all your skills are being utilised.
It’s unwise to spend too long at a place you feel that you’re stuck, particularly if you don’t see
the chance to progress up the chain of command. If you have achieved all the goals you set
out to achieve, then it may be time to change jobs.
2. Your current job is not supporting your career goals:
Author of best selling goal achieving books, Victor Ghebre, gives a very poetic reason for the
importance of setting career goals, “A career goal is like a compass on a dark and endless
ocean and it guides your progress in the proper direction. Without a compass, you would be
lost in the high seas.”
It’s important to set realistic long and short term goals, but to remain flexible to change. If you
know what your career goals are but your current position doesn’t fit within this framework, it
may be time to change jobs.

3. 3. Office dynamics – a toxic work environment:
There are several signs identified that can indicate that you are working in a toxic environment,
these include things like widespread anger and frustration, workplace bullying being tolerated
or admired, scapegoats being blamed, and dysfunctional relationships. Many of us have
worked in a toxic environment before and more often than not, things don’t improve quickly
enough for you to justify continuing to work there.
No one deserves to be treated unfairly all the time. If you work in a toxic environment, this can
be a really great reason to change jobs.
4. Little, or no job security:
The world is now a very different place to the workplace of decades past. As a result of
globalization, outsourcing, contracting, downsizing, recession and even natural disaster, job
security is truly a thing of the past. To a certain degree, no one really has total job security, but
there is a difference between a competitive market and a company that is unstable.
If people are being hired and fired at whim, and you have to sweat each day wondering if you’ll
be next, save yourself the pain and start looking. This may be an indication that you should
consider jumping ship.

4. 5. Your salary is not reflective of your experience:
You can (and should) put up with a lower salary if there is some point to it, but staying at
a company longer than you should for no good reason is pointless. A good salary policy is
intended to act as a way to keep good staff in place at an organisation. If you feel that your
company is not trying to retain you by offering you a package appropriate to your skills and
experience, then you need to investigate other companies that might.
6. You’ve already given your employer a second chance:
Sticking it out can be an admirable quality, but sometimes you just have to know when to give
up. If you’re in the position of constantly making excuses for your employer, it could be time
to consider leaving for good. If you’ve had the thought that, “This is enough!” more than a few
times, you really could be beating your head up against a brick wall.
With all relationships, be them personal or professional – you’ve got to know when to cut your
losses. Don’t be a martyr – if you know you’ve been in this position before – it may be time
to switch jobs.

5. 7. You have mastered your current job:
Have you simply stayed in your job too long? Have you come to the realisation that you’ve
mastered it? Some researchers suggest that the typical worker masters his or her specific job
over the course of three years.
These experts suggest that after three years, you’ve probably reached saturation point – maybe
you’re capable of more. Changing jobs after that three-year span recharges the process, giving
you the chance to gain skills more quickly for the next three years in a new position.
8. You’re not being challenged:
We may think that not having much to do at work would be a blessing, but anyone who’s tried it,
knows that a position where you are not being challenged can actually be a curse.
Being challenged at work is crucial to job satisfaction. If we’re not challenged enough, we feel
bored, restless, and unproductive.
You do need to strike a balance. If your job is too challenging – this can lead to constant
stress. Think about where your job falls on this spectrum. If you really feel under-utilised and
it’s been a trend more than a circumstance, it may be time to find something where all your
talents are being used.

6. 9. Your boss doesn’t inspire you:
They don’t need to be Ghandi-like, but your boss should be leading you in a direction that you
want to go. Most of us have had the pleasure of working for someone who inspires us, and the
displeasure of being employed under someone who makes our blood boil.
If you constantly put up with a situation where you are becoming frustrated, then this will
definitely start to affect your work. Don’t let a relationship with a bad boss ruin your chances of
getting ahead. If you and your boss really don’t click, and you question the way he or she is
leading the team, this could be a sign that it’s time to say ‘adios’.
10. Your employer is about to fail:
There are some signs that indicate that a company or a division is going down. People losing
their jobs, managers and directors being shifted or given new titles, office basics being cut
(“didn’t we used to have teabags in the kitchen?”).
If you can see that your company’s on its way to financial ruin – or worse – it’s probably a good
time to find a new job. If you can see sure signs that your company is heading for trouble,
make a plan – and fast. There is no need to go down with the ship; make a strategic move to
jump while you still can.

7. 11. Your life has changed:
Maybe your job is no longer suiting your personal needs. If you’ve recently started or added to
your family, if you now have more home duties such as caring for a relative, or if you no longer
feel compatible with your company’s working hours, it’s OK to give yourself permission to
leave.
12. You don’t have the skills you need to be a success:
This is a difficult one as it involves admitting defeat. The worst mistake you can make is
sticking around in a job that you really lack talent for, because there might be something out
there that suits you more. We can’t all be good at everything, and as we age and grow, we
learn what we are skilled and efficient at. If you find yourself in this position, write a list of what
you’re really good at and hone the list down. Investigate finding a position that suits your skill-
set better.

8. 13. You already have a better offer:
If someone at a rival company or in a different field is making contact with you, offering you a
better title, more suitable work tasks, or better money, or all three, then you would genuinely be
doing yourself a disservice by not investigating this offer.
It’s important to consider your team’s needs before jumping ship, and no one is suggesting that
you burn bridges, but don’t stay at your current job just because you feel you have to. If you
already have a better offer – it may not be there forever. Take the initiative and switch jobs.
14. Your company has questionable ethics:
Codes of conduct or business ethics exist to guide the expected behavior of
honourable employees, but much of their origination occurred for the same reason as policies.
Bad workplace ethics can range from how the employees are treated by the employer, how the
employees treat each other and how the company treats its customers or acts in the
marketplace. Poor ethics could be demonstrated in something as simple as poor workplace
culture (no one helps to clean the kitchen or replace the ink in the printer, lots of unexplained
sick days) to a company that constantly expects unpaid overtime of its employees or
manufactures an unethical product in an unethical way.

9. 15. Your job is making you sick
Sickness can manifest as stress, sleeplessness, tiredness or high blood pressure. If you are
experiencing factors such as no holiday leave, long hours and limited flexibility to live your
life, it may lead to prolonged feelings of stress, sickness or pain. This can be one of the
biggest indicators that it’s time to leave.
If it’s something you feel you might be able to work with your boss on, then by all means, call
a meeting. Some workplaces are healthier than others, but what makes a healthy workplace?
If your jobs is not ticking those boxes, know that there may be better opportunities for you
elsewhere.

10. THANK YOU
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