How do you know if it’s time to change jobs? It’s a question most of us have asked ourselves at some point. Over the last 20 years, I’ve had thousands of hours of coaching conversations with clients who were between roles or contemplating their next step. If you’re pondering your next move, here are four factors to consider.

Reassess your priorities

If you’re going to instigate change, it’s useful to have a North Star to navigate by. A question that will help you identify coordinates is – what’s important to me about my work or career at this point in my life? What was once a priority for you, may no longer be as relevant.

Career fulfilment

If you are contemplating changing jobs, pivoting, going more niche, or even thinking about starting your own business, it’s often because you sense you’ve a lot more to give, or that you’re not getting the same level of satisfaction from your working life as you once did. The vast majority of 1-2-1 clients I see, want their careers to enrich their lives, not just their pockets. In this regard, another great question to reflect on is – what do I want my working life to do for me?

Fine-tune your focus

You can harness your experience to fine-tune what you are seeking from any future move. What aspects of my current, or previous roles have I particularly enjoyed? What parts of my current job, or previous jobs did I not enjoy? This question helps you to identify criteria you want to satisfy and avoid moving forward.

Honeymoon period

We’ve heard of the honeymoon period in personal relationships and in the world of politics, but the term is equally applicable in jobs. I certainty know people who as soon as they move out of the honeymoon phase of the job and the novelty wears off, they begin to look elsewhere. You can see this pattern on their LinkedIn profile. If moving on from a job after a few months or a year is your pattern, what’s underpinning it? What are you seeking? What are you avoiding? If a theme emerges, such as not feeling understood or valued by others, it’s worthwhile examining how you are engaging with colleagues and what your expectations are for your next move. Remember the one thing all your past roles have in common is you.

We can equate changing jobs with moving house. As times passes your priorities will change. Maybe you’ve simply outgrown where you currently are. Do you stay put, renovate, or move out? Can you tweak or ‘renovate’ your job to make it more tolerable? It can be useful to remind yourself of what you once liked or still enjoy about your current job. Of course, deep down you may just know that it’s time to move on. Ultimately only you will know the answer, but I hope the above reflection questions give you a clearer insight as to some of the push and pull factors at play.

For a deeper dive into this topic, you might like to listen to my podcast episode titled ‘How do I know if it’s time to change jobs?’

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