4 questions to ask ourselves before we think about switching jobs

For the past few days, I have been giving some counseling to one of my cousins. He is just getting started with this career and most of the questions he asks me to show how nervous he is and very excited at the same time. I also get questions from some of my friends who plan to switch jobs or roles. I personally have done this assessment to myself and came up with 4 sets of questions that I always ask myself when I come up with this thought.

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Switching jobs is not a bad thing but before thinking about switching jobs, we have to be clear about some of the questions about the current job. That will help us take proper decisions. We don't want to end up worse trying to go away from a bad place. Bad is better compared to worse. Let's go through the questions one by one.

Am I getting paid well?

Payment is very important when it comes to a full-time job. Most people prefer to spend long hours in a full-time job only for better pay. So, this is the first question that should come to our mind. I know we will not be satisfied with how much ever we earn. But there will always be a fair thought in our mind ethically saying that I have been paid well in this job for the work that I'm doing.

Some people might think that they are being utilized very well by the company but their pay scale is not increasing at all. Some even think that their skills are very good and they have to potential to earn more but the current job is not paying them well enough. So these are some of the thoughts related to pay. If the payment is good for me, I don't mind staying in the company. But this is not the only factor and that is why we have to ask the next question.

Is my current job interesting?

We might get paid very well sometimes but the job will be very boring. If we end up doing the same repetitive task, again and again, it will not be very interesting. Some people might think that they are the masters in the field they are currently working on. This will give a great feeling and can also make them feel that it is interesting.

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Interest is also a bit subjective. Some people might earn well from their current job but the profile they have been working on is not something that they really would like to do. For example, I had a friend who wanted to be on a job where he interacts with customers every day. But he was in a technical support role with no interaction with people. His job was paying him very well but it was not interesting for him. He got peace of mind only after he switched to a role where he can talk to customers and make them happy.

Is there a learning opportunity?

The learning opportunity is important. If we don't learn anything from our current role or if there are no opportunities to learn new things, it can even be boring for some people. Only a few people would be comfortable working on a job that has very little opportunity to learn. Sometimes learning and upskilling are very important to go up the ladder.

Is there job security?

The last one is job security. It purely depends on the company in which we work. We might work in the best environment and the best place but if the company is not giving us the job security, it is more like someone purchasing is a car that he is never going to drive on a road. Job security is very important. If a company is paying us low and gives us good job security, then we can actually compromise on the pay a little bit. The reason is that it is at least guaranteed.

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Finally, I would say that we need answers for all the above 4 questions, but I would say that if we can get happiness and clarity on at least 3 of the above questions, that should give us some clarity on whether switching jobs at the moment is good or a bad idea. Probably we might be able to keep that thought on hold and do it at a later point in time as well.

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