Interview Transcription

Helen Tupper: Hi, I'm Helen and you're listening to one of our squiggly career shortcuts. These are very short episodes of our podcast designed to help you quickly take action. And today's shortcut is about should you stay or should you switch up your job?

I actually get asked this question a lot from people like how do I know when is the right time to leave? And a lot of the time I think people are relying on a gut feeling, which I entirely get. But I think it is useful to, to balance that with a bit of reflection.

And so the tool that I use whenever I'm talking to somebody about this, which might be helpful for you to know about, is a matrix. You all know that I love a matrix, but this is one that helps you to think about whether you are learning in the job and whether you kind of really love where you're working.

So if you imagine like a two by two matrix and on one dimension you've got, you love it a lot, you don't love it at all, and on the others you've got, you're learning a lot and you're not learning at all. You. This creates four quadrants which then affect how you should think about like switching or staying in your job.

So let's imagine that you like, love where you're working, but you don't feel like you're learning a lot. So you probably, you know, you really like the company culture. For example, in that scenario, what I would recommend that you do is volunteer for projects and ways in which you can contribute outside of the job that you're in today. Because it might just be that you need to show people some of the strengths that you've got. You need to get involved in some new areas of work to create more possibilities. I think it's really hard to find a company and a culture that you love. So just because you're feeling a bit bored and a bit samey, I don't think that's enough of a reason to leave. I think it is a risk because you might go somewhere else, you might not love that. So if you love where you are but you're not learning, try to volunteer for new projects, look at kind of internal networks where you can share your strengths with them, but don't leap if you're in that position because it's hard to find companies that you love.

Now let's imagine that you are learning a lot, but you don't love where you are. I have definitely been in this position when I'm in a company. And I think this, you know, this isn't the right culture for me, either at a team or I've been in a situation where the entire company culture was not right. But I was growing loads, doing things I'd never done before, like getting out of my comfort zone. And it's a funny tension. It's a funny tension because you, it's not really making you really happy, but it is potentially quite helpful for your development. So again, in that situation, I would say stay where you are. Like, the value of learning for your career is huge, but not being happy isn't great. So I would recommend in that situation that you try to build your relationships like beyond the business. So when I have been in this position, I've stuck out the job, but. But what I've done is I've started side projects, I've joined communities, I've gone and, like, joined some, like, learning programmes outside of the company that I was in. So some of that fulfilment and some of that connection I'm getting from elsewhere. Now, you're not going to probably stay forever in that situation, but while you are learning a lot, that can give you some fulfilment that you've not got in your job. So if you're in either of those situations, I would stay, just do something slightly different in the job that you're in.

Now, let's imagine that you don't love it. Not the right company culture and you are not learning. That feels rubbish and it is not going to be great for your career if you are in that quadrant. Not learning, don't love it. That is definitely a time to look outside of the organisation. But my recommendation is just don't leap because you really want to. I think before you leap, you really want to think about, well, what is the kind of culture that I like working in? What, what is it that I want to learn? And I think you want to use that as a filter for the new opportunities that you are exploring. Otherwise, you know, you're in that high risk situation again where you might move and that might not be right either. So I think that is your highest priority. Time to find a new position quadrant. But just don't leap. Like, use some of the insight and awareness from the experience you're having, even if it's uncomfortable to go and inform what you might do next.

Now, the dream scenario, obviously is that you love it and you're learning. That's what we all, all want from the jobs that we are in. But I would say that that doesn't mean you should not do anything and just be like, oh, it's great. I'm in a great, great job. I still think that if you, if you love it and you're learning, the action here, I would say is really like, start building your brand around this. So share what you're learning. So share it on LinkedIn. Think about how you can use the work that you're doing in service of other people. There is a really brilliant brand building moment for you. If you are in that position. Don't just do the job and think, I'm enjoying it. Like, take advantage of the opportunity. And I try to share what I'm learning with other people. I try to get much clearer about who I am and what I do, whether it's on. If I'm presenting and I'm introducing myself, like, get your, like they talk about elevator pitch, but get that. Who I am, what I do, really clear, really confident, really credible. But the reason you want to do this is because it attracts more of that stuff towards you. So don't have it and lose it. Like have it and build on it. So it starts to become really rewarding for your career.

So if you are thinking, should I switch, should I stay? I would just suggest a little bit more reflection. Draw out the Matrix. Think about where you are right now and take the action that is most relevant. Depending on you loving a role or your learning in a role and good luck with what comes next. We've got so many other podcasts that you can listen to that will support you with whatever comes next. But start with the Matrix first of all. So if you are in this position right now and you want a bit of extra support, we've got loads of different episodes that can help you on job crafting and on building your network, for example. But a really specific one is episode 282, which is all about staying and switching in your role. And we just talk about some of those actions in a bit more detail.