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8 Signs It's Time to Look for a New Job

Short of being handed your walking papers, there are often telltale signs that it's time to look for a new job. You haven't been promoted since the Clinton administration. The most exciting assignments are routinely handed to your peers or underlings. Your desk keeps moving farther and farther from where the action is.

But some indicators are less obvious, such as subtle shifts in an IT organization's structure that can result in career stagnation. A variety of career experts, headhunters, recruiters, CIOs and IT staffers shared their takes on when it's time to move on.

1.Your role has become marginalized.

If you're being bypassed for promotions or interesting assignments or they're consistently being offered instead to IT workers in subordinate positions, “that would be an obvious sign,” says Robert Rosen, CIO at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases in Bethesda, Md., and a past president of Share, an IBM user group in Chicago.

Often the handwriting is on the wall. You just need to cease, step back and read it. “If you feel like you're no longer contributing, there's a good chance you might not be,” says Frank Hood, CIO at Quiznos in Denver, Colo.

2. You've stopped growing.

“If you're not learning each day, if you're not doing new things, and if you're not improving” it's time to move on states Sara Garrison, senior vice president of product and solutions development at Sabre Holdings Corp. in Southlake, Texas.

Red lights should be flashing if you've effectively been in the same role for two or three years and haven't taken on any significant new challenges during that time, says Umesh Ramakrishnan, vice chairman of CTPartners, an executive recruiting firm in New York.

3. You're missing from the massive picture.

Most CIOs assemble a road map of where they intend to take their organizations over the next 12 to 60 months, including the top IT/business projects they plan to work on, notes Joe Trentacosta, CIO at the Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative in Hughesville, Md. So, if there are a lot of upcoming projects that don't include your area of expertise or in which you figure to play a minor role at best, “that's a warning sign,” he says.

Further, if you've been relegated to a commodity-type IT function that offers tiny value to the organization or can easily be outsourced, “it's time to move on to a new opportunity,” says Hans Keller, chief technology officer at the National Aquarium in Baltimore.

4. You're being excluded.

If you're a CIO or other senior IT manager, the warning signs can include not being asked to participate in new business decisions or being excluded from formal or informal executive committee meetings, says Craig Urrizola, CIO at Saladino's Inc., a Fresno, Calif.-based food distributor.

The view is equally bleak if you're an IT staffer whose input on new projects is no longer requested or is sought out on just a limited basis.

5. Your level of influence is waning.

A CIO certainly has more clout within an organization than a network engineer. But all IT professionals possess some level of influence within their work teams or at least among their own peer group. If you see your powers of persuasion shrinking, it's time to move on, Keller suggests.

6. You no longer enjoy the work.

“Someone once told me that we're not here for a long time, we're here for a good time,” states Michael Nieset, managing partner for the technology practice in the Cleveland office of Heidrick & Struggles, a Chicago-based executive search and leadership consulting firm. “Sometimes people stay in suboptimal situations because it's comfortable for them. You've to take control.

“If you're not excited about the projects you're working on, fix it,” he states. “If you're wholly engaged, passionate about what you're doing and doing what you're good at, you'll be fulfilled and rewarded accordingly. “

7. Continuous improvement isn't part of the mantra.

Sometimes there are organizational changes — or lack thereof — that you should regard as career alerts. These include stagnation within a corporation or an IT department. If your IT organization has been using the same application development techniques for 15 years and has made no effort to update its approach, “then something's wrong,” states David Van De Voort, principal consultant at Mercer LLC in Chicago. If your company is unwilling to invest in continuous improvement processes such as CMMI, ITIL or Six Sigma, it might be time to seek a company that's, he adds.

8. Greener pastures truly are greener.

If you've reached a crossroads where you've become disenchanted with your employer for one reason or another (long hours, infrequent promotions, career malaise, etc.) and you've received a job offer from another company, it might be the right time to jump ship. “In situations where things don't fix themselves — if you hate what you're doing or you're not proud of what you're doing or there's an issue you need to talk to your boss about but you don't because you know it won't do any good — that's when it's time to look for a new job,” says Joel Reiter, an application analyst at U.S. Bancorp in St. Paul, Minn.

In this situation, however, be certain that you're not jumping out of the frying pan into the fire. Make sure you're moving toward a good opportunity and not just moving away from one that's gone bad.

Be careful-don't quit that job just yet-first determine the best date for you.

You've been planning on going into business for yourself or maybe you've got another job offer on the table, so what's your next step? Before you write up your letter of resignation do some research and prudent planning before you hand in the resignation letter.

Your last day on the job should be based on solid research. If your employer has a retirement plan, are you fully vested and when does the employer place funds into your retirement account? What about your 401k, is there a nearby anniversary date, or are matching funds put in your account after January 1st? How about your vesting of the company match in your 401k? Leaving at the wrong time could cost you thousands, perhaps more as you roll the funds into an IRA and it compounds and earns additional funds until you retire. For example, if you're 35, and you leave $5000 on the table, these funds at 8% could be worth nearly $36,000 at age 65.

Instead of quitting December 15th, for example, by working into the next year, could mean extra funds in your 401k. If possible choose your last day of employment based on generating maximum financial benefit to you.

Let's say you're a few weeks short of five years service and at the five year mark you earn three weeks vacation. If you leave now you lose the three weeks vacation pay. Vacation eligibility is just another financial benefit for you to factor into the date of your resignation. Perhaps your employer will then grant you to take your three weeks vacation, push your last date out three weeks and you might qualify for other benefits.

Look carefully at the company's medical plan. Are you covered for the entire month regardless of your last day of work? If so, if may be to your benefit to leave early in the month rather that closer to the end.

Does the company offer discounts on products or services? At some employers they've computer purchase programs and other discounts. Look them over and take advantage of any benefits in this area.

Do you owe the company money or do you’ve money coming from the company? If you’ve a company expense account bring it up to date. If you’ve a bonus coming that might conflict with your departure date, factor that into you decision.

If the new opportunity gives you some flexibility in setting your last day of employment, select the date that'll allow maximizing the benefits from your employer. Once you've made the decision to exit, here is what you need to do to develop all your options.

1. Review the latest copy of the company's benefit manual. Any area that you’ve questions, or you need confirmation go to HR so you can get a clear understanding of the applicable company policy and specific provisions of the retirement and 401k plans.

2. If you've an employment contract make sure you comprehend the terms. Are there any restrictions on who you might work for? Any waiting periods? Any restrictions on starting a business that competes with your employer?

3. Are there any former employees of the company that you can talk to? Did they encounter any problems? Anything they would do differently?

Carefully researching of the best exit date might mean considerable benefits to you, not only this day but in the future.

John Groth is a former HR executive and career coach. Find Career Development Ideas, valuable articles and a free seven day career planning guide.

You are looking for a career that is fulfilling and exciting. One that will get you out of bed in the morning with a smile on your face. So you begin looking for that career. Weeks go by. You are still stuck in that life-sucking job. How do you keep motivated enough to do the work it will take to find your next career?

The key to success that is most often ignored or forgotten is this… Take time to celebrate! I can hear you saying, "I have nothing to celebrate. I am stuck in this job and I haven't made the career change I want." My answer is find something to celebrate. Researchers show that people we consider successful tend to focus on their past successes . People who we would consider failures tend to focus on their past failures. We get more of what we focus on. Plus how motivating is it to focus on past and current failures? It doesn't get you out of bed filled with energy to work on moving towards a new career!

I will share with you two simple activities to help you focus and celebrate your daily successes. (Yes, you have them!) The first activity is a "Success Log." Peter Thigpen, a former vice-president at Levi Strauss & Co. kept a "Success Log" on his desk. Anytime he had a success whether it was big or small he wrote it down. Everyday he wrote at least a couple of entries. Sometimes the entries were about work, sometimes they referred to success in his personal life. When he had a bad day or when he was about to do something uncomfortable like make a speech to the board of directors or negotiate a big deal Peter pulled out his Success Log and read his previous entries. Doing this kept him focused on success and prepared him for a confident speech or negotiation.

Start a Success Log today! I don't want to hear that you have nothing to write down! Are you out of bed? Did you get the kids off to school? Did you drive safely to work? All of us have many successes everyday so write some down! Give yourself credit. Most of us have a double standard in regards to taking credit. When we complete something successfully we tend to downplay it. In contrast when we make a mistake we tend to blow it up and take full credit. Not fair! It is time to take full credit for our successes instead. Focus on success.

The second activity to help you focus on success is the "Mirror Exercise". Every night before bed simply look in the mirror, right into your eyes and say your name… I appreciate you for _______ today. For example I might say, "Leanna, I appreciate you for going on a run today." or "I appreciate you for making that hard phone call." List five successes you have had today. When you are done look yourself in the eyes and say, "I love you." Many people have trouble with this last part because they truly have a hard time loving themselves. Do it anyway because as you change careers you need the confidence that will come from loving yourself. If you can't look into your eyes at first then look away and say it. It will get easier.

In order to have courage and motivation to take the risks necessary to have a career you love you need to gather strength from your past successes. You need to celebrate each step of the way. Doing this will not only give you confidence but it will help make this career change journey exciting and fun.

Leanna Fredrich works with professional and executive women in the 2nd half of their careers who are burned out and don't know what to do next. She helps them go from burned out to fired up by finding meaningful and passion-filled work. Are you serious about creating an amazing life? Get the FREE report, "The Top 10 Secrets to Finding Your Passion-Filled Career." To get your report go to http://www.LeannaFredrich.com