It’s been more than two weeks since my poll about career options expired. As little as the responses were, it provided me greater insights on what to look for in job selection. Coupled with some experiences, a friend experience and some readings, I’ll try to raise some points on career options.
Job seekers can be categorized as to what their intensions are in looking for a job. New graduated tends to take any opportunity along the way. Most often times they look at these opportunities as either their dream job or just a stepping stone to greater heights. Job seekers in their mid and late to early 30s maybe in several cross roads. While some aims to find a job that could be worth keeping, others look for challenges and adventures. Those who are nearing their 40s looks for a job that they can keep till retirement. I know my frame of mind maybe different from yours but at some point we may be agree.
To make this discussion short, let’s remove the newly graduates from the picture when discussing the question: why do we need a new job? There are a lot of articles that discusses some points that maybe considered when you are in the point of hitting the eject button. Basically, in my point of view, there are general reasons why we want to look for another job.
The most obvious reason perhaps is for higher pay, there is no need of denying this, everyone needs money to survive. This is my main reason why I quit my job in a company where I stayed for 7 long years. Its not that the pay that I receive from my previous job sucks, it’s actually above average in our province. Aside from the fact that I don’t have to go through traffic jams and pollutions, it offers free college education to my children in the future. But the temptations from the outside got the greater part of me so I quit.
The second reason is professional growth which in my term can be equated to boredom. In an industry as dynamic as the IT industry , we are overwhelmed with the amount of technology pouring in and wanting to be absorbed by us , but we don’t have time because our job , which was exciting-at-first-now-boring , eats our time . We admit that any new job is exciting, but when it becomes monotonous it becomes so boring. That’s why some takes the risk of quitting and look for new source of excitement. Life without excitement, by the way, is lifeless. Some wants to test their own limits, a thing that maybe they can not achieve with their current job. Most wanted to get out of their comfort zones and explore new opportunities, new adventures in life
The last reason is a little bit broad, it may be decomposed to more specific reasons but simply it can be attributed to conflicts. Conflicts maybe personal , behavioral , professional or even conflicts in principle Why would a man earning close to 6 digit salary and who just earned a 6 digit performance bonus leave a company ? A friend of mine did it because of a conflict. Recently, 2 of my officemates tendered their resignation because f a conflict. In my previous work, numerous left because of conflicts. This is happening every day and it’s not about money, it’s about something else. Truly, money can’t buy everything.
If we entertain the thoughts of quitting our job, what are we looking for in our next job? Last December I tried posting a poll to solicit responses from the web regarding what do an IT professional look for in a job. The list of choices included good pay, job security, and professional growth and high profile projects. These are not the best choices but these are the things that I was thinking at that moment. Let me discuss the four choices. Good pay speaks of the salary; it may pertain to the gross salary or the net salary. Aside from the salary, some companies offer lucrative benefits which may offset the low salary offer. I got this advice from one of my office mates, when negotiating for the salary always state the net salary. Why? So that you don’t need to worry about the income tax and other require deductions. Job security pertains to how secured are you of keeping your job. This may include the stability of the company. An unstable company means it may simply go down any moment leaving you unemployed. This may also include policies on employment and retirement. Professional growth may refer to the career opportunity that the company may bring. The nature of job as well as its challenge to your professional skills is also a part of this. The last choice is pertaining to high profile projects. Why did I include this one , well some job seekers would like to color their resumes with high profile projects to give them better opportunity in the near future . But sometimes, this is hard to determine, you have to be part of the company first before you can asses the projects that you are handling. Yes I expected a thousand of response but I got nine interested people joining the poll. Guess what, it’s the salary that attracted the most. Second is job security.
Basing on the result of the poll, most prefer higher pays that other considerations. This is normal. There are, however, things to be considered when considering salary as a basis. Expect that the higher the salary, in most cases, the higher the responsibility and the more time demanding the job is. There are instances when a man can opt to go with a lower salary job but more free time to spend with the family and friends. It may be true that money is the primary goal of working, but there are some things that may also be important to you not just money. Some companies may offer a lower salary but with greater benefits. It is therefore wise not to be hypnotized by the numbers that you see in the offer, try to analyze further before grabbing the gold.
Why do a lot of people aim for big companies with big names? Sometimes the big bucks are not from these giant companies but from smaller companies, what do they offer then? STABILTY . Yes, a stable company with streamlined processes. A vast arena of career opportunities for professional growth through trainings and even chances for travel. What they can offer can be a job for a lifetime. For those looking for a stable job till retirement, this may be a good option.
I’m not an expert on this field and I definitely do not have enough experience to talk about this topic. These are just my opinions which may be in line or in contrast with others. Like many young professionals, I'm still on the search looking for the best options in life. Whatever decisions that we may take along the way as long as we take full responsibility of it , there will be no bitter feelings just life lessons . So o on decide and stand for what you believe is right for you career.
Job seekers can be categorized as to what their intensions are in looking for a job. New graduated tends to take any opportunity along the way. Most often times they look at these opportunities as either their dream job or just a stepping stone to greater heights. Job seekers in their mid and late to early 30s maybe in several cross roads. While some aims to find a job that could be worth keeping, others look for challenges and adventures. Those who are nearing their 40s looks for a job that they can keep till retirement. I know my frame of mind maybe different from yours but at some point we may be agree.
To make this discussion short, let’s remove the newly graduates from the picture when discussing the question: why do we need a new job? There are a lot of articles that discusses some points that maybe considered when you are in the point of hitting the eject button. Basically, in my point of view, there are general reasons why we want to look for another job.
The most obvious reason perhaps is for higher pay, there is no need of denying this, everyone needs money to survive. This is my main reason why I quit my job in a company where I stayed for 7 long years. Its not that the pay that I receive from my previous job sucks, it’s actually above average in our province. Aside from the fact that I don’t have to go through traffic jams and pollutions, it offers free college education to my children in the future. But the temptations from the outside got the greater part of me so I quit.
The second reason is professional growth which in my term can be equated to boredom. In an industry as dynamic as the IT industry , we are overwhelmed with the amount of technology pouring in and wanting to be absorbed by us , but we don’t have time because our job , which was exciting-at-first-now-boring , eats our time . We admit that any new job is exciting, but when it becomes monotonous it becomes so boring. That’s why some takes the risk of quitting and look for new source of excitement. Life without excitement, by the way, is lifeless. Some wants to test their own limits, a thing that maybe they can not achieve with their current job. Most wanted to get out of their comfort zones and explore new opportunities, new adventures in life
The last reason is a little bit broad, it may be decomposed to more specific reasons but simply it can be attributed to conflicts. Conflicts maybe personal , behavioral , professional or even conflicts in principle Why would a man earning close to 6 digit salary and who just earned a 6 digit performance bonus leave a company ? A friend of mine did it because of a conflict. Recently, 2 of my officemates tendered their resignation because f a conflict. In my previous work, numerous left because of conflicts. This is happening every day and it’s not about money, it’s about something else. Truly, money can’t buy everything.
If we entertain the thoughts of quitting our job, what are we looking for in our next job? Last December I tried posting a poll to solicit responses from the web regarding what do an IT professional look for in a job. The list of choices included good pay, job security, and professional growth and high profile projects. These are not the best choices but these are the things that I was thinking at that moment. Let me discuss the four choices. Good pay speaks of the salary; it may pertain to the gross salary or the net salary. Aside from the salary, some companies offer lucrative benefits which may offset the low salary offer. I got this advice from one of my office mates, when negotiating for the salary always state the net salary. Why? So that you don’t need to worry about the income tax and other require deductions. Job security pertains to how secured are you of keeping your job. This may include the stability of the company. An unstable company means it may simply go down any moment leaving you unemployed. This may also include policies on employment and retirement. Professional growth may refer to the career opportunity that the company may bring. The nature of job as well as its challenge to your professional skills is also a part of this. The last choice is pertaining to high profile projects. Why did I include this one , well some job seekers would like to color their resumes with high profile projects to give them better opportunity in the near future . But sometimes, this is hard to determine, you have to be part of the company first before you can asses the projects that you are handling. Yes I expected a thousand of response but I got nine interested people joining the poll. Guess what, it’s the salary that attracted the most. Second is job security.
Basing on the result of the poll, most prefer higher pays that other considerations. This is normal. There are, however, things to be considered when considering salary as a basis. Expect that the higher the salary, in most cases, the higher the responsibility and the more time demanding the job is. There are instances when a man can opt to go with a lower salary job but more free time to spend with the family and friends. It may be true that money is the primary goal of working, but there are some things that may also be important to you not just money. Some companies may offer a lower salary but with greater benefits. It is therefore wise not to be hypnotized by the numbers that you see in the offer, try to analyze further before grabbing the gold.
Why do a lot of people aim for big companies with big names? Sometimes the big bucks are not from these giant companies but from smaller companies, what do they offer then? STABILTY . Yes, a stable company with streamlined processes. A vast arena of career opportunities for professional growth through trainings and even chances for travel. What they can offer can be a job for a lifetime. For those looking for a stable job till retirement, this may be a good option.
I’m not an expert on this field and I definitely do not have enough experience to talk about this topic. These are just my opinions which may be in line or in contrast with others. Like many young professionals, I'm still on the search looking for the best options in life. Whatever decisions that we may take along the way as long as we take full responsibility of it , there will be no bitter feelings just life lessons . So o on decide and stand for what you believe is right for you career.
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