“I wouldn’t want to change anything about my career.“
Sridevi, Actress
Pros and Cons of Changing your Job
Changing your job can make sense due to various reasons.
In fact, many people consider making career changes right now.
While there are many advantages to changing your career, there are still some risks related to it.
In this article, I show you all the pros and cons of changing your job you need to know in order to make a profound decision regarding this important topic.
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Contents
Advantages of Changing your Job
- You may be able to reduce your stress level through a career change
- Changing your job may give you the opportunity to earn more money
- Can make sense if you want to move to another region
- Senseful if you are currently bored in your job
- Better potential chances for promotions
- May help to improve work-life balance
- You can grow in character
- Can get you out of your comfort zone
- You may be able to learn much more in your new job
- Some people urgently want to make changes in their lives
- You may be able to follow your passion
You may be able to reduce your stress level through a career change
One important advantage of changing your job is that you may be able to significantly reduce your stress level.
If you currently work in a job that is quite demanding and you work for long hours every day while you also have to take care of your family somehow, you may feel quite stressed on a regular basis.
In turn, your overall quality of life may also suffer quite a lot.
In such a case, a career change can greatly benefit you since you can find another job that is less demanding and where you have to work fewer hours in order to reduce your stress level and to reduce the risk for burnout or other serious mental and physical health issues.
Changing your job may give you the opportunity to earn more money
Many people also change their jobs in order to make more money.
In fact, switching your job is one of the most effective ways to earn a higher salary.
While it can take quite long to earn good money if you stay in one company for a long time, it may be much easier if you change jobs every few years.
In fact, studies have shown that changing your job every few years can greatly help you climb the ladder in the corporate world, which also implies a higher salary.
Can make sense if you want to move to another region
If you plan to live abroad or also if you want to move to another part of the country, you will also have to find a new job.
Hence, career changes can also make quite a lot of sense if you aim for a change of your residential address.
However, before you move, make sure that the job opportunities in the region you want to move to are rather good in order to avoid unpleasant consequences later on.
Senseful if you are currently bored in your job
Many people also feel quite bored with their jobs.
While the first years of working in the corporate world can be exciting, many people soon get rather unmotivated and bored in their jobs.
Many of us even question whether working in a regular job makes any sense or not.
Hence, if you are one of those unmotivated people who are just looking forward to the weekend right now and don’t want to get up in the morning, a career change could greatly benefit you to become motivated again and to leave your boring profession behind.
Better potential chances for promotions
Another benefit of changing your job is that also your chances of promotions will improve as well.
In fact, the majority of employees gets more responsibilities and a higher salary in their new job compared to their old one.
Consequently, if you want to make the next career step right now but feel that this will not be possible in your current company in the near future, you may consider switching your job and working for another company instead.
May help to improve work-life balance
If you are currently working in a demanding job for long hours every day and are just sick of it, a career change could likely also greatly benefit you and improve your overall quality of life quite a lot.
In fact, many people currently struggle with their work-life balance and if you are currently in a situation where you want to have more leisure time and work less, changing your job can be a great way to achieve this goal.
You can grow in character
Another upside of career changes is that changing your job can also help you to grow in character.
Especially if you currently do not have too much responsibility and want to get more of it in the near future, you may look out for other career opportunities where you can really get this level of responsibility.
Can get you out of your comfort zone
Changing your job can also help you getting yourself out of your comfort zone.
Sure, everyone loves to stay in our comfort zones since it is quite convenient to do so.
However, only if you get out of your comfort zone, you can really grow in personality and also learn to deal with pressure.
You may be able to learn much more in your new job
In general, if you make a career change, chances are that you will also learn much more in your new job.
However, this is only true if you pick a new job that seems to be much more demanding than the old one.
Thus, make sure to choose wisely in this regard.
Hence, if you are no longer satisfied with the overall learning experience in your old company, a career change may be the right way to go for you.
Some people urgently want to make changes in their lives
In general, if you are currently rather unhappy with your life and don’t know exactly why, take some time to figure out why this is the case.
For many people, it is due to the fact that they don’t do what they really want to do.
They just work in a job to earn sufficient amounts of money, yet they don’t see a deeper sense in it.
Thus, if you are one of those people, changing your job towards something you like much more can also be quite beneficial for you to get out of your misery.
You may be able to follow your passion
If you are really willing to work hard at it, you may also be able to follow your passion when it comes to career choices.
In fact, if you currently work in a job you hate and urgently want to make a change, you could start with a side hustle and turn it into a serious business in the future.
By doing so, you could make money off what you really love to do instead of just working in a job you don’t like at all.
Disadvantages of Career Changes
- You may feel quite insecure through career changes
- You will often have a probation period
- You may end up in unemployment
- Career changes may make the situation even worse
- Changing your job can be stressful
- You have to adapt to a new working environment
- Can be quite exhausting at the beginning of your new job
- Financial risks related to career changes
- Working atmosphere may be quite bad in the new company
- You will not yet be established and have to prove yourself
You may feel quite insecure through career changes
Apart from the many advantages of career changes, there are still some issues related to changing your job.
One problem with changing your job is that you may feel quite insecure.
Many people worked in their previous jobs for quite a while and they will often be quite scared about all the new things that they will have to deal with in the future.
Hence, if you are a person who is rather inflexible and is afraid to deal with many new things at a time, chances are that career changes may not be for you.
You will often have a probation period
Another disadvantage of career changes is that you will often have a probation period.
During this time, you can easily get fired if you don’t do good work.
In turn, this also implies a serious risk.
If you get fired during this period and don’t have sufficient savings, chances are that you will no longer be able to pay your rent and that you will end up homeless in the streets sooner or later.
Consequently, make sure that you have a certain financial buffer before changing your job.
You may end up in unemployment
Some people may also simply end up in unemployment if they make a career change.
Some people think that career changes are easy and that they don’t require a lot of work.
However, the opposite is true and many people greatly underestimate the true efforts that are necessary in order to become successful after you made a career change.
Hence, make sure that you are willing to put in the work in order to avoid unemployment.
Career changes may make the situation even worse
While many job ads may sound quite promising, those jobs may be rather annoying in reality.
In fact, you may make your situation even worse by switching your job.
Hence, before you change your job, make sure that you ask people you know about the working conditions in the respective company in order to avoid any unpleasant surprises in this regard.
Changing your job can be stressful
In many cases, changing your job also implies some work on your side. It can be quite stressful to learn various new things in a rather short period of time.
In fact, if there is too much to learn, people may even burn out quite soon.
Moreover, you may also have to move for your new job, which implies additional stress.
Hence, make sure that you are really ready to take this step before deciding to change your job
You have to adapt to a new working environment
Another downside of changing your job is that you will also have to adapt to a completely new working environment and a new corporate culture.
In fact, corporate cultures differ quite a lot over companies and the company culture may simply not be in line with your personal values and beliefs.
Thus, you may also experience problems with adapting to the new corporate culture if you switch your job.
Can be quite exhausting at the beginning of your new job
Since there are so many new things you have to adapt to at the beginning of your new job, chances are that you will feel quite overwhelmed and also quite exhausted during the first days and weeks.
Hence, make sure not to give up at the beginning.
Chances are that it will become much easier after a certain period of time.
Financial risks related to career changes
In general, if you quit your job, you will also be exposed to serious financial risks.
For instance, if you get fired after a rather short period of time, you may have to get into debt to cover your expenses.
Moreover, you may also not find a suitable job anymore.
Thus, make sure that the career change is worth this financial risk to you.
Working atmosphere may be quite bad in the new company
You may also get unlucky and end up in a company with a quite bad working atmosphere.
In such a case, your life will often be quite miserable since you will have to spend long hours with people you don’t like at all at work.
You will not yet be established and have to prove yourself
If you are new in a company, you will also have to prove yourself since you are not established yet.
This can cause additional stress and it may be much more convenient to stay in your old company if you have already built some level of respect.
Top 10 Changing your Job Pros & Cons – Summary List
| Changing your Job Pros | Changing your Job Cons |
|---|---|
| Changing your job can reduce your stress level | Changing your job can be exhausting |
| Career changes may improve your quality of life | Changing your job may be financially risky |
| You may earn more money in your new job | Career changes can be stressful |
| Better chances for promotions | You may end up unemployed |
| Can make sense if you want to move | You may earn less money |
| You can follow your passion | Grass is not always greener on the other side |
| Changing your job can let you grow in character | You have to adapt to new environments |
| Can get you out of your comfort zone | Working climate may be quite poor |
| Senseful if you are unsatisfied with your job | You have to learn many new things |
| Career changes can improve work-life balance | Probation period can lead to problems |
Should You Switch Your Job?
Many people consider changing their jobs quite often.
If you currently work in a job you hate, you may not have too much to lose by a career change.
However, make sure that you really improve through changing your job so that you can actually significantly improve your overall quality of life in the long run.
If you consider changing your job and want to do something meaningful, you should also have a look at Jooble.
I highly recommend this job search engine since they have many eco-friendly jobs listed on their platform and it is pretty easy to find your dream job there.
Make sure to visit Jooble right now to take the next career step!
Sources
https://www.thebalancecareers.com/successful-career-change-2058452
https://www.wikihow.com/Change-Jobs
About the author
My name is Andreas and my mission is to educate people of all ages about our environmental problems and how everyone can make a contribution to mitigate these issues.
As I went to university and got my Master’s degree in Economics, I did plenty of research in the field of Development Economics.
After finishing university, I traveled around the world. From this time on, I wanted to make a contribution to ensure a livable future for the next generations in every part of our beautiful planet.
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