--- description: Instead of a pros-and-cons list, try this title: How Do I Know if It's Time for Me to Change Jobs? image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt628b1364ee401b55/69876a558e06015638458c0a/169270630.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Ideas](/section/ideas/) ## Ideas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # How Do I Know If It's Time for Me to Change Jobs?  by [Marty Nemko](/author/marty-nemko/)  ## Marty Nemko Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 21, 2014 7:47 PM CUT  Businesswoman resting chin in hand on desk Businesswoman resting chin in hand on deskPaul Bradbury—Getty Images/Caiaimage  by [Marty Nemko](/author/marty-nemko/)  ## Marty Nemko Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 21, 2014 7:47 PM CUT Should you change jobs? Even make a radical career change? Most articles on the subject offer a checklist or pros-and-cons list. Here I offer a different approach: an internal debate. **Person:** I’m sick of my job. I’m ready for something new and there’s too little opportunity here. **Alter ego:** But I don’t have the time or energy to look for another job when I’m working 45 hours a week already. It can take months, sometimes longer to find a good job, especially if I try to change careers. And I doubt anyone wants to hire a newbie at anywhere near my salary. **Person:** But, God, I don’t want to stay at Western Widget Works, Inc. forever. **Alter ego:** No, but I worry that after all that job hunting, I won’t even like my new job or career any better. **Person:** I need to remember that I don’t have to take that new job. I just need to take a little time to see if I can find something better. If not, I’ll stay put. I’ll just start networking. **Alter ego:** But I hate networking and I’m lousy at it. I just don’t make a good first impression, no matter how much I practice. I’m better off spending the time improving my skills: tech stuff, public speaking. **Person:** Okay, maybe I should do that, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t be looking for a job. If I don’t want to network, I’ll just answer some on-target ads, one a week. **Alter ego:** But if that’s all I do, a year or two from now, I’ll probably still be at Western Widget. Ugh. **Person:** So, fine. I’ll apply to three jobs a week. **Alter ego:** But every job opening gets so many applications. **Person:** I really have to make mine better—Write a cover letter that, point by point, explains how I meet the job’s requirements. **Alter ego:** But if I’m changing careers, I won’t be meeting most of the requirements. **Person:** Okay, then I’ll include a white paper, like a term paper, on a topic related to the new job that would interest that employer. That will show current chops and interest, and a concrete work sample. **Alter ego:** But that will take a ton of time. **Person:** No it won’t. A few-page white paper is like one of those papers I wrote in college. One day I knew nothing about the topic and two days later, I knew a lot and cranked out a good paper.I need to stop complaining. It’s better than staying at Western Widget. Right? **Alter ego:** Maybe. What if the problem isn’t the job but me? If I’m honest with myself, as I look back on all my jobs, I’ve always struggled. **Person:** Do I have to face that I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed? **Alter ego:** That may be part of it. I know that I can’t seem to make myself consistently care enough about work. I do my job but I can’t seem to maintain the fire in my belly. I’m not sure I can change that. **Person:** So maybe I need to downscale my job aspirations. Up isn’t the only way. I fought my way to be a manager, but maybe I’d be happier and more successful if I did something less demanding. **Alter ego:** Am I the poster boy for the Peter Principle, rising to my level of incompetence? **Person:** Maybe. I’ve always tried to compete with my high-achieving friends. Isn’t that silly? Maybe by trying to be what I’m not, I’m making myself miserable and ensuring I don’t succeed. **Alter ego:** But what should I do? **Person:** Maybe I should go back to being an individual contributor or a support person. I’m organized and good at details. Maybe I should go back to being a coordinator, a marketing coordinator. Maybe I should talk with my boss or HR about getting that kind of job at Western Widget? **Alter ego:** Actually, I don’t give a crap about marketing widgets. **Person:** I need to remember that as long as the widget is worth marketing, it’s worth doing. **Alter ego:** Stop with the pious preaching. **Person:** How sure am I that I’ll care more about work if I were doing something else? I say I care about gifted kids being ignored in today’s elementary schools but would I really, after a honeymoon period, be that much more motivated to work hard on some job related to that, or will my laziness come along with me wherever I go? **Alter ego:** I don’t want to think I’m doomed to mediocrity. I can’t be sure whether I’ll be any happier on behalf of gifted kids but maybe I should try. **Person:** That’s probably right. I should volunteer a few hours a week at some school with a lot of bright kids or maybe even for a school district’s director of programs for the gifted. I should do a little networking, make the case that my skills in marketing and being organized and detail oriented would be valuable there. I should apply to jobs anywhere I might be willing to live that excite me. If I get hired, fine. And if not, I’ll feel better for having tried. And who knows? In spending time around those people quite different from those at Western Widget, I may learn about something or about myself that I wouldn’t know if I just kept on keeping on with my same-old routine. **Alter ego:** I’ll think about it. _Marty Nemko holds a Ph.D. specializing in education evaluation from U.C. Berkeley and subsequently taught there. He is the author of seven books and an award-winning career coach, writer, speaker and public radio host specializing in career/workplace issues and education reform. His writings and radio programs are archived on_ [_www.martynemko.com_](http://www.martynemko.com/ "undefined")_._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3600213/how-do-i-know-if-its-time-for-me-to-change-jobs/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3600213/how-do-i-know-if-its-time-for-me-to-change-jobs/"},"headline":"How Do I Know If It's Time for Me to Change Jobs?","datePublished":"2014-11-21T19:47:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T02:17:26.503Z","description":"Instead of a pros-and-cons list, try this","url":"https://time.com/3600213/how-do-i-know-if-its-time-for-me-to-change-jobs/","keywords":["Careers & Workplace","Business topic","career"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt628b1364ee401b55/69876a558e06015638458c0a/169270630.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Marty Nemko","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/marty-nemko/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt628b1364ee401b55/69876a558e06015638458c0a/169270630.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"169270630","caption":"169270630","creditText":"Paul Bradbury—Getty Images/Caiaimage","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3600213/how-do-i-know-if-its-time-for-me-to-change-jobs/","name":"How Do I Know If It's Time for Me to Change Jobs?"}}]}] ```