If you feel comfortable, stable, and nothing seems to spoil your satisfaction with your current job… you should be alarmed.
It means you have found yourself a comfort zone. And while comfort zones themselves are not bad, what’s bad is staying there for longer than you should. Whenever you settle into an organization, and before you bask in your new job’s comfort, you should consider or at least have an idea about your exit plan: when, and to where.
Job Stability? Oh, sure.
There’s no such a notion as “job stability”. Stability goes hand in hand with your competence. As long as you’re competent, needed, and its impractical to replace you, you have stability. And only for some time.
Realizing this fact is the first and strongest motive for planning and strategizing ahead for your career. The moment you land the job you always wanted, preparing for your exit from that dream job might well be your best insurance policy.
But I Want The Corporate Ladder
Some people have a certain perspective. They think, I want to “stabilize” myself into that organization, and advance my career inside. Fine, that’s a typical and respectable point of view. However, you should have well-thought answers for the following questions if that’s the case:
- What is that you really want from your career?
- Why define your career in terms of your organization’s career ladder rather than your own vision?
- What can I deliver more than my peers can deliver anyway? What are my differentiators?
- How long could it take me to achieve my targets inside the organization?
- How long could it take me to achieve my targets somewhere else?
That’s not an exhaustive list, but the purpose is clear. You must always keep an eye on yourself, your status within the organization, and above all must always seek to increase your competitiveness. Never get complacent and uncritical of yourself, and cut the feedback cycle because of illusive stability. Thinking that way is healthy, for both you and your organization.
“Take control of your destiny or someone else will” – Jack Welch
