The 4 Reasons That Push Me to Make Career Move
I’ve been thinking about making a change of my current job back to 2019, when COVID-19 hadn’t stroke the world. However, it is in early 2021 that I finally took actions and forced myself away from spending too much time analyzing pros & cons. I had no clue if I made a “right” decision. I still don’t know it after moving into new role, which certainly freaks me out. So I’d think recalling the reasons to change might get myself in control, at least emotionally. Here we go:
First, to Gain Experience that Could Be Recognized in Different Employers
The infrastructure/environment of my employer does not add value to my professional experience to advance in related field. It is a highly Excel-driven world, where process and data are unstandardized. VBA is in place to create value in this particular work space, but it is also a computer language that Microsoft is trying to replaced. I feel like I’m killing myself slowly if I keep spending time in this domain, which might not be needed in 10 years.
In addition, I notice that I started to become the go-to person for anything related to data, analytics, and tools. It’s a proof that there is no strategy and vision in place to implement digitization. They think hiring a data person could fix everything. The future environment for this role is going to be suffering.
Lastly, it is just too niche in the market to find open positions in this field. Even though there might be, the package probably won’t match my current employer. This is a very narrow career path that might make me unemployed in late 30s, and by then I might be biased by other employers to pick up new knowledge.
Second, to Move into the Playground where My Team is Focusing on
As mentioned, there is no infrastructure in place, and it takes time to establish one. During this establishing period, there will be no real output to first line members. So it is highly likely that I’ll work my ass out, and my colleagues thought that I did not contribute to this time because there is no delivery.
Hence, I choose to deliver visible results quarter over quarter. However, because of lack of infrastructure, it’s been a pain in the ass to collect data to measure the business impact. I know, the simple process time is there, but we all know that time-saving from automation is just a lie. To link my work output to company revenue is the key, but there is no sustainable way to get that information. You now know the situation I was in. It put me in a bad position to ask for a pay raise, and I didn’t get what I expected.
Fortunately, I did gain a good reputation among managers for the past year, and I got the chance for lateral movement into operation role. I heard that my current manager did not hesitate to bring me into her team. Now that I am in the playground, this is the chance to I could utilize.
Third, to Possibly Earn More from Current Employer
Lateral movement, often signals a sign for off-cycle promotion. It is expected, but of course not guaranteed.
Fourth, to Learn Something New to Motivate/Refresh Mind
I got used to the role that I was in. I am comfortable with every challenge, both expected or unexpected, to be thrown on my face. I know that there will be problems, and I am confident that I could solve each one of them. It doesn’t mean that I dislike the job. I still find it interesting, but I might get too comfortable with it. So changing a role will help me learn a similar operation from a different point of view. It is quite uncomfortable I would admit, but it is a progress to pick up new aspect, and to build fundamental operation knowledge which will contribute to my future success in current employer.
