Have you encountered a log-jam in your business channel? Do you feel that you have outgrown your current position? As I write this, the economy brings uncertainty with it… which is why this might just be time for a lateral career move. Your new position may not be for more pay… but in the long run, you will be happier if you’re not bored or pigeon-holed into one area of expertise.
Moving to avoid or alleviate stress
Sometimes you just don’t sync with your boss or even your boss’s boss. Ask yourself if it would be worth changing jobs to work for someone else. This can make your work day more pleasant and your mind less stressed when you are off the clock. If despite all effort, you simply do not know how to please your boss or be on the same page, then a lateral career move seems pretty straight forward. It is not worth the stress to work for someone that you have tried repeatedly to work with but cannot. And this can be no-one’s fault. Sometimes personalities and/or workstyles simply do not meld. It’s better to move on than to make both of your lives miserable, or to struggle against the grain each day just to bring home a paycheck.
Moving with the changing times
I have friends that have been in the same position with the same company for over ten years. Though there is something to be said of job stability, the changing times bring changing priorities. Who is to say that such careers will go on indefinitely? Many companies are going “leaner” these days – eliminating positions entirely, consolidating job responsibilities so that one person may be responsible for many more tasks than previously known. If you’re concerned about job stability, a lateral career move will put you ahead of the game by allowing you to get new skills under your belt that may make you a hot commodity for another position, maybe even with another firm. Don’t pass up the chance to move sideways and, in doing so, broaden your horizons and make yourself even more marketable than before.
Moving to exercise your brain
Another reason to change positions and make a lateral career move: you do not feel challenged in your current job. In all of us, there is an inert need to continue growing and challenging our minds. If the only changes in your job are employee turnover and the new rules set out by HR, then it might be time to start doing something else. Maybe it’s a career move in your own company. Maybe it’s doing the same job with a different company. Or, maybe, just maybe, it’s a completely different career path. Any way that you look at it, changing things up in your career will open new doors and bring new challenges and opportunities.
Moving to provide for your family
The lateral career move decision might also be simply for your family. If you and your spouse believe that the only way for your children to get an education is in the public school system and you do not feel comfortable with your public schools, it might be time to move to a new city. Whether it’s to someplace nearby, or to someplace farther away but with a better cost of living, this could open up options that you had not before considered. Or you could be in a financial bind at the moment. If you feel that a move to a more cost effective area could benefit your family now and in the long run, the option of taking a lateral move might be in the cards.
Move to avoid not moving
In both government and corporate jobs, sometimes a “log jam” to get to the next level is so tight that it makes more sense to make a lateral move. I’ve talked to many people both professionally or personally that have had to make this career move. Especially if you really enjoy your job, it can be difficult to see the big picture. But if you’ve always seen yourself in a position much higher than the one that you currently occupy, it really does make sense to review your options. Corporations post jobs publicly, as does the government. Be sure to speak with people who are experienced in the field you’re interested in pursuing. It can really help in your decision making process.
Whether you’re entertaining the idea of a lateral career move or have already decided to pursue an opportunity, be sure to weigh all of your options. Take care not to burn any bridges… and make sure that above all else, you’re doing this for your personal benefit as well as for the betterment of you family and your future.
Have you made a lateral career move? We would love to hear your experiences in the comments below.
About the writer: this article was written by David B. Bohl – Husband, Father, Friend, Lifestyle Coach, Author, Entrepreneur, and creator of Slow Down FAST.
A good article… I believe more and more this is becoming relevant!
To be happy you need to be doing something you enjoy. And only this way you can truly be successful.
A job can’t be anymore a way to just make money. We spend way too much of our time doing it for it to be just that!
Thanks for posting this article and reinforcing what I already have known that I need to do. I am in exactly this position right now and have already begun a lateral new job search. I have been in the same job position with a small business for 6 years and have known for a while that it is time to go. I just couldn’t make the move because I have felt comfortable in my job and I’m earning a good salary for my age and geographic. I have mixed emotions with this being my first real job, but I know that it will be best for myself and my family even though I will probably have to take a salary cut in the short-term.
Hi David – I didn’t realize you were a coach!
Here goes…. this is one coach to another.
I guess I’m pretty fortunate to be in my current position – I left my job as an engineer; I wasn’t forced to leave, I left on my own terms. I had to follow my heart, which is why I started coaching and blogging… I think that was the hardest part for me – to decide to leave.
That was the hardest part – to decide to leave. When you have a full time job with benefits, expenses paid and a retirement package, you really start to think: Do I really want to take a chance and leave?
Eventually, it got to me – it was nauseating going to work, because I didn’t want to be there. So I made my decision….. and it was the best thing I ever did.
There are many reasons to leave a job and money is the last reason. I have done all the moves. I changed job because it was more money and all I got was more work, and more stress, and less fulfillment. I also changed jobs because I wanted to live in a different part of the country and I took a paycut. That was awesome. Now I live where I am meant to, I feel like I am home. That is priceless.
There are no jobs that will make you happy. The only way to be happy is to be your own boss. We are not born to slave for other people.
Thanks for sharing.
Don’t forget your plan of becoming financially free
your friend Relax ~
Hi David,
I believe that one should move away from the job when one is stagnant and feel that he can’t learn anything new in his current job. It will definitely be challenging but it is the only way to ensure that one is growing.
Cheers
Vincent
Personal Development Blogger
I think that most employees have no desire to fill their managers’ shoes and I’d bet that most do not
feel they could do a better job than their bosses. For me employers need to make advancement opportunities more attractive to their teams, especially top performers. This will ease the transition period if a managerial role is vacated and also help firms retain their most valued employees.
If a managers job is overly stressful or carries an insurmountable workload, few of their team members will want to carry the mantle. One thing to consider is that some employees may not feel they are ready for greater responsibility or have the adequate tools and experience to take on the challenge of a managerial role. Managers should be proactively providing those tools.
‘Be here now’ describes me….what’s holding me here is a combination of fear of ageism in employment (I’m over 50), money ($100K pa), fear of failure – other than that I’m ready to move…I just have to work out what I want to do…so til I do the latter, I’m in a holding pattern – now can you give me some hints about how to work out what I want to do because I haven’t got the foggiest.
Since you spend most of your waking hours working, it really makes sense to do everything you can to make it as enjoyable as possible.
Making a lateral move or taking a short term pay cut are things that are very easy to quantify, but also very difficult to compare to quality of life. For example, I think I get much more joy doing the job I enjoy (I’m a neuroscientist) but for less money than I could get in a job I hate. Extra cash in a job you hate will not make you happier overall.
Ask yourself this – could the joy that an extra $5000/year could buy offset the boring hours at your job and leave you as happy as someone who enjoys everyday of their job?
Patrick
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