Should You Stay or Should You Go?
Debating whether you should stay at your current company, or go somewhere new? Maybe you have a counter-offer from your organization, hoping to keep you where you’re planted, but not sure if you should take it? Or maybe you’ve taken the new job, but are debating if you should go back to your old comfy one? If so…read on.
In my role as a career fulfillment coach, I often get questions about the old gig versus the new one. “What do I do?!”, people agonize aloud as they stand at the fork in the road.
While I can’t give each and every one of you advice here, I can share one very important thing to keep in mind if you’re trying to make this decision:
If you’re debating your old/current company versus a new one, before you say yes to staying (or returning), make sure that the problem that made you want to leave in the first place is resolved.
So, for example, if you have a new offer on the table for an amazing job that meets all of your needs, but your current company gives you a counter-offer with a 20% raise: was the money the reason that you were debating leaving? If yes, then great! But if, for example, you were job hunting in the first place because you had a horrible relationship with your manager, then money may not be the solution. It will be a lucrative band-aid, for sure, but in my experience, that’s usually just temporary. If you’re still reporting to the same manager, you’ll likely want to leave again in 3-6 months when the allure of the money wears off.
Same thing can be said for returning to an old job. Sometimes people are inclined to do this due to comfort (learning new things can feel hard!) or because they love their old coworkers. But returning for the comfort only works if any other challenges that made you consider leaving are addressed.
Now, if you’re thinking to yourself, “well, there’s not really a problem that made me want to leave in the first place!”, I’d encourage you to noodle on this a bit. Normally there’s something that contributed to you being at least open to looking for a new job.
So, if you’re debating whether you should stay or you should go, that’s my general advice.
Step 1 - Clarify the problem that made you consider leaving
Step 2 - Make sure that whatever solution you decide fixes the problem
Good luck with your decision-making, friends! Be sure to come back and let me know in the comments what you end up opting to do.
