I had an interesting conversation Sunday with an acquaintance of mine about job satisfaction and career goals.  Having had many different jobs during my life, as well as having studied career development in college, I just assumed everyone had the same wisdom about job satisfaction that I did.  I was wrong.

I had forgotten that some people will graduate from college and hold maybe two or thee jobs from that time forward, and won’t have experienced a truly crappy job (and I use that term with affection).  I have had many crappy jobs, including ones that are normally crappy but because of the environment turned out to be loads of fun.  I highly enjoyed waiting tables, but of course that was at an even more loosely-run Bennigan’s.  I enjoyed working at a nursery; even though I had to carry bags of manure in the hot summer (talk about crappy!).  I hated working at an apartment rental office, mostly because the boss was a drunk who berated me in front of potential renters.  I hated doing vending service, mainly because there were days when it nearly killed me to lug half a ton of soda around on a cart for twelve hours.

But all jobs have their ups and downs.  Most jobs have their good days and bad days.  I am currently working in the information technology industry, and in general, I love my job.  But I definitely have my bad days.  There are days when I screw up or everything goes wrong.  There are days when people are just especially annoying.  There are days when the job doesn’t end because as soon as I get home from work there are half a dozen friends, relatives, and acquaintances that need help with their home computers.

But in spite of these bad days, I am not going to be changing jobs any time soon, and I’m certainly not changing careers.  Even the best jobs have bad days.  Even dream jobs have bad days.  With that in mind, I try to ask myself a number of questions before I start making plans to change jobs:

1)     Are there any good days, or do I just dread going into work every day?

2)     Overall, do I derive satisfaction from the main duties of my job?

3)     What are my career goals, and can I meet them with my current employer?

4)     How will changing jobs/careers affect my family and lifestyle?

5)     How can I find out more about the desired job/career without leaving my current position?

We all know that the animal that thinks the grass is greener on the other side of the fence is often mistaken.  New jobs that are seemingly “dream jobs” at “dream companies” often come with their own down-sides.  The gentleman I spoke to Sunday shared his thought with me that working with a smaller company might be more satisfying.  I explained to him that there are pros and cons of working for small companies, just like the big companies.  Big companies often have better benefits, a more flexible career path, and more opportunities for growth.  Small companies are often friendlier and more personal, give you more opportunity to “shine”, and can give you a better sense that you are valued.

With all these benefits you need to keep in mind that there are also disadvantages.  You usually trade one set of problems for another when you change jobs.  Sometimes you forget about your career path in preference to a great “job”.  But do you really want to be stuck at a single job, with no hope of advancement for the rest of your life?  For me, the most important aspect of any job is what it offers in terms of my career; whether it is learning, experience, or advancement.

Whatever you do, there are three cardinal rules when changing jobs or careers:

1)     Never quit your job until you have been officially hired elsewhere.

2)     Get as many job offers as possible before accepting any single job offer.

3)     Make sure you know everything you can about your new job before accepting the offer.

These three rules may seem like common sense, but I am always surprised at the number of people I know who have quit a job with nothing in reserve.  These are people with skills, but they don’t realize that skilled jobs take much longer to find than unskilled jobs.  Some employment experts say that for every $10,000 you expect to make, it will take you a month longer to find a job.  So those who want to make over $100k could be looking for a job for a whole year.  Can you or your family survive that long without an income?  Most can’t.

Nothing is worse than getting to a job and finding out it is ten times worse than the one you left.  It is imperative that you find out as much as you can about the company, the job description, the pros and cons of the job, the environment, and the people you will work with.  Don’t let dollar signs entice you to ignore these important job attributes because there are some jobs and work environments that aren’t worth any amount of money to deal with.

Don’t misunderstand me – I am not a “company man.”  I believe in the concept of self-promotion.  If a company offers me no advancement for my hard work, I will start looking for a job elsewhere that will.  I want my career to be constantly moving forward, and it is my responsibility to see that it does.  But I am mindful of continuity of my career.

Let me summarize it like this: when a potential employer looks at your resume and sees that you constantly advanced your career over the last ten years, he might be willing to overlook the fact that you changed employers seven times.  You just have to convince that employer that you did all that so that you could ultimately work for him or her!  But try to explain why you didn’t have a job for a year and a half, or why you worked at McDonalds in between accounting jobs, and you’re going to be facing a lot of rejection.