What is Career Progression Now? (2020-09)

This article first appeared on LinkedIn in Sep 2020.

Someone was asking me about career progression, and it triggered me to think about what that means nowadays. I was going to write this as a post, but LinkedIn told me it's too long, so now it's an article ;)

When I first worked at IBM, career progression was pretty much laid out for you on day 1 - levels and roles and career paths. There's nothing wrong with that, but I feel today it's more about learning, contribution, and personal growth. I think we should always be considering the right time to leave, and asking ourselves:

1) Am I still learning in my role?

Every role needs to help you to grow and broaden your skills and experience. If you are just doing the same old thing, it's probably time to move on.

2) Am I still able to make a contribution that's valuable?

Sometimes, through nobody's fault, your contribution is just not valuable any more. That's not good for you, and not good for the organisation. It's an horrible feeling, but find somewhere where you can make a contribution before it destroys your confidence.

3) If my role disappeared tomorrow, would I be able to get a new one easily?

Move because you want to, not because you have to, and move before you get so ingrained in any one thing you are too specialised or too scared to move. I have a 'ten year' rule - if I've been somewhere close to ten years, it's high time to move on, no matter how much I love it.

4) Am I enjoying my role? Am I proud to work here?

"Always leave a job you love" as the great @Jens Kuehlers once said ;) Don't wait until you hate it - firstly you'll then HAVE to move, and secondly you being miserable is bad for everyone in your vicinity.

As @Tom Bal pointed out in the comments, a more complex and emotive reason you might not be enjoying your role is a lack of alignment between your values and the values of the organisation - in large businesses, these things tend to be quite stable, but in new businesses, there's always a risk that a pivot could leave you working for a company doing something you actually feel is morally wrong. This is equally true for culture too - in organisations of all sizes, changes in the management structure can lead to changes in the culture that make you feel uncomfortable, unhappy or even angry.

5) Have I been here long enough to leave?

A simple and easy one to finish - if you leave somewhere after less than 2 years, you're going to need a very good explanation - and a LinkedIn post by some chancer called Tom isn't going to cut it. People will generally assume that someone made a mistake, and you'll have to do a bunch of extra work to prove that's not the case.

So if you have decided to move, what then?

If you have done the things above, then you are moving because you WANT to move, not because you HAVE to move. That's great news! You have the chance to wait and see what's out there. Once you have decided to move, then emotionally you "have moved", so be careful to do right by your current job, but start following up on those LinkedIn postings, start talking to people you trust... And take your time, find the right role... Kiss a few frogs, and get the practice under your belt. Like finding a new home, or a new friend, sooner or later the right role will come along, and when it does, you'll know :)