10 signs it's time to change your job

Having recently just quit a job I had held for nine years and four months, I have given the topic of job-changing a great deal of thought. However bad a job may be and however much you dread Monday mornings, making the decision to leave the job — especially one you have held for some years — is never an easy process. Even if your boss is an ogre, your pay raises haven't kept up with the cost of living and your skills haven't been relevant for six years, you know you can handle this job.

There's a large degree of comfort in your current responsibilities and the company you're familiar with. Part of your brain knows you're capable of more, but another part is fraught with self-doubt and wakes you from sleep at 2am in a cold sweat, beaming an image of you in your new job frozen by ignorance, out of your depth, and facing termination.

So how do you know when it's time to go? Based on my recent experience, here are my top 10 indicators that it's time to make the change.

#1: You know you aren't performing to the best of your ability
We all go through slumps, bad days, even bad weeks when we just don't care, don't give it our best... but what if that week turns into months? If you just don't have what it takes to give it your best, something needs to change. This is a common sign of burnout or of being overworked, under-worked, under-challenged or out of your depth.

If lack of motivation is the only issue, it may be possible to effect change within your current company by requesting different responsibilities, more training or another position. But if none of these options is available, it's time to update your resume.

#2: You start gravitating toward co-workers you can be disgruntled with

Think about the people with whom you choose to socialise at work. Whose company do you seek out? Are you drawn toward the malcontents, the people who derive pleasure from complaining about their boss, the declining benefits and the unreasonable overtime? When people ask you what you like about your job, is it rather like when your uncle asked, "What's your favourite subject at school?", and all you could think of was break-time?

#3: You can't picture your future with your current employer
Do you remember those irritating questions the last time you were interviewed: "Where do you see yourself in three years? Five years? Ten?" Perhaps it's time to ask yourself those questions again. But this time ask, "Do I see myself HERE in three years? Five years? Ten?" If the answer to any of these questions is no, what is your plan? Where do you want to go? When were you planning to make your move?

As much as we'd all like to simply wake up one day to find ourselves in the perfect job, the chance of it happening is probably slightly slimmer than a one-eyed, polka-dotted aardvark materialising in your kitchen sink. If you know that you want to be working somewhere else at some point in the future, it's never too soon to make a plan.

#4: You take inventory of your job's pros and cons... and the cons win
If you're having a hard time deciding whether to change jobs, try this simple exercise. Create a document with two lists — things you like about your current job, and things you dislike. Next, apply a weighting to the items. This can be as simple as a value from one to 10 to rate the importance of each factor. For example, if the stringent dress code is on your list of cons but it isn't that important to you, give it a 1 or 2. But if the excellent health insurance is a pro, it would probably warrant at least a 7 or an 8.

Next, add up each list. If the cons outweigh the pros, it's probably worth at least considering a change. If nothing else, this exercise will force you to focus on what you specifically do and do not like about your current position and give you a more concrete idea of what to look for in a new position.

#5: You look for ways to improve your current situation but you can't turn it into what you really want
Another useful exercise is to take your list of pros from the previous exercise and expand upon it. Elaborate on the items already on the list and add other items you wish you could claim about your current position. When you're finished, review the list for items you may be able to make happen at your current company.

If you want more responsibility or more flexible hours, you might be able to work that out, whereas if you work for a missile manufacturer and happen to have developed pacifist beliefs since accepting the position…