7 reasons to change jobs, even if you don’t want to

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Change is difficult, but switching jobs is necessary for both personal and professional growth.
You may be coasting at your current job, or getting underpaid, which is preventing you from being more successful.
Here are seven tips from experts on why it may be a good idea to switch careers.
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Statistics have long suggested that working professionals will have up to seven careers in their lifetime.

However, this claim should be taken with a grain of salt — there’s not much substantial research backing that figure, and it becomes less and less relevant in our current job-hopping work climate.

The reality, according to several career experts, is not to anticipate a lifetime of seven long-term careers. It’s to plan to change your job regularly every few years, even if you like what you do and feel comfortable.

Change is difficult, but the benefits pay off in ways you might never imagined possible, both professionally and personally.

If you’re still on the fence about making a career switch, here are the experts’ best reasons why you should give it some thought. Here are seven reasons to change jobs, even if you don’t want to.

You’re coasting — and it’s becoming a problem

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When we find comfort in anything, be it a job, relationship, or academia, there tends to be a period of time where individuals use that moment to coast.

Avery Roth, a career change coach, has seen many working professionals find their comfort zone and stay in it. She said the longer professionals cost, the more they have to lose.

"Coasting keeps you playing small and avoiding the fulfillment of your potential," Roth told Business Insider. "While that may not seem immediately threatening, there will come a time when comfort with your job turns into boredom."

Roth warns that the longer you stay put, the more energy is required to spur you into action in pursuit of self-growth. Her advice is simple: Act now by changing careers to avoid pain later.

Damian Birkel, founder of job-searching organization Professionals in Transition, echoed Roth’s sentiments about coasting leading to boredom. He also noted that your coasting may not be going unnoticed. Birkel said your boss and coworkers may already know what is happening simply by observation.

You’re actually losing money staying in the same job

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Staying with a company for more than two years is detrimental to your salary and worth, Samantha Spica, a communications manager for the online careers site Fairygodboss, said.

"You start with a base salary and your annual raise is based off of a percentage of that number," Spica told Business Insider. "There’s a limit to how high your manager can increase your salary."

Spica said that by switching jobs, you can ask for a higher starting salary. And Birkel said that your new job should pay substantially more than your current salary.

The advantage that those in the process of changing jobs have is that they are able to negotiate from a place of strength. If the salary doesn’t work out, professionals may decline the offer and keep looking while retaining their existing role.

2019 is the best time to change jobs

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If you’re looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, it is already here in 2019.

Marc Cenedella, CEO of the careers site Ladders, said that 2019 has brought the strongest hiring economy in history.

"Companies are strapped for talent," Cenedella said. "They are willing to consider people who are outside of the box. Job-seeking candidates are looking at a time when companies will consider you for roles they normally wouldn’t."

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Source: Business Insider – feedback@businessinsider.com (Heather Taylor)