Don’t base your decisions, on the advice of those who don’t have to deal with the results

When I started my career in recruitment over 15 years ago, vast swathes of hiring managers perceived prolonged gaps between employment as ‘questionable’ at best, ‘career suicide’ at worst. Even further into the past, in a lot of industries your average worker would work with as few as one or two companies over the course of a career. In fact, both my parents stayed with their employers for the entirety of their career; joining in their early 20’s and staying within the business’ until retirement 30+ years later. There were fewer opportunities, and taking advantage of a good opportunity was based around available options at the time.

Fast-forward to today and the career I’ve just described is long gone. Candidates who average over 10 years per employer are certainly a very rare breed. And with the pandemic now rife across the globe, this rare breed of individual will become even less common within the Built Environment.

In the modern world (or at least as it was before Covid-19 and hopefully after), that ideal job – perfect company located 5 minutes away with an excellent working environment, great reputation and bump in salary – seems tantalisingly close. Jobs are emailed to us, job adverts popping up on apps and social media are all designed to attract you to the ‘perfect role’. Recruiters call representing seemingly great businesses…..are you happy? What do you want? What are your ambitions? What can improve your career?

I returned to Melbourne early in 2016 after 14 months travelling, a career break that saw me leave my previous employer back in September 2014.

Fortunately, when I returned in 2016 the Construction, Engineering and Property recruitment industry in Melbourne, had improved considerably compared to when I first arrived in 2011 and I found myself returning to the market at exactly the right time, with a number of opportunities for me to consider.

Post Pandemic (hopefully) – faced with many job options, how do you pick the best one?

Firstly, before going through the process of finding a new role (not after the process has started and you’ve already been influenced by information in an interview) take a breath and picture the perfect role. Sit down and think about where you want your career to be in five years – same job title? A step up in responsibility? Working on different projects? Managing staff? Consider the location of work – time you’re prepared to spend commuting? Available money for transport or cost of parking?

Obviously, in the pandemic-hit job seeking market, the ideal role might not be available if you are unemployed. But, you should still have a list of ideal criteria that you would like to achieve in your next role. Further, anyone who remains employed should definitely be very clear in their requirements if they are looking for a new employer.

Either way, spend some time considering the type of organisation you’d like to be a part of and the work environment you’d like to be in on a daily basis – a large international, or a local business? Hundreds of employees or just a handful? What compromises will you or won’t you consider?

Finally, consider what your salary expectations are and, importantly, whether they’re realistic – particularly relevant now. Just because you are changing employer, it doesn’t necessarily mean you can expect a pay rise. I’ve seen plenty of people change jobs over the years for that ‘too good to be true’ salary package. From my experience, it usually is. A significant bump up in salary usually points to a potentially ‘basket case’ role or an employer struggling to attract and keep the right people in the role.

Once you have a list of the 4 or 5 key criteria of your next role, prioritise them in order of importance. Make the top one or two your ‘essentials’ and have the list in order down from that.

When faced with multiple opportunities, it can become difficult to separate the wood from the trees. Go back to basics, back to your list… What were the essentials and what were the desirables, when you started looking for your job? Make a good decision based on the job criteria you wanted before your thoughts were clouded by the sales pitch you invariably faced during the interview.

Making better career decisions when faced with different job opportunities will greatly improve your resume; it’ll mean less moves, more progression, greater earning potential and offer more loyalty from your employer when there are economic downturns. You spend more time in work than at home, make the right decisions with your career and your life will be a happier place!

If you are looking for some impartial career advice, work in the Construction, Property or Engineering industry in Melbourne, drop me a call or email on 0400 934 025 or Martin@buildingenvirons.com.au

Please note, this blog was originally written in 2016 but has been updated to be re-released in July 2020. Some content has been edited to be relevant to todays job market.