"Should I wait to look for a job?"

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One common question I’ve been getting this year (from folks who are employed) is:

“Should I look for a job now, or wait until the market gets better?

My answer to that question: It depends.

Here’s what I mean. Everyone’s situation is different, so it’s hard to give general advice around this topic.

Some people should stay put, some people should consider leaving.

So here’s a couple common situations that might help you decide what’s best for you.

1: Should Def Stick It Out

Ask yourself “what’s the main driver for you to look for a new job”.

If you can’t really think of one, then you’re probably in a pretty good spot. You should consider sticking around for a while.

Now it’s always a good idea to test the waters to see where you stand in the current market.

But at the same time, if you really don’t have to look for a new gig, then consider staying put until market conditions get better.

Everyone knows right now we’re in an employer’s market. A tough job market for employment works just like the housing market or financial markets - it’s hard to get a good deal in a down market.

From 2020-2022 it was much easier to get higher salaries - exceptions to higher salary bands - and to negotiate better terms like more remote days.

Granted, I don’t think we ever see an employment market like that again, but even from 2019 and years prior, it was still a solid candidate’s market.

Not only did candidates have better leverage than they did today due to multiple offers at hand, companies had less restrictions to offer better terms.

Maybe they had easier approval to bump up a salary on your offer, provide some better perks, and ability to give you better terms.

One thing is for sure, it’s hard to get any of those right now.

2: Consider Passively Leaving

Let’s pretend you’re in a decent spot, but there’s one or two icks that are really getting to you.

For example:

• You don’t get along with your boss

• You were passed up for a promotion

• You were called back onsite to work in the office

• You’re not doing any meaningful work

Whatever pain points you’re experiencing, it’s not ideal to work through them from your shoes.

So it may be time to test the market.

Since you don’t “have” to leave, that’s a point of leverage. You can search for roles on your terms since you can easily just stay put at your job.

That being said, you still have to be somewhat reasonable. Most people reading this won’t be able to get a 50% pay raise, fully remote, and unlimited PTO like we are still in the zirp era.

Remember, “the market doesn’t lie”. So if you’re passively looking for the “right” role, and 2-3 months goes by and you have little to no interviews, that’s the market telling you something.

At this point, you’ll have to make a decision:

• Pull back some of your requirements and keep searching

• Don’t make any adjustments and keep looking regardless of whatever progress (or lack thereof)

• Decide you’re in a decent spot and stick it out until the market gets better, then test it again

3: Take calls from recruiters

Whether you’re in buckets 1 or 2, you should take calls from recruiters.

Make it clear what your terms are, and that you’ll only consider leaving for X, Y, and Z reasons. Remember, you don’t “have” to leave, you “want” to leave, so you have leverage to negotiate.

You can also use this time to talk to recruiters to gather some market intelligence. Here are some examples:

• Ask them generally speaking what they’re seeing in the market? More jobs, less jobs? What about down the road?

• Are hiring managers more/less lenient now (either on skillset requirements or when they’re extending offers), than they were a few months ago?

You could also ask them their opinion on some of your parameters. For example:

• Do you think someone with my experience can command X salary? If not, what do you think is fair?

• How common are remote roles for my skillset/experience/industry?

After speaking to a few recruiters, you’ll start to gather some market intelligence to understand how the market is operating for your specific situation.

4: Time to start actively seeking

At this point there are two obvious reasons why you should actively look for a new gig:

1: You have reason to believe you are being laid off (or already have the notice)

This is obvious. Maybe people on your team got cut. Maybe your company announced a RIF coming up soon. Maybe you just got strict RTO mandates where they’re threatening to fire you. Maybe your project got put on hold. Or maybe your manager, or manager’s manager, got let go.

If you see the writing on the wall, it’s time to start looking. It may take you months until you find your next gig in this market, so you better get a head start at this point vs. waiting until the last minute.

It’s better to assume you’re getting affected, have some options, and operate in a position of abundance vs. waiting until the last minute and starting from scratch.

Plus, if you look while you’re still employed, you have more leverage to negotiate some better terms vs while you’re out of work.

Working at your current job is so dreadful it’s affecting your personal life negatively

If your job is causing you so much anxiety and stress where it’s having an extreme negative affect on your personal life, then it’s time for you to get out of there.

Don’t worry about waiting until the job market gets better. A couple thousand dollars on your base isn’t worth the negative mental effects a bad job situation can have. I’d rather get myself in a better situation, find a job now, and then figure it out a year or two down the road vs. putting myself through mental hell.

So if you feel like you’re in this situation, update your resume/linkedin and get to work.

Conclusion

If you’re considering looking for a job now vs. waiting for the market to get better, consider these factors

• Consider waiting a bit: You’re happy/content, but want to dip your toes to see what’s out there. You don’t have to leave, you want to leave. If you wait for a better market, you may be able to negotiate better terms (salary, perks, benefits, etc)

• Consider passively seeking: There are a couple things about work that annoy you, so you want to test the market to see what’s out there. Since you technically “don’t have to leave”, you test the market on your own terms and standards. If you get what you want, great! If not, you have to decide if you want to pull back on your requirements or wait for a better market and try again.

• Take calls from Recruiters: If it’s your ideal job, great, move forward. If not, decide if it’s worth your time to check out. Either way, ask them some questions to get some market intelligence for your situation.

• Consider actively looking: If you have reason to believe you’re being laid off soon (or already got the notice), don’t wait until the last minute. Or, if your job is taking years off your life due to stress and anxiety, just find a better spot now and figure out career progression later.

…..

FYI - my wife and I are expecting our 2nd daughter any day now, so response time on coaching calls are slow. But if you don’t mind waiting, you can still sign up below!