When to Look for a New Job

The best time to look for a new job, or at least to be on the lookout, is when you are happily employed. The absolute worst time is when you’re being pushed out the door.

For me, the best approach is to always be open to new opportunities. That doesn’t mean you should have one foot out the door at all times, nor does it mean you should spend an hour each morning scouring the job boards. Rather, it means that you should be a passive candidate and have your resume out there, anonymized if necessary, as I discussed previously.

The next question then is when you should go from being a merely passive candidate to kicking it into high gear and going active. This decision to switch into active mode is one that each person makes deliberately by choice, and when it happens it’s pretty obvious. They mentally check out of their current job, and their focus switches to finding a new position.

Mentally checking out of your job however is not a good thing. You may tell yourself that sure, you can still do your job while keenly searching for a new position, but the reality is that your heart is no longer in your work, and the quality of your output will inevitably suffer.

Hence you need to mentally force yourself to stay focused on your current job. This is especially important since a job search can take a year or more (and considerably longer in a down economy), and you can’t stay mentally checked out of your job for that long. Your boss will definitely notice, your reviews will suffer, and it’s possible that you might end up being separated from your job – and not on your own terms.