5 Signs It's Time to Leave Your Current Position for Career Advancement
Considering a career move can be challenging, but recognizing the right time to transition is crucial for professional development. This article examines key indicators that signal it's time to seek new opportunities, featuring practical advice from career advancement experts. The insights provided will help professionals evaluate their current positions against their long-term career aspirations and make informed decisions about their next steps.
Assess If Growth Aligns With Long-Term Goals
When facing career decisions, I've found that clarity comes from honestly assessing whether my current role still offers growth opportunities aligned with my long-term goals. I ask myself, "Am I still learning and developing skills that will matter in my future?" This question helps cut through the noise of titles or small pay increases to focus on genuine professional development. Sometimes the right choice is to seek new challenges elsewhere, while other times there's untapped potential in your current organization that requires patience and strategic networking. Having a trusted mentor or advisor can provide valuable outside perspective when making these decisions, as they can see opportunities or limitations you might miss when you're in the middle of it all.
Create Pro-Con Lists With Five-Year Perspective
I have had good luck writing out pro and con lists for decisions like these, where I will list out all the positive outcomes and the potential negative "side effects" of both moves. In my case this can help me more clearly visualize which is the better choice. Although, with something that can also be as personal as your career, sometimes I do think you just have to go with your gut. Personally, I have always asked myself the question, which of these moves will put me in the best position in five years? Thinking about things a bit more long term can really help me better understand which will ultimately be better for me and for my career.
Evaluate If You Can Fix Structural Problems
Deciding when to leave for advancement versus when to stay and grow is like assessing a roof: you look at the structure and ask if the foundation can still support a higher load. You don't make the decision based on emotion or a quick paycheck; you make it based on structural integrity.
Early in my career, I had reached the top hands-on role at a large, well-established local company. The pay was good, and the job was stable, but the company itself was stuck in the past—still using old materials and inefficient processes. I knew I couldn't learn anything new there.
The question I asked myself that clarified the decision was simple and hands-on: "Is the highest-quality hands-on problem I can solve here structural to the business, or is it just cosmetic?"
If the biggest problem I was allowed to fix was just painting the trim—improving a small, visible detail—then the role was dead. If the biggest problem was fundamentally changing the company's installation process or structural reliability, then there was still room to grow. I realized that at my current role, the leadership would not let me change the foundation. They only wanted me to make the surface look nice.
I left and founded Achilles Roofing because I knew the only way to advance my career was to build the kind of structural integrity that the old company refused to build. The best decision is made by a person who is committed to a simple, hands-on solution that prioritizes long-term structural challenge over short-term comfort.
Ask About Creating Meaningful Impact Still
The defining question was simple: "Can I still create meaningful impact where I am?" At Sunny Glen Children's Home, that question carries more weight than any title or promotion. When the answer remained yes, it meant there was still room to grow internally—through mentorship, skill expansion, or taking on new challenges that deepened purpose rather than status. Growth became less about moving up and more about contributing differently.
When the answer shifted toward no, it signaled that the role had reached its natural limit and that staying would serve comfort more than progress. Leaving then became not an escape but an act of stewardship—making space for new leadership and new ideas. The decision always centered on impact. Whether staying or moving on, the measure of advancement was never the ladder itself but the lasting difference left behind.
Determine Whether You Expand Or Endure
For me, the decision to leave a position versus grow within it came down to one clarifying question: 'Am I expanding here, or am I just enduring?' If my nervous system felt constantly contracted, reactive, or stuck, it was a sign the role no longer supported my growth. When I felt regulated, challenged, and able to bring my full self to the work, I knew there was still room to expand. That distinction helped me trust when it was time to step into something bigger.
