Moving On and Moving Up - Promotions and Relocations

In the course of a professional career, the time will come when current opportunities and experiences in a given position have been exhausted or near so. To keep advancing, a range of positions across a region or even the nation may be necessary to gain the experience and skills needed for higher-level positions.

When to Move On

• No Promotion In Sight

• Promotions at current duty stations may not be forthcoming.  Because of high job satisfaction, previous poor market conditions, or prior unstable job history, many older employees delay retirement. They are happy where they are because of their earnings, scope of responsibilities, the achievement of reaching such a position, or the comfort of an established routine. Even if not eligible for retirement, experienced employees may be reluctant to move because of a desire to maintain a stable environment for children and spouses, fiances, job comfort, or sense of place.

• Achieved Previously Set Goals

• Over the course of learning and practicing within a position, you will inevitably gain the specific skills and experience that initially compelled you to apply to the job. If advanced responsibilities or new duties are not forthcoming after discussion with your team or supervisor, a new position may hold greater opportunity.

• Expectations Not Met

• Similarly, if job duties were misrepresented or co-opted by your supervisor or other workers and negotiation fails, you may not be able to achieve the goals for your position. Unrequited expectations for workplace culture, general environment, or lifestyle opportunities in the area may also be reasons to seek new positions elsewhere.

What May Be Lost

• Institutional Knowledge

• Staying in one place for the majority of a career allows you to amass a significant body of knowledge specific to the location. This knowledge may include where and how to access work resources or aides such as tools, records, duties and skills of local personnel. Especially important to the natural resources profession, there may be invaluable geographic knowledge of past projects otherwise impossible to gain because of incomplete, missing, or otherwise inaccessible records.

•  Home-Ownership

• The transaction costs of buying homes every few years may limit the feasibility of home-ownership. Renting allows quicker transitions from job to job and limits the losses that may occur when selling below mortgage value in  a downmarket or if a discounted selling price is necessary for a quick sale. For those in public service jobs, federal career relocation assistance programs are not reported to be getting any better.