The job market
It often turns out that companies' budgets for hiring new people are bigger than their budgets for keeping the ones they have. That's surprising, because recruitment usually drags on and eats up a lot of energy, and then comes onboarding. The whole thing can take months. I've seen people quit a company because the new hires were earning 40% more.
Before you decide to change jobs, research the market and find out what you're currently worth on the job market. Sitting tight at one company for 10 years can be bad for your income.
In a fast-moving job market full of startups, changing jobs every few years doesn't surprise anyone anymore. Your parents may tell you to hang on to the job you've got, but that can hold back your growth.
Their advice may come from a fear of risk that grows with age, from growing up in different times, and from a need for stability. While you're young, you'll learn more and gain more experience by taking bigger risks.
Still, it's worth going to a few job interviews to see what tech other people work with, what cool stuff they're doing and what you're worth to them based on your current experience. It can also be a good lead-in to a conversation about a raise.
But don't treat this as a hard rule and hop from job to job. If your current job suits you because you have a great team, a great employer and you're growing like crazy, there's no need to hand in your notice right away.
Management roles
If you're after a management role, it's very hard to jump into one with no experience. That's why it matters to grow your skills as the company grows and as you put in your years there.
Fast-growing startups, where you can show how committed you are, are perfect for this. Then, if that's what you want, you can get promoted to a management role inside the company and build the right experience before you move on.
Higher pay
I've talked to a few guys in the industry whose income turned out to be surprisingly low. There were two reasons:
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They'd had no exposure to working in English, and while their reading and writing were pretty decent, their speaking was really shaky and holding a conversation was a struggle.
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They'd gotten too comfortable in a place they knew well but weren't necessarily growing in, and they were working for a rate set years ago, plus the odd inflation bump.
Stepping out of your comfort zone isn't pleasant, but the salary ceiling is higher than you think. Especially if you're an experienced specialist.
A different way of working
But money isn't everything. When you work for someone else, you can look for other things that matter just as much:
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Maybe you'd prefer a 4-day work week?
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Maybe you don't want to waste time commuting to the office and would rather work remotely?
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Maybe you value flexible hours, so you can hit the gym or run errands in the middle of the day?
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Or maybe you want to escape the 9-to-5 altogether and do something else, for fewer hours, that makes you happy?
Tim Ferriss wrote about this at length in The 4-Hour Workweek (4-hour, not 4-day). I read it many years ago and it had a big impact on my life and career.
In it, Tim defines an approach to life and work he calls the New Rich, and describes a way of living and making money that gives people more freedom through mobility, choosing their tasks, earning online and automation. He also describes the brilliant idea of the mini-retirement.
Mini-retirement
A mini-retirement is a break from your career, a trial run at retirement to see what it's like. A perfect chance to travel the world, pick up new skills or simply do what you've always wanted to do.
I once read the story of an American workaholic who decided to move somewhere warm and start teaching surfing. That's a pretty radical step, but nothing's stopping you from working fewer hours and spending the rest of your time on what you love, wherever you want.
Remote work
You can also try geoarbitrage. It means working in a country with lots of money while living somewhere cheaper. For an American, that could mean working remotely for a US company while living in Mexico. A Scandinavian could move to Asia.
For Poles it's a bit different, because we live in a relatively cheap country. We have fairly low taxes, good infrastructure, healthcare and damn good food.
The best move is to stay in Poland and get hired remotely by a Western company. When you work remotely, it pays most to get hired directly, on the same terms as the people working on site, and skip the "leeches": middlemen, body-leasing agencies and software houses.
Finding a remote job may not be easy, though, because you're competing with people from all over the world.
Sometimes the better move is to take an on-site job and then, once you've shown how valuable you are to the company, negotiate remote work. That's not always possible, though.
Time to update your LinkedIn profile, don't you think?