You can't time the job market
Towards the end of last year I was headhunting for an enterprise sales role at a scale-up in London. There was one candidate I had in mind. Knew he'd be perfect. Knew he'd be hard to land.
He ignored me for two weeks. Emails, calls, WhatsApps, nothing.
When I finally got him on the phone, he said the role sounded great, but he'd assumed any move would leave him worse off because his bonus hadn't paid out yet. He'd never actually checked. He'd just decided, and gone quiet.
Then I told him what was on the table. A big jump on base. A bigger jump on OTE. Guaranteed commission in year one. The chance of equity in year two. At a business with a genuinely huge trajectory ahead of it.
None of that was visible from where he was sitting.
Bonus season isn't a reason to stop listening
I hear "I'll look after my bonus" all the time, and I get it. It's often a lot of money. But good companies know this too, and the ones serious about hiring will find a way to deal with it. Sign-on bonuses, equity to cover unvested shares, a package that beats what you'd be walking away from. I've seen all of those in the last few months alone.
You won't know what's possible if you rule it out before the conversation.
Know your anchor
Years ago I wrote about career anchors, the things about a job that keep you there when times get tough, and that you look for when you move. I still think it's one of the most useful ways to think about a career.
Before you decide whether now's the time, ask yourself a few honest questions:
Where will I learn the most over the next three years?
Who would I actually be working for?
Is this business really going somewhere?
What would make me regret staying put?
The answers are usually more telling than the salary, the brand or the job title. Joining the right company at the right stage can matter far more to a career than an extra £20k somewhere else.
You don't owe anyone a move
You don't owe anyone a new job. But a quick, honest conversation costs you ten minutes, and it might be the one that changes the next five years.
You can't time the market. The only thing you control is whether you say yes when the right one shows up.
Photo: Austin Neill on Unsplash