Recently I have been talking to a people about how to move their careers along. Sometimes it's not as easy as you might think!

Imagine you are in a good job – well good enough - OK, so the boss gets on your nerves, and that last plan you put together and all the work you put into it got shelved because somebody in their wisdom decided that the direction needed to change. It all getting pretty frustrating, when your best friend suddenly announces a great job with a salary that makes yours look paltry!

I generally advise people in Communications to consider a move after 4-5 years in the same job. There are good reasons for this; not least of these is the familiarity factor – in other words it gets too easy. You get into a routine and things become predictable (unless of course there is a major change and then you gain valuable change comms experience.) When things get easy you lose your ‘edge’ and the longer that goes on the less likely you are to be able to take the next step on the career ladder.

Here is my check list for reasons to move:

1 You have been in the same company for 5 years or more
2 You are not learning anything new
3 There are gaps in your experience that will prevent you from getting where you ultimately want to be
4 You feel that your efforts go un-noticed or unrewarded

The most important reason to move is to learn; to learn new techniques to, experience a new industry, to find a mentor. In my opinion, the least important reason to move is money. I recognize that we all need a certain standard of living and I am not suggesting that anyone takes a pay cut (that never looks good on a CV) but to move simply because the job offers a much higher salary is not a good idea.

Back to our scenario. Following your friend's news, you decide its time to move on. Fast forward: you have an offer on the table – the company is a good one, the location is reasonable, the salary is a reasonable move up on your current salary. In fact everything seems perfect, except you don’t quite gel with the person you report to. They seem to like you well enough, though - after all you have an offer! But something just doesn't feel right.

So, what do you do? Accept and hope that it will all settle down – or turn it down and wait until something better comes along?