Despite the fluctuations in the U.S. employment rate, there is constant job churn in the PR field. Some PR managers move to the competition for a better price and more responsibility, while others want to move from the client side to the agency side, or vice versa. And then there are those cases where the job is just not the right fit and you have to move on.
You know when you got a good thing going work-wise. You’re in charge of the PR team and have a solid digital strategy. You keep getting promoted. The C-suite relies on your counsel. Your seat at the table is secure.
But what about when things aren’t going well and you get the sense that it may be time to quit your job? Here are four ways to know it's time to consider finding other employment:
> You have lost the ability to communicate with your supervisors. You have tried to remedy the situation, to no avail. If you no longer have a rapport with the person who hired you to begin with—and the relationship has started to deteriorate—it’s probably time to consider your options.
> You are not getting adequate training in new media skills. The media universe is constantly expanding. As a communicator, you should be getting training for online video and other visual forms of communication, not to mention how to message via the multitude of social platforms that are now available. These skills are increasingly vital to showing the value of PR. If you’re current employer isn’t providing the training in these areas, you need to find another one that will.
> Your company continues to suffer from a lousy reputation. Sure, you’ve been with the company for a while and you have had some success. But the brand has fallen on hard times and the C-suite isn’t making the necessary investments to keep up with all the dramatic changes in media and marketing. As a PR manager, you have your reputation to protect. If the company or organization is fumbling around and there’s too much inertia to contend with, you should probably look elsewhere.
> You haven’t been promoted (or gotten a raise) since President Obama initially took office. If you’re still operating on the same salary now compared with several years ago, the writing is on the wall. You need to take your PR skills to another company or organization that will appreciate them. We understand how difficult that can be. Finding a new job is a job in itself, but, otherwise, you risk getting stuck in a dead-end environment and letting your skills stagnate.
What would you add to the list?
Follow Matthew Schwartz on Twitter: @mpsjourno1