To ask your experiences of a sideways career move?

[Dovetail12]

I am posting for traffic as need to make a decision soon.

I’ve worked in a fairly niche strand of industry for 6 years, I’ve worked my way up to management level with a few years in other companies and 3 years in my current company. I don’t want to leave the organisation.

I’ve started getting itchy feet in my role and wondering what else is out there. I applied for an internal move to a different department and have been offered a job.

It’s a sideways move with my current salary and level staying the same.

The new role is in a newish team which isn’t fully established and it would require me to take additional training although that would leave me with more skills than I currently have. I would be helping to build the team overall and help push the proposition to market. It’s also closer to an industry/job role I’ve always aspired to do. I would be managing a similar sized team although as I would need to spend some time building up a new skill base progression might be slower. As a smaller department there will probably be fewer more senior positions available although as the department is smaller it is less competitive for these senior roles.

If I stay in my current department, I carry on as I have been and hope I get a promotion to a more senior role within a year or so. Not much would change for me although this department is much bigger so there are more senior roles available, although they are more competitive.

In a new role I would report directly to a senior director but as my current department is very established there are layers of management between me and them, which I can see has pluses and negatives.

I’m really torn but need to decide early next week. Have you ever taken a sideways move and did it work out for you? I’ve been at my current level for about 1 year so not long and I’m 36.

Yes in similar circumstances. For me it proved a good move promotionwise as I could demonstrate my abilities outside niche area. From what you have written it sounds like a really positive opportunity in line with your career aspirations

Not exactly a sideways move in the way you describe but I changed industry and job about 10 years ago and I haven't looked back.

I think changing career in a selective and targeted way (not in a flaky way) is a good thing. It increases your skills and experience, its good for you mentally. I think being stuck in the same role (or variations around the same role) for years and years isn't great.

What you have just described sounds like a great option, its relatively low risk in that you're not moving company and having to reestablish yourself, but you are going to learn new skills. I'd do it.

Thanks for the reply. I have been leaning towards accepting the role but the speed of progression has been my sticking point. The new team have been very reassuring about this and also the overall organisation is huge; over 10,000 in the UK so if it didn’t work out ok confident I could progress elsewhere in the business as obviously internal candidates are more attractive.

If it is getting you closer to where you want to be it isn’t a sideways move imho. I’ve just done similar (although moved company) to get the opportunities I’m looking for.

Yep I moved sideways into my current company and I'm about to take another sideways move to an internal role (career level is the same, salary slightly more) because it will.give me completely different career experience which will ultimately help me progress.

Come to think of it my salary will actually increase as part of our annual reviews so in this way I won’t lose out. I guess it’s fear of the unknown as well!