I started my job in May 2022. Over time it's become clear the role is a bit 'dead end'. while the company is big, I can not progress unless I move to another department, And internal moves can be hard unless you are staying in the same 'grade', but the roles I could potentially go for in other departments are higher grades than I am, so I wouldn't be considered as an internal candidate.
It's also hard because my line manager is my line manager in name only - I have a slightly technical role which they don't know about or understand. They approve my holiday and ask me about my well-being and workload everyone once in a while, that's it.
I am only in my early 30s, so I'm conscious that I should be progressing my career at this point in my life. I do look about at other roles and occasionally see something I like the look of.
The problem is, I currently work somewhere with a specific (very good) pension scheme, which means I will only benefit if I work there for two years. If I leave at this point i will get my contributions back, but I won't benefit from any employer contributions for the time I've worked there. If I work there for two years until May 2024 and then leave the pension won't be huge obviously , but it would mean a guaranteed small sum on an annual basis at least.
So do I put my career on hold for another 9 months to benefit from the scheme at least a bit, or cut my losses and lose the pension benefit and try and find another job to leave now to progress my career?