Moving job after a really long time with one company

[SeasonallySnowyPeasant]

I’ve been with the same company for over a decade and have an interesting, well-paid job with good perks and nice colleagues. I’ve been promoted several times and am valued, if chronically under-paid.

I got headhunted for a different company. It’s a fab opportunity: cutting-edge technology, strong company, excellent prospects and culture as well as a hefty payrise. I interviewed last week and should find out tomorrow if they’re going to make an offer.

I’m excited but scared. I’m happy where I am, if maybe a bit over-comfortable. I’m worried that if I move I’ll hate it and have lost a job I enjoy. Has anyone else changed jobs after a really long time with one company? What made you move and was it worth the risk?

I haven't but 27 years in I really wished I had. I don't hate my job but just been there too long and am a bit jaded with it all. Unfortunately I've got a few health issues and I am literally counting down the years so I can take early retirement at 55. Wouldn't consider burdening a new employer with them all! My sister at 54 in same position. Brother got head hunted about 5 years back and took the plunge and went for it and loves it. Whatever you choose, good luck!!

Retirement at 55 sounds amazing right now.

I hadn’t really planned on moving until the DC had left home but now I might have the opportunity to move, I’d quite like to.

Yes! I was at my first proper employer for (whisper) well over 20 years. I left after a restructure too far and it was definitely the right thing to do. I've moved again since then into a job I could not possibly have got were it not for that intermediate step.

For me the key question was whether I wanted to stay at my original company for ever and - as the answer was no (and that I was getting on a bit) - that I needed to get a bloody move on! What I realised afterwards was that even though I enjoyed my old job I had started to think it was all I could do, which is inherently very demotivating. Instead I realised my skills were transferable and that I enjoyed the process of getting to know a new place and different people. It felt very liberating - I could try out being me in a different way, without all the baggage that comes from people having worked with you forever.

Appreciate my situation then may be very different to yours now. But I'd say give it a go on the basis of what you've said in the post. The only caveat would be to recognise you may need to put in more hours - I definitely work longer hours now than I did in the role that was very familiar to me.

I did. I was somewhere for 18 years and three years' ago was approached by another company in the same field offering me an opportunity. It was actually less money but they told me it was very much a starting wage and led me to believe the prospects would be fantastic. I was unhappy where I was anyway so took the job.

Big mistake unfortunately as they made the whole office redundant after I'd been there less than a year. We were told that morning and gone within the hour. All very stressful.

I then had to get another job very quickly as I hadn't got any notice or redundancy pay. I took the first Offer on the table but had to take yet another pay cut with the promise of a wage rise after I'd "proven myself". unfortunately I quickly realised after speaking to a lot of staff that they all got told that go reel them in and it was bullshit. However I did stay there two years as I enjoyed the team and it wasn't stressful work.

I am now starting another new job tomorrow for the NHS. Totally different to what I'm used to and I'm hoping this will take me to retirement as I just want to be settled again.

So for me it didn't really pay off, I had to move around a bit and made a few bad choices but hopefully I'll not have to do it again, unless I really hate it where I'm going!

I'm in this position. After nearly 17 years, bullying and discrimination have led to me now seeking to work elsewhere.

My worries are:
1, will my long length of service put another employer off? would they think I'm institutionalised?
2, will my current salary put another employer off as it is nearly always midway in their scale and they might not think I would want to drop. They always have a * next to current salary box so I can't skip that question on the application
3, will the fact I'm in a niche role put another employer off?
4, will the pension and other benefits be better or similar?
5, will the people be nicer or the same?
6, will the environment be more inclusive?

I could have written that myself. I've been in the company 10 years and they are running into the ground with restructures. No one is happy so the office is a miserable place to be, the only time I'm happy is when I'm working from home.

I am frightened to start somewhere new though as I've Started to believe that I am not good enough despite good feedback at work I worry that somewhere else will have higher expectations and I'm not capable somehow.

I was in my last job 13 years but restructuring meant my role was completely changed, so I jumped ship and went to a different NHS trust where my role a as similar to the one I had before the changes and I felt comfortable with it. I've never regretted it.

I took voluntary redindancy after 10+ years in a job. I must admit, I found it difficult to adjust, having worked in one organisation for such a long time. I think it took me 12 months and 2 jobs before I managed to get my old organisation out of my system.

Your situation is different though, as my old organisation had become toxic for a a few years and although it was my decision to leave, I was very demotivated and lacked confidence.

In saying that, The whole experience made me realise that there is a whole new world of opportunity out there.