When is it time for a change?

When do you know that it is time to leave a job? How many years looks like "just enough" on your resume? Not too little, and not too long?

Do you seriously start looking to leave when some of the people you work with seem to have "make other people misserable" in their job description? Do you update your resume when you suspect your management is lying to investors and customers alike? Do you take serious stock of your financial assets when auditors, who have the power to ruin your company's reputation, are scheduled to be on site and you know they will uncover the organization's size thirteen feet of clay? Or, do you start cruising the more popular employment sites when your manager gives her notice out of frustration, with no new job to go to herself?

How many nails does it take to build the coffin of a company or of a career? Is it better to attend a funeral or to be the dearly departed? Funerals are depressing for the living. The dead have moved on. Hopefully, they're in a better place and won't care.

I hear the job market may be picking up in Q1. I have had a few nibbles on my own resume recently. So, maybe it's true. I'll be sure to let everyone know if they should be buying flowers or if I'll be wearing black.