Career choices

When do you know it is time to introduce a change in your career? When is the time to look for new positions and opportunities outside your own organization instead of trying to move up internally? Is change for the sake of change good enough? What are the criteria you need to have satisfied to know you are a good fit for your career? Is being passionate about your organizations' goals and objectives, having good pay and benefits enough to make you overlook the slow pace of progress and growth? The convoluted system of bureaucracy that you have mastered maneuvering in? What if you join another organization, where you grow technically, work in a fast pace, get things done, but those achievements simply do not mean much to you? How should one balance these different needs? What would call for a change?

I love my job; I like what I do. I once in a while get frustrated over some organizational rules and processes. Once in a while I am approached by recruiters of different well-known companies. On a bad day, they are tempting to act on. But should one pursue all options just because they exist?