Could A Pro/Con List Set You Up For Career Failure?

What do you do when you have to make a tough decision at work? Do you procrastinate and avoid thinking about it; do you get on with it, throwing yourself into research, or do you go down the popular route and utilise a pro/con list?

Tried and tested, the origins of the pro/con list can be pinpointed in popular culture as far back as 1772, when Benjamin Franklin, one of the leading figures of early American history, advised friend and fellow scientist Joseph Priestley to “divide half a sheet of paper by a line into two columns, writing over the one Pro, and over the other Con.”

Not only will you be in good company if you take his advice, but the pro/con list is a lifetime staple for those who have a hard time making decisions. It can help you to make sense of tough choices including what to study at college, city to live in, or even what job to take when you’re really not sure which way to jump.

Negative effect

But are pro/con lists really serving us, or could they be having a negative effect on your career? Decision making experts say that these lists can actually be “bias amplifiers”, meaning that the lists you create are usually not fairly weighted.

So, for example, if you’re weighing up two different job prospects you might put “great pension plan” in the pro column for job A. For job B, you might put “employee meetup events twice a year”.

As these two things don’t hold the same value, it’s important to not conflate points of unequal value with each other. In this case, the pro will help you to prepare for a stress-free retirement. The con is a nice-to-have, but definitely isn’t on the same life-changing scale as the pro. Looking at lists in this way can help you to see how you’re going to end up with a biased result.

So what’s an indecisive professional to do when faced with a career conundrum? Experts recommend imagining the future. Stick with me…

For example, if you’re debating whether or not you should apply for a new job, imagine how you’ll feel about it in a year. Will you be glad you tried or how would you feel if you actully got the job? How different would your life be?

We all know that tough career decisions are a part of life. If you know your values, and you can imagine the future career path that you want to achieve, then it’s much easier to figure out the steps you need to get there.

If you’re ready for a new job opportunity, here are three great roles hiring in London at the moment, with thousands more to discover over on the City PM Job Board.

Senior Product Designer, Skyscanner, London

Do you have an excellent portfolio, previous job experience, and a strong prototyping and UX design background? This Senior Product Designer job could be for you. Skyscanner is looking for a talented and empathetic product designer to work with a cross-functional team of researchers, writers, engineers, and product managers to help design solutions for Skyscanner experiences across web and native app platforms. Find out more about the job here.

Program Manager, GoCardless, London

GoCardless is a global leader in account-to-account payments. Each year the team processes $30 billion of payments across more than 30 countries. It is looking for a Program Manager to work with the compliance team to relaunch and run the various compliance programs, and drive programmatic structuring and implementation. You will need to have experience working in an agile environment and in cross-functional teams to be considered. Apply for this job here.

Game Designer, Improbable, Remote

Improbable is a British metaverse technology company pioneering new ways to connect, play, create, and build value across interconnected virtual worlds. It is searching for a talented Game Designer who will need to have experience using Unreal Engine, solid design development experience in the games industry, exceptional attention to detail, and experience prototyping gameplay mechanics. Get the full job description here.

Turn a con into a pro by searching for your next role on the City PM Job Board today.