Why do IT managers change jobs? A poll from recruitment specialist TheLadders.co.uk suggests a bunch of reasons - basically boredom, a requirement for more cash and a desire for greater career satisfaction:

• 77 per cent of IT managers said that they have felt trapped in their job
• 46 per cent said money was the driving factor for wanting to changing jobs
• 54 per cent stated the key motivator was a sense of achievement

The press release suggests the results are "surprising" and help to "reveal that not all the clichés about the technology industry are true".

But which clichés are these? The introduction to the press release mentions something about long hours - but is that a cliché associated with wanting to change jobs in the IT industry? I would have thought the key motivating factors had more to do with a lack of opportunity, poor pay rates and the never-ending skills gap (see Further reading, below). In other words boredom, a requirement for more cash and a desire for achievement - which are the key findings of the research.

The survey also says 54 per cent of IT managers feel trapped because of "a lack of contacts in the senior recruitment space." But when anyone mentions spaces - without also referring to astronauts or geography - there is a likely to be an associated whiff of marketing-speak. Call me cynical, but have you ever moved jobs because of a lack of recruitment contacts? I would have thought you would use such contacts to move jobs, not to make more recruitment contacts.

Anyway, the survey also says many IT managers believe networking with family and friends is the most effective method for job searching. Which is probably true, given the cliché that says: "It's not what you know, it's who you know." But that's just a cliché, isn't it?

Further reading

• Miserable technology workers should go freelance
• Project management: Is cutting rates an answer?
• Technology skills gap will create a crisis, says Gartner
• IT needs to show the boss it means business
• The adventures of a technology career

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