A question as to whether i should stay or seek employment elsewhere.My situation is that i am currently working for a government unit that provides me stability, flexibility and ,perhaps suprisingly, a very competitve salary. The downside is that, being government, there is not much room for career growth ( promotions etc).My wife, on the other hand, is in exactly the opposite situation: she works for a respected consulting outfit and has the career progression, but her salary is almost half of mine and her company recently instituted the dreaded 'up- or-out' policy.The issue is that i am actually quite gung-ho in my career and need to progress and take risks. I cant see that happening in a govt outfit. Should i move? i continually tell myself to NOT move because there is quite a bit of uncertainty in my life at the moment ( residence, location, mortgage etc), and the stability, flexibility, good boss/team and salary that i currently enjoy help me immensely manage that uncertainty. However, i have been in the situation for a while now and dont see any quick ways to reduce uncertainties , thus am pondering if to chance my arm elsewhere.

In my view the market is not yet strong enough to justify taking this kind of risk given your situation. Start with where you are - set up some conversations with your senior managers, talk to them about wanting to add more value/take on more stretching challenges. Chances are there are opportunities in house but you need to push for them.