The new broom eventually becomes a stick in the mud; today’s breath of fresh air is tomorrow’s old fart; the fresh blood all too soon becomes an old clot. If this worries you - on career grounds, if not on grounds of literary merit - perhaps it’s time you moved on.

Perhaps. But how do you know when? How do you know whether you want a new school, a challenge, a different role or a combination of all three? Of course, there are people who have a career plan, but most of us only realise that we’ve reached a watershed when our feet start to get wet.

More and more teachers are taking professional advice on long-term career plans, according to the recruitment agency Select Education, which has recently opened a permanent staff service in London, with others planned for the North and the Midlands.

The increasing number of managerial roles for teachers and the greater variety of secondary schools mean teachers now take far more than just the location of the school into account. Professional development opportunities are something else that teachers now increasingly look for in a job.

“It’s important to move for the right reasons,’ says Catherine Delaney, manager of Select’s permanent recruitment division. “Don’t take immediate decisions based on single factors. You need to weigh up the pros and cons of your present position, and you need to know what you want to achieve by moving.”

It’s all too easy if you’re fed up with your present school, head or colleagues, to flounce out with a few hundred pages of TES Jobs under your arm. But you’d be better advised to stick it out for a while so you can take stock.

If there’s a lot that’s right where you are, first see if whatever is hacking you off can be altered. A rushed change of job can all too often mean that you simply swap one set of niggles for another. It’s worth seeing your head with some positive ideas first - he or she may have no idea of your suffering.

Heads are not always aware either that you feel ready to try something new. It may be that the training, the shift in curriculum emphasis, the extra responsibility you seek could be had where you are. So it’s worth having a chat. That chat may, of course, confirm your decision to leave.

“The best reasons for moving on are positive: wanting a new challenge, different experiences, perhaps a new working environment or more responsibilities,” says Ms Delaney. “It is vital to consider whether the job you’re looking at will provide those things.

“Do your research, ask lots of questions at the interview - and if there’s specific development you want, or management responsibilities, make this clear in your application.

“Do identify what is most important to you about where you work:location; ethos of the school; the pupils; your teaching timetable and non-contact hours; facilities; extra-curricular activities; management responsibilities; curriculum development work; staffing structure; and all the many other things that will make up your working life.

“Teachers should realise they are often in a position of strength, and should be clear and up-front about what they want from a job.”

Even when jobs are plentiful, moving is always a big deal, especially if a new job for you means uprooting the family. But there’s evidence that some teachers with itchy feet are using the jobs glut to test out exactly what they would like to do.

Select now offers a package service for teachers looking for their next career move, but its traditional supply service is also attracting a new kind of jobseeker: the teacher leaving a full-time job with no fixed plans.

Helen Harvey, operations director at Select, says: “Over the past year, we’ve seen hundreds of teachers consciously take up short- or long-term supply jobs in order to experience different school environments and roles, such as working with children with special educational needs. For a time, this way of working can often keep them in the profession because they find something which suits them.”

It also means teachers can try something new without too much personal upheaval.

The jobs market is wide open, but only a lemming leaps before looking. Catherine Delaney says that even if you can’t wait to escape a gloomy work life, you shouldn’t choose a job unaided.

“Ask advice from people whose opinion you respect,” she says “They could be former or existing colleagues, friends from outside the profession, your university lecturers - and of course professional recruitment companies.”

Then, if it’s right for you, fly on, new broom!