A survey reported that professionals who regularly changed their jobs are more confident and financially secure than their counterparts. To find out the truth we decided to have a conversation with some of our friends. We began with some professionals who had changed their jobs a year ago.
This is what one had to say:
'I started my career in a company and worked in the same company for 10 years. During this period I developed very good relations with my seniors, HoD and also with admin dept. This created a sense of security in my mind and I started loving my company. During this period I came across many job opportunities from other companies and also from foreign lands. But the sense of security was so deep rooted in my mind that I never bothered to even attend a walk-in-interview. Forget about thinking of going abroad. I watched many of my colleagues resign and join other companies on a higher salary and a higher position. Some even went abroad and are settled there.
Meanwhile I also saw some young engineers almost 5 years junior to me joined my company with same pay as what I was earning. It was then I was disturbed and started looking for alternatives. I had good relations with my HOD and also with administration dept so I decided to put up my case against this ‘injustice’. Everybody showed sympathy to me but nobody took any action, all that they would say were ‘we will revise your scale in the next appraisal’. I had faith in my company so I waited for the appraisal and to my shock I was given only an average increment the same was given to the new chaps too. The same story repeated the following year. It was then I decided to quit.
But leaving was not so easy. I had many of sleepless nights before I actually resigned. I had built a shell of ‘sense of security’ around me and it was very difficult to break. Worse I had lost confidence that I would be able to adjust and perform in a different environment. But later I found out it is not so difficult to get adjusted to the new environment. I am happy now that I earn better and have a good position.’
This is just an example. Many professionals we talked to had a similar experience.
WE CONCLUDE THAT WORKING IN ANY COMPANY FOR MORE THAN 7 YEARS HAVE FOLLOWING DISADVANTAGES:
You are taken for granted by the company.
You get used to working in an environment which is unique to that company this makes you less confident for taking up new opportunities.
Personal growth is hampered as there is very little new to learn after 5-7 years.
You become complacent reducing your own market value.
The only benefit it offers is so called 'security' (And that too is imaginary)
HERE ARE SOME BENEFITS OF CHANGING THE JOB REGULARLY:
You join the company satisfied with your needs ( pay and position ) and on your own terms.
Work in a different environment and learn to negotiate different problems and situations.
Often you get a chance to attend a new course/seminar thereby increasing your professional knowledge.
You are always conscious about your performance keeping your market value intact.
The professional companies do not operate on emotions. They are least bothered about your loyalty all they want is performance. You won’t be awarded anything extraordinary for your loyalty. It is always performance that counts. If you are in a company serving for too long then the chances are you not one of the best performers because of the inevitable complacency.
Also such people presented with an opportunity of lifetime are incapable to grab it. It is impossible for these people to break their shell of ‘security’ and grab the new opportunity. The situation is worse for the people who have worked for more than 15 years in only one company. They can’t even dream of quitting their job - it is like fish out of water.
I am surprised that nobody has responded in over a month to this post.
It is an interesting "study" but does not present both sides of the picture. It is more inclined towards (somehow) proving that changing jobs is good.
Also, the timespans vary a lot with the nature of industry one is in. e.g., changing jobs every 5 yrs may be considered as a frequent hopping in some industries while the same may be considered as a pretty long duration in a more dynamic/volatile industry.
I agree with the conclusion that working too long in one company i sno longer the best career plan....for most people. However if you are getting promoted and given more and more higher positions then it is ok.
My first 4 jobs, I changed after 2.5, 2, 1.5 and 5.5 years. Each time I changed jobs, my salary went up very well (15 to 50% each time). In the 4th job salary only went up only 3 to 7% in annual raises ...What is worse, the company got sold and even though my job was retained, it lost all interest because it felt like I had to do whatever tasks that came by rather than being a valued contributor.
The next 4 jobs I stayed for 5, 3, 2 and 6 years....again the same pattern.
The last one (where I stayed for 6 years) was actually good because they are in financial industry and paid really good bonuses even though annual raises were just keeping with inflation
So my experience is that every time I changed jobs income goes up a lot, compared to long service in one company.
But academic jobs ofcourse are different.
Employers just don't value employees for long service any more. It is always what you can contribute next, not what you contributed in the past
Yes the salary generally goes up while switching jobs but if there are too many hops in a resume the next potential employer tends to get worried because in that case they will know that the employee is going to stick around for only x number of years. In IT industry, if x < 2 and if number of hops are higher then many employers will be concerned with the stability and retention of the candidate. However spending 4 yrs at a company before switching jobs seems to be a good compromise. But again, this is relevant to industries. The same may not be true for Academics or Research work.
Of course, most jobs value contribution more than longivity and that is a fair demand. I believe many companies would not even have the employee hang around for 5+ yrs if they don't seem him/her contributing. So there is no point in spending any time (be it 1 year or 6 years) in a company where you don't find yourself to be adding value to the company and don't see your career progressing anywhere. One should always guage onself on this basis otherwise a forced or voluntary exist is just a matter of time
Generally speaking, just the nature of industry dynamics and number of opportunities in the workforce, job-hopping is not necessarily the warning signal it once used to be to a hiring manager.
For me personally, changing positions or going to a new environment keeps me excited and usually provides opportunities to learn that I wouldn’t have had otherwise if I were in my older job.
I’ve worked in HR myself and have been engaged in consulting projects for the last few years… and based on what I’ve seen, today, switching jobs with the specific intent of finding more engaging work is seen as a smart move. What needs to be avoided is haphazard moves and switching for frivolous reasons.
Also, it’s essential for job hoppers to understand that change has to be accompanied with performance. Their résumés and references should demonstrate that they’ve made a significant contribution in their previous jobs and this should be irrespective of the time they’ve spent with their past employers. To overcome some of the qualms of the hiring managers, the candidates need to show that they’ve been loyal to their past employers by virtue of their performance and by meeting and exceeding job expectations. Loyalty in this case needs to be showcased not by how long you’ve stayed in your jobs but by what you’ve delivered in those jobs.