1 A friend once told me that he liked job candidates who had been in role 3+yrs or <1yr; the first showed commitment to growth, and the second showed unwillingness to stay in a bad situation.
Unless they had too many ~1-1.5yr stints, which showed poor job selection. Thread >>
Unless they had too many ~1-1.5yr stints, which showed poor job selection. Thread >>
2 I’ve thought about that a lot wrt technology in 2020, since he said that about a different industry at a different time. I think the basics still hold up.
3 Many employers value longevity in roles (more on that below). The wrinkle my friend adds to the usual received wisdom is that an occasional role that lasts <1yr can be a sign of maturity and self-respect: someone leaving a situation that wasn’t working out.
4 If it’s not working, don’t waste precious time trying to force it during what should be the honeymoon period; focus on getting to a place where you don’t have to force it. Exiting when it’s not working takes self-awareness and courage. Excellent traits in a potential hire.
5 On the other hand, even if the bones of a role/company are basically good, the pure honeymoon period likely ends at some point. I think this is often when people have been in role 12-18 months. The work gets harder, and the mutual expectations do too.
6 I talk to a lot of people about their careers, and these are the points that, in retrospect, people seem to feel the proudest of pushing through. The growth comes from not from staying in the honeymoon phase but pushing through to growth.
7 A year or so in, people have learned enough to take on more difficult projects. The challenging work brings expectations of greater leadership. This can feel scary, but in a healthy environment, these are career-making moments.
8 However, once you’ve been in a role for several years, you might need to switch it up simply to keep learning. Even if the role is great and you enjoy your day-to-day. Taking the chance to work in a new way is often essential to continued development.
9 Doesn’t mean you have to leave your company if you like it, but it might mean you manage more, or less; you work on a different project; you make a lateral move to pick up new skills. Or maybe it means you do go to a new company. That happens too.
10 I go back to the thing my friend said because all three of these decisions (putting down roots in a role, pushing through hard moments and sticking it out, and calling it early if something really isn’t a fit) show self-awareness and maturity.
11 Those are all reasons to hire someone. Conventional wisdom recognizes someone who puts down roots and grows, and someone who pushes through challenge to learn something new. I think my friend was right to credit the judgment of someone who leaves a bad fit quickly too.
12 This texture adds something to a career. Without it? Maybe you never push through and stick it out; you start something new every year. Or maybe you do the same thing for 20 years without changing it up. Both are problems for different reasons.
13 The more I think about the careers of people I’ve admired, the more texture I see. The texture shows someone picking roles well, putting down roots, and moving on at the right cadence for learning.
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