The modern industry of design is dominated by millennials these days. Their habits, behaviours and thoughts are very different from other generations that have created a major gap in the supply and demand of jobs. It’s not about the year of birth but about the mindset which is being categorised as millennial. A new study has found that the millennial generation is also being called as job hopping generation.
Job Hop! Why people do it? The Psychology behind
We can’t change this mindset of people but we can learn a bit more about the psychology behind it. As there is no right or wrong in anything its just about how one perceives it. An important question which arises here is ‘whether it’s a trick or a treat and where are we heading with this?’
Surface level reasons observed behind this mindset are impatience, boredom, indecisiveness and negative influence. However, according to clinical psychologists there are various underlying reasons that affect thoughts, feelings which then influence behaviours. Some of them are-
- Individual’s past experiences
- Circumstances at work
- Inability to find one’s place
- Impatience and desire of fast results
- The need to compare and keep up with peers ( salary and growth)
- Entitlement mindset ( people feel they deserve more money)
Numbers speak for themselves
We have discussed quite a bit about the mindset, so we should now look at some facts floating around in the market. According to stats, 44% of companies don’t want to hire people with a job hop and are perceived as flight risks. This can hamper their job profile in the long run.
Some quantitative info includes-
- 27% of people change jobs every year
- 17% are actively hunting
- 46% are passively looking
Looking at the stats, a large number of people are thinking about switching jobs as compared to people thinking of staying. The experts in this field have come to a conclusion that 5 job changes in 10 years can raise red flags with companies.
Some insights as to what companies are looking for when they hire new people –
- Candidates who have a diverse work portfolio
- Who have the right Intrapersonal skills like loyalty, optimism, attitude, empathy etc
- Who are ‘T shaped designers’ (One who will be really strong in one area and have decent adjacent skills in other areas)
- Who have a portfolio which covers the depth rather than breadth of things
- Who have handled challenges and are familiar with their strengths and weaknesses
- Who are active listeners and are receptive to feedback
While working in a company, we should always think about our long-term plans and personal growth. When we start focusing on short term plans like day wise or month wise tasks, that is where the thought of switch arises. Similar to the principles of investment, short time will gain x results while investing for a long period of time will give y results. If we have clear focus and future vision, the small day to day hurdles will start to evaporate.
Trick or treat
The positive side of a discussion is that, we get to know the pros and cons of it and can decide for ourselves which side is heavier on the scale.
Pros
- Opportunity to try new things, new learnings, meet with new people
- Job hopping people are disruptors, risk takers and are more adaptive
- Main reason for people to switch is salary bump
Cons
- Difficulty in adjusting with new people, new processes, new culture
- Starting everything from scratch
- Impacts daily life schedule
- Will impact in the long run
Things to ponder over
Try clearing your mind for few days and ask yourself these questions. It will help you make that final decision. Being designers, its very important for us to think through about everything. Whatever we are allowing or not allowing to happen in our lives. For work related projects, we use different techniques to gain insights from the requirements but sometimes we miss to apply those principles to our own lives. Whats and whys to ask here are-
– What are the benefits and negatives of my current job?
- What options do I have?
- Am I able to take the risk? cost vs benefit
- Why am I changing the job?
- Where do I see myself in 5 years?
- Is this place helping me achieve or go near to the goal?
- Is this what I want?
Once you answer these questions and everything seems right in your head then only make the move.
From my journal
My personal opinion on this topic is that don’t switch for the sake of switching or if others are doing it. Others are not living the fears, the motivations, the learnings and the failures which you are experiencing or want to experience.
Because someone once said – ‘The dream job does not exist, we need to create it‘
So choose wisely.
Amplify your brand presence with the best UX design studio that truly aligns your needs with those of your consumers! Get in touch with us at YUJ Designs, today!
