Problems professionals face during initial stages of their career

People feel excited at the beginning of their professional career and feel right on clod seven. They wish to achieve everything in jiffy. But, and this is one big BUT not everyone reaches at top as per his expectation. Some of the professional keep on switching jobs at a regular interval and lose their way in the process. However, there are certain reasons for switching jobs frequently and what one should do while planning to change his job. 

Here is an example, X completed his mass communication diploma and joined a television channel as a trainee reporter but after working for a year or so he felt he will be better off in print media so he joined a national daily as a correspondent but he did not like his job as he was expecting something different from his job. Sometimes later he decided to join a public relations company but that did not keep him engaged either so he applied in an insurance company and joined but he found it too boring for his liking so he decided to launch his own event management company. 

As expected, X could not run his own company successfully so he joined a college and started teaching. He is unemployed currently and planning his next move but he regret what he did with his previous jobs. Actually he has a reason to regret for his decisions regarding so many changes of jobs as he lost 9 crucial years in the process and a look at his CV puts him in a bad category. As far I am concerned my views on job hopping is clear that you should stick to job for at least 5-7 or maybe for 10 years or even more if you are satisfied with your job because you can change your job for better salary any time but you will be happy with your job is an altogether different proposition. 

I am not in favor of frequent job hopping, as some experts associate it with building a high professional performance which allows you build a better network at a faster rate than people remain in the same jobs for longer duration. In my views rolling stones find no place to establish with a sense of satisfaction despite reaching in a better salary group but lack of job satisfaction is one of the main reasons. After changing so many jobs within such a short duration a candidate does not qualify to be put in the same category where candidates with same experience generally find themselves.  In fact X has no specialization in any field even after working for a decade which is a drawback for people like him.

In fact, X is not the only candidate with such frequent job hopping experiment but there are lots of them who lose their way at the very beginning of their career and the worst that happens with such young professionals is that they lose their self confidence in the process of changing jobs frequently. If you think you can change 6 jobs in about 8-9 years and still remain in the race is beyond my imagination. But if you find your 7th job interesting and stay there for a longer duration maybe a period of 10 years. You can survive with so many change of jobs if you are in the same field but and you learned something new in your each job but I don’t believe that changing jobs so frequently would not affect your career in the long run.  

The reasons of frequent job hopping

There are certain reasons behind such behavior of young professionals which begins from the time they chose their line of career, under pressure some times which could be anything from financial problems of the family to pressure from family members. They join the job but they do not feel connected properly with job which they join. The result, they keep hopping the job and in the process some of them find themselves at a point of no return. If you ask me I will never suggest someone to stay someone in a job which makes things complicated but at the same time I will not support a person who jumps jobs at a regular interval.

The qualification crisis

One of the major reasons of job hopping is that there is no guarantee or not necessarily a person selected for a particular job has all the required qualifications in him that makes him unsuitable for that particular job and he finds himself unwanted in his workplace that leads him to avoid taking responsibilities and he thinks in terms of changing his job. Some professional change their jobs for wrong culture or the wrong work environment of their workplaces but that is a common problem and can happen anywhere. And at this point I cannot say that you should make up your mind and stick with one job. That is a different case at this point.

High ambitions 

Initially in their career, they change their jobs for a better position or better pay but they do it at a very rapid speed which does not allow them to stay in a company for a long time. They change at such a rapid rate that clearly affects their career and by the time they begin to think in a better way they reach to a stage when they find unable to cope with the situation and become eligible for jobs well below their skills and experience.  However it is better to be careful before changing your job for a 'senior position' at an earlier stage of your career as the position might not be what they advertise luring the skilled workers. In my own case I changed just once during first 14 years of my career. Now there is a direct question to you if you feel you find yourself in the same category, what will be your reaction if you find in a similar situation in your next company which you’re facing in your last?

No good relation with your employers

Certain professional find the behavior of their managers not acceptable and change their jobs but if they find similar situation in their future job they think in terms of starting their own venture. But people shift over to new job if they get a better opportunity or better pay more often if they find a bully in their current workplace.  There are multiple reasons of job hopping and the behavior of managers is one of them however the reasons like place of posting, (it was the reason I left my first job) marriage (mostly in cases of women) health related problems are some of which force a professional to change his job but money plays a major role in changing over of a professional from one job to another. 

Check before you change your job

As I said earlier finding one unfit for the responsibilities or not finding the job up to expectation are some other reasons for hopping over but you should know it before joining the company as it’s not a difficult task to find out everything about a company. You should know every detail before joining a company including your managers, job profile, expectations from you, and your expectations from the company. If you feel you shall not be able to cope with the company environment it is not advisable to join it as that will bring nothing but prove another addition in your CV. I would suggest one should set his proprieties and instead of looking at the pay packet, one should look at the challenges and opportunities you have to face. You should look forward to "I can do it" attitude and accomplished the project allotted to you. Whenever you get the charge of a particular project then accept as a challenge and see it as an opportunity.

Your options

So, you have decided to change your career but before doing so you should look at the pros and cons very carefully. Think over at every point carefully. There is no harm talking to someone who knows about such matters especially from your trusted seniors. Some experts even suggest consulting a career councilor who could help you with his professional advice. 

You should look at every option including soft skills (E.Q) which is a combination of your different skills that denotes your Emotional Intelligence Quotient (E.Q) which deals with your social standard, grace, the overall personality, skill of communication, your grip on language, how you manage people at your workplace, interaction with your coworkers, your habits and leadership skills. 

If you feel like a change is must it’s better to talk to your management and ask them if they can find something else for you in your present company. This will help you in multiple ways, one you will have one lesser company in your CV, new experience of a new job within your present company and of course you will feel different or maybe that’s what you were always looking for. But make sure you must not give up to any pressure but take a decision on your own or taking into confidence your seniors. 

Some professionals give extra weightage to others’ opinion thinking about their reactions if you changed your career and failed. If you feel that others will laugh at your failure or your image will take a dip I feel you are not focused at your career but thinking about different points which are not related to your career. In short you are not focused at your career but everything else. Maybe you are suffering from feeling of insecurity and looking for the change for better job security.

Finally, you should test your skills for a particular field which you are planning to join in future. Checkout your abilities with a proper aptitude test whether you deserve to be in a particular filed otherwise you will soon feel disappointed. You have business degree does not mean you qualify to be in marketing field but maybe you will do better in human resources or you will be able to adjust in the work environment. Think carefully before changing your job or career because it is most important for you.