Three to Five years on a Job Opens Doors

I’ve managed to jump jobs quite a lot during my twenties and into my early thirties. There are pro’s and con’s to experiencing different career fields and roles while you are trying to get your feet wet. Often new hires feel impatient. Maybe they’ve been sought out from another organization. Or you are bored with the gig and ready for something new.

You are ready to leave the first job you’ve ever had. A recruiter reached out to you and is interested in your skills. The job is for similar pay. Benefits are the same. The role is different, but they seem to appreciate what you bring to the table. You’ve been at your current job for less than a year. Should you leave now or stay put at a job you are unhappy with?

There is no right answer here. There are several potential outcomes of the decision you make:

• Stay at your current job and continue to be unhappy, hoping for the next best thing

• Take a leap with the new gig and see what happens

• Stay put and continue looking for new opportunities that pay more

• Have a mission to stay at your current gig for a bit longer to beef up your resume

When you leave jobs after less than one year or two, your resume will be held in a different light by recruiters. They may view your job jumping as a sign of indecisiveness. Perhaps they view you as not knowing what you want out of life. Or maybe they look positively at the job jumping. Who knows.

But what if you decide to stay put at your current job. You can tolerate the office politics, B.S., and the people you work with. Instead of jumping ship, you take classes at a local university to acquire an advanced degree or certification. You dive deep into your work, gain skills and real-world experience. Your network expands, and people can vouch for your work ethic. There’s a nagging feeling inside of you that this job is not right. But you know that the prize is down the road and the job is helping you stay on the path.

3 to 5 years. Have a plan to stay at one job for 3 to 5 years. There are doors that open when you have this amount of experience on your resume. If you plan on going to graduate school, having 3 to 5 years of work experience on your resume will improve your positioning for a post-grad job. If you are looking to switch jobs, 3 to 5 years, gives the impression that you are loyal and can stick it out. Anything less, recruiters will not take you seriously and recruit you for similar entry level roles. Wherever you are in a career journey try to stay at that first job for 3 to 5 years.