My views on staying longer in organizations

In recent years, the revolving-door model of gaining job experience has become common. The number of years we stay with a company, which used to be a big plus in a CV is gone. The global recruitment practice has been turned upside down.   

Now when a recruiter looks at a candidate who has worked with same employer for many more years, the thought about the candidate is ” He/She can’t be much of a risk taker, He/She is not cutting edge enough.” Translation: Old school. Dead weight. Dinosaur.

Today’s organizations prefer candidates who will have versatile skills. Presumably, if the candidate has moved from job to job, it is assumed that he/she would have been exposed to a wide range of situations and would have demonstrated the ability to succeed in a business climate which undergoes constant change. But this doesn’t mean that we need to start job-hopping immediately or become a generalist with versatile skills. The key is to strike the right balance between taking on new positions and roles to increase our skills which can often be accomplished, while working with the same company and at the same time developing a reputation for being really good at something.

If we want to stay competitive in the current job market, which is very tough, we need to keep our skills polished and updated in an ongoing manner. This is not our employers’ responsibility, it’s our career and our responsibility. We should determine which of our own competency gaps are the most critical for success and find ways to fill them, even if it means taking specialist courses.  And if we can’t develop our skills any further within our current job or position, we should seriously start thinking about finding a new job.

These days, change has become a critical attribute of the workplace. While change can lead to new opportunities, stimulate personal growth, and produce positive outcomes, we mostly tend to resist such changes due to the difficulties and obstacles it may bring in the short term.  To successfully manage the job transitions that will inevitably impact our life, we need to remain flexible, bring creativity and embrace the journey of self-development.

Lastly, success is not a destination at which we finally arrive, nor is it a collection of awards accumulated over a period of time. Success is a continual process and one that will continue until the day we retire.

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