You’re just starting out your career, you want that perfect job that’ll allow for advancement, autonomy in your role and a good work-life balance, right? These are valid reasons to start finding a new job.
Well, chances are, this perfect job will not magically land on your lap. It will take you changing a few jobs before you finally realize what you want for your career and the job scope that you’re comfortable with.
Being in my 20s, I have several friends who are in the working world right now. On one hand, I have friends who have stuck to their first job after graduation and on the other, I have friends who make a point to change jobs every few years. For the most part, I notice the friends who have made several changes in their career having more job satisfaction today. One of the main reasons for them changing jobs include – the job they took at 21 years old simply doesn’t interest them as much as their current job does.
Here’s the perfect example: My friend Natasha has always been interested in working as a writer in the fashion or beauty industry in Singapore. When she first started her career, she worked as a writer for a popular beauty and fashion social media influencer in Singapore. To say she loved the job would be an understatement, she truly looked up to the influencer and was happy to work in an environment that was as interested in the fashion and beauty scene as she was.
2 years into working for that company, she realized that she no longer felt the same attachment as she previously felt. One of the main concerns for her was the pay and career prospects of the title. Being a startup company, the pay was in the low-range in the market. Because the business was not fully developed yet, there wasn’t much opportunities for a promotion for her.
Additionally, the work environment no longer aligned with her. Being a start-up full of people in their 20s, many of them prioritized career growth over personal time. Whereas, Natasha still kept personal time as one of her priorities. She did not want to be working overtime as much as was required from her in the company – she wanted a clear work life balance.
With this in mind, Natasha quit. She eventually found a job that was also in the beauty and fashion scene. This role was in an established magazine, there were higher career prospects for her and there was an increase in her salary. In this sense, changing her job allowed her to get the best of both worlds, she allowed herself to experience work in a startup and gain experience working in an established beauty and fashion company.
The early part of your career is the best time to change your job, you don’t have much to lose and you can get a taste of what you’re interested in early. If you’re not convinced on why you should change your job in your 20s, here’s 3 reasons for you:
1. Brand Yourself
Start branding yourself early. By exploring several job options, you get to realize your strengths and weaknesses. With this in mind, you will know what you can offer the market and the jobs you will enjoy or excel in.
In Natasha’s case, she by exploring working in a startup, she realized that she preferred working in a more corporate and structured environment. At the same time, her job affirmed her interest in working in the beauty and fashion industry. Knowing this, she could narrow down the type of job she wanted to change to.
In this sense, understanding your strengths and weaknesses by shifting jobs will eventually allow to get your dream job that aligns with your personal goals.
2. Garner New Skills
The best part about changing jobs is that you are exposed to new working environments, tasks and people. This allows you to pick up new technical skills as well as soft skills which are important for your career or personal growth.
For Natasha, her second job required her to create content for social media as well as on the website. This change in jobs allowed her to pick up professional photography, social media managing and content creation for social media.
Picking up new skills that you wouldn’t traditionally pick up in your current job makes you more valuable in the market and could actually keep your employability high in the long run.
3. Expand Your Network
Besides external networking or volunteering, you get to meet new people in every company you join, expanding your personal and professional network.
For Natasha, despite leaving her first company, she continued to contribute to their website on a freelance basis. Her professional networking proved to be beneficial to her because she continued to gain a side-income from them!
Changing jobs allows you to meet people from all walks of life, if you’re lucky they might be of help when you need.
If you’re looking to change jobs, Bridge is a great place to start. Sign up with a job-seeker account to gain access to our free job alert system. The Job Alert system notifies you on the latest job openings catered specifically to your skillsets and specializations.
Check out our career guidance page for more useful lifestyle and career tips!
