Don’t Jump Too Soon
Why you should not take every career opportunity too soon
After completing my postgraduate degree in 2019, I landed a role I loved.
Everything was going well, and I had a great manager who was super helpful. It felt like wonderland: a great job, great team and working on nice projects.
What more could I ask for?
Anyway, 4–5 months into the job, I got approached with an opportunity. It had a nice job title, and I imagined it would pay much more than I was earning at my current job.
“Oh wow!” was my initial reaction. So what’s next? Inform my boss I was leaving and jump ship immediately? While it sounded good, something in me felt like I wasn’t ready. I felt inadequate and unsettled.
Anyway, I decided not to accept the offer and instead focused on my current job.
Here’s why.
Don’t move prematurely
We are in a time where things move very fast, almost at the speed of light. This happens with careers too.
We want to become the CEO of the company in our first year. We want to go to the top, fast.
While this sounds good—and it’s what we should all want—in most cases, you can’t become the CEO overnight. It requires time, commitment, hard work, and most importantly, career capital.
Jumping from job to job without building career capital can hurt your career progress.
Often, you can find yourself landing a new role and struggling a lot. This is mostly because you didn’t build enough skills, knowledge, confidence, and motivation to help you in your new role.
You didn’t build enough capital.
Successful individuals who move from job to job tend to have enough career capital under their belt. They know what they need to focus on to keep growing. They plan their careers and learning and development so they can settle into new roles with very few issues.
Not building enough career capital has its impacts:
It might affect your career growth.
It can affect your income.
It can affect your relationships with teammates and managers
It might also affect your confidence.
Closing thoughts
I know you want to get to the top fast after you land your first job.
Sometimes, quick moves aren’t the best for you and your career.
Build enough capital and confidence for yourself before the move.
Don’t jump too soon.
Whenever You Are Ready, Here Are Other Ways I Can Help You Advance Your Career:
ENROLMENT OPEN: Need career mentoring to land a data analyst role? Apply for the Data Analyst Career Accelerator Program.
Want to land a tech role without applying online? Create a GoalPair profile for free.
Need quick career guidance? Book a call and speak to me one-on-one.
Banji Alo
Data Analyst Career Accelerator | Personal Website | LinkedIn | Twitter