Job hopping right along

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? Really sit and think about this question for a minute or two. Now that you, hopefully, have that job title in your head, how far from that are you right now? Did you get to where you wanted to be? If you got there, how long did it take, and how many tries did it take you? Did you have to do some things that you didn’t like to ultimately get to do what you now love?

In an article by Forbes, Frank Dadah, a principal account manager and general manager at WinterWyman, said job hopping is normally seen to be: “When you move from one company to the next every one to two years, have done it multiple times, and the reason for each move is due to something other than a layoff or company closing.” 

When job hopping first became a phrase, it basically meant career suicide.

But this has changed.

Caroline Vela, a student at the University of Arkansas, dreamed of being in the spotlight from a very early age, but she didn’t know exactly how to achieve her dream.

Vela said that growing up, she wanted to be so many different things. She wanted to be an actor and a singer or anything that involved the spotlight.

From working with wedding planners to waiting tables at restaurants and giving tickets out at the movies, Vela has done it all.

“I’m definitely a person who goes through and likes to try a lot of things before I make a final decision,” Vela said. ““Once you really actually do something, that’s the only way you can see [if you like it].” 

Vela believes that because she is a millennial, society has had a positive impact on what she has felt she could do job and career wise. 

“I think it’s good to know that I wasn’t just stuck in one thing,” Vela said. “I was trying different routes.”   

Vela said that it has been incredible to be able to watch societal norms evolve. People all around the world have been showing their willingness to take the riskier path with their career choices, she said.   

Michael Thum is the kind of employer that everyone wants and only a few are lucky enough to have. Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, Thum moved to New Orleans for college and graduated from Tulane University in 1991. Thum has since gone on to work in the commercial real estate world and has been thriving day in and day out.  

Thum said that, growing up, he didn’t ever have a dream job per se. He really just wanted to be like his father. He wanted to be successful and he wanted to be a part of the business world.

Thum has done just that.  

“I’ve been in the same business since 1991,” Thum said. “Third job but same industry, focusing on commercial real estate.” 

Growing up, Thum’s role model was his father. He said that his dad set a great example for him and that he hopes he’s done the same for his children. He encourages his sons to try new things and to be optimistic about the world, but to still be smart when it comes to the career world. 

“It might be very challenging and not fun for 3-5 years but you have to stick it out,” Thum said. “As an employer, you want to feel comfortable that they’re going to stay around.”  

Thum said he knows that the world is changing but that he can’t help but go about things in a more old-fashioned way.

Thum said if he saw a resume with where someone held multiple jobs back-to-back and/or breaks it would be a "red flag."  

But, Thum recommends doing different types of jobs especially at an early age to gain experience and knowledge to use in the future whether that be for another job or just life in general. He said that there is a big difference in jumping from job to job in the same industry in comparison to jumping from job to job in different fields.  

Rocco Brudno is that friend who always has something interesting to say no matter the crowd or topic of conversation. Brudno was born in Cleveland, Ohio but spent most of his years in Tampa Bay, Florida. Brudno graduated from the University of South Florida with a bachelor's degree in English literature with a focus in mythology. Brudno now works as a content manager for OpFocus in Denver, Colorado.  

OpFocus was founded in 2006 with the goal of helping other companies improve their business operations. In July of 2020, Brudno wrote an article titled “Why are Millennials and Gen Z Job Hopping?” that outlined the reasoning for why millennials are jumping from job to job.  

When Brudno was a kid, he wanted to grow up and build robots that would fight each other in space. He said that he saw comics and videos of robots and wanted so badly to be a part of everything that went along with the robotic world.

It wasn’t until his college years that he discovered his lack of ability to do well in chemistry or any sort of robotics engineering course. He has since found that writing about robots or anything else that he might be passionate about was just as, if not more, fun for him.  

When talking about why employees might want to leave a company, Brudno writes that “Shifts in interest, company morals, work-life balance, high pay, and increased training and advancement opportunities all play a part.” 

The culture of any given company has more of an impact on its employees than one might think.

“If they don’t feel like they’re getting enough perks and work-life balance, they may leave,” Brudno writes. “This is why we’ve seen a shift to employee experience in the last few years.” 

Brudno talks about his job now and how he loves the work environment. He said that OpFocus is a company that genuinely cares about the wellbeing of their employees and wants the best for them.  

Brudno said that if the company sees an employee isn’t able to fully use their potential at Opfocus, staff prepare that employee to take the next step in finding a job that will be a better fit for them.  

“We’re in the moment,” Brudno said when talking about having a job and enjoying it at the same time. “We want to enjoy our lives while we’re doing it.” 

Vela will be moving to New York City in August of this year. She said she has always wanted to live there, but she never thought she would make the move so soon after college.

“It’s wild,” Vela said. “Sometimes it still doesn’t even really feel real, I have to remind myself that I am actually doing this and that it isn’t a dream.” 

“Things just kind of started falling into place,” Vela said. “So, I decided that now’s the time.”  

Vela is just one of the many young people who are taking risks to work at jobs they enjoy in order to reach their full potential.

More Gen Zers are taking that job offer across the country, quitting their job at the high paying company if they don’t feel at home and applying for the job they think will make them happier.