Time To Move On Or Not?

In this difficult economic climate, successfully achieving a job offer and then performing well in your chosen career is not an easy task. Still, people are always driven by their ambition and desire to fulfil their potential, which means they inevitably look for challenging opportunities elsewhere.

A survey by a Management Institute and Business School has shown that 16% of graduates want to move into a new job as soon as possible, 40% plan to move within one year, and less than 50% intend to stay at their current company for two years or more. The majority of graduates are very keen at the outset and will always be looking for ways to get promoted and earn a higher salary. 

When you start a new job, it is important to be enthusiastic but you should realise that although you have a university degree, you have limited practical experience of the company. Therefore, you will be performing tasks that you may find slightly boring at times, but the key point is to complete these tasks accurately and efficiently. This will result in your manager developing confidence in you and then gradually entrusting you with more important duties.

Some new graduates do not acknowledge the importance of a learning curve that only time will bring. It will take at least two to three years for you to become fully accustomed to the work and then you will have the ability to mentor junior staff members and take more of a managerial role. Of course, the day that you will be promoted to manager will vary between companies, but you still may be effectively working in this role, even if you do not have the title. Also, you need to stay at an organisation for some time to build up a portfolio of work that will look good on your CV.

The expectation gap between new graduates and managers is quite interesting. For example, managers do not really consider fixed working hours and will ensure their work is completed, however long it takes. This is in contrast to most new graduates who will expect to work standard hours. Also, graduates sometimes find that they are not being coached adequately for their needs. If this occurs, then it is important to have an open and honest conversation with the manager to ensure your goals are met, or speak to other members of your department. It is not advisable to keep moving organisations until you meet a very helpful manager, since you need continuity in your working life.

Overall, once you have started a graduate job, it is best to stay there for about three years to build up a portfolio of work and generate confidence within your team. At first, you may not like the work or environment, but if you persevere, you will build up valuable experience and then you can make a career move later on, as a more experienced and accomplished individual. 

Arnab Datta