If You’re Not Learning Something New, It’s Time to Move On
By Tanase Bruno
If you think you’re going to work at your current job for more than three years, think again. According to a report from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average tenure of workers between the ages of 25 to 34 is only three years. That’s less than a third of the tenure among people aged 55 to 64 years old. The study, conducted every two years, is slightly down from 2012 when millennials’ average tenure was 3.2 years.
For some of us, the idea of being a “lifer” can be nauseating. You’d much rather do your best work and move on. But the paradox of doing your best work, of being exceptionally good at your job, is that you can be stuck doing it for years longer than you actually should. To avoid developing career intertia, Jayson DeMers, Founder & CEO of AudienceBloom, encourages us to ask ourselves, “What did I learn from yesterday?”
No matter how simple or complex your day was, you must have learned something. Did you master a new skill or learn a new process? Did you find something out about your organization that leads you to better understand your position within it? Did you have an experience that will help you in future, similar situations? Find at least one thing that you learned from the previous day and consider it. On one level, this is going to help you reinforce the new ideas and skills that come to you on a daily basis. On another level, it’s going to help you look for new opportunities to learn. Since you know you’ll be asking yourself this question, you’ll be driven to force yourself to learn something new every day, and you’ll therefore be improving yourself every day.
Millennials value the growth and thrill of professional challenges. Typically in your first year, you learn the ropes. In your second, you hit your stride. And in your third, you make your mark. Beyond that, if you’re not learning, then you’re not growing. Don’t wait for a year-end assessment to determine your next career path. Assess your trajectory every day, or you’ll slip into a pattern of doing the same thing day-in-and-day-out with little or no forward/upward mobility.
If your workplace isn’t fostering innovation, challenging you and providing you opportunities to learn, then don’t feel bad about cutting the cord. Your future self will thank you for it.
