In today’s work environment, it’s not odd to see someone who’s had several jobs over a short-time period. People go through career changes, lay-offs or they are just searching for better opportunities. These short periods of employment are the opposite of what career expectancy was decades ago. In the past, people wanted to retire with their chosen company – staying within an organization for more than 20, 30 and even 40 years!
Job vs Career
Even though it’s almost common place to change job, it’s important to understand what sustained employment is and the benefits it has on your career journey.
We need to understand the difference between a job and a career. Both things provide you with a salary but the difference between a job and a career is your mindset. You could be applying to jobs because you need the money to support yourself or your family – it’s often a short-term pursuit and people can go through multiple jobs in their lifetime.
When you have a career mindset, you’re not chasing the next paycheque but instead, you’re chasing personal growth in an industry that matters to you. Your goal is to gain more experience and further yourself. When you start to think of your work as part of your career, you can start to reap some of the benefits of sustained employment.
Improving Your Work Experience for the Long-Term
Here are some ways you can improve your everyday work experience to prepare you for long-term sustained employment.
Build Relationships
You interact with the people you work with every day! So, having the ability to build relationships in the workplace can go a long way. Maintaining good relationships with your co-workers and team members invites a positive working environment – lowering the chances of conflict between you and your fellow co-workers. Mastering skills such as communication and relationship-building are key to improving your daily work experience.
Think Long-Term
Allow yourself to grow a career mindset. Picture how the next couple months or couple years will look like for you during your time with the company. Will you be working the same position? Will you have the same pay rate? Will you have the skills and experience for a promotion? Having a long-term, career mindset allows you to strive to be in the position you pictured yourself to be in.
Work on Your Skills
Transferrable skills are exactly what they sound like; skills that can be transferred or applied to different jobs or career industries. Furthering your skills or developing new skills is a great strategy to achieve Sustained Employment. The more skills you develop the more prepared you will be for situations you might encounter in the future.