Sticking to a Job

Sticking to a Job

Mr. Narayan Murthy, the former head of Infosys once stated, LOVE YOUR JOB, BUT NEVER FALL IN LOVE WITH YOUR COMPANY BECAUSE YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN THE COMPANY STOPS LOVING YOU.

There are two schools of thought. The older one is that loyalty and hard work will be rewarded, eventually. The more modern school of thought is more in line with what Mr. Murthy stated. I have seen a mail a few years back which very clearly shows how a manager changed jobs in quick succession, each time getting a minimum of 20% hike in salary. In a few years time he was earning twice as much as his classmates who had stuck to the same company out of loyalty. However, when the recession hit, in 2008, all of them were laid off but this manager had already saved enough to retain a decent life style.

The other side of the coin is that a loyal employee is likely to be retained through bad times, and companies will usually follow the principle of ‘last in first out’, meaning that when employees are being laid off, the last person employed will usually be the first to be laid off.

I recruit people for companies and one major factor for short listing a candidate for an interview is his/ her time spent in each of the companies he/ she has been employed in. Usually, someone who has spent less than 2 or 3 years on an average, per company, is never considered unless the skills possessed are rare or the company is desperate to fill a vacancy, for whatever reason.

So, be very careful selecting the company you would like to join, ensure their requirement matches your skills and capabilities and don’t waste your time attending an interview with a company you have doubts about unless, of course, you want to attend one to get practice facing an interviewer.