If You’re Happy And You Know It, Keep Your Job: OK for Young Women to Question Career Paths
You break up with someone who does not make you happy. Same is true for young women in the workplace: You move on to another job if your current place isn’t doing it for you, your career goals and your vision of a professional life with meaning.
Regardless of the stereotypes about millennials, you are not overly picky and hard to please. It’s OK to ask yourself if a job is meaningful and makes you happy, and to find a new job if it doesn’t.
This revelation is just in from Lori Guler, Facebook vice president of human resources (and a great role model for women in tech), who says that the bad rap 20-somethings get for switching jobs every three years or so is because they are looking for work they feel matters.
So if you leave the office feeling uninspired, interview yourself and find out why. Do you want opportunities to travel? Maybe collaborating is more your speed, or giving presentations will make you feel so inspired.
In a piece for the Harvard Business Review, Goler mentions that the 12,000 Facebook employees are mostly millennials, and overall this age group is one-third of the U.S. workforce. These high-minded workers value authenticity, learning and individual strengths.
It’s good to “experiment and reflect,” and to ask yourself if you go home from work every day feeling fulfilled or frustrated, Guler says. Before you turn in your resignation, see if opportunities exist where you are and if you could move up rather than out.
Guler’s declarations agree with a 2015 survey by Bain & Company of 1,500 MBA students that both young men and women want balance in their lives, as well as career progress. More than 69 percent of the women stated they wanted to reach top management, compared to 68 percent of the male students. According to the study, newly minted MBAs “are no longer focused only on career trajectory. They want rich, multidimensional lives.”
About the Author
Michele Weldon is editorial director of Take The Lead, an award-winning author, journalist, emerita faculty in journalism at Northwestern University and a senior leader with The OpEd Project. @micheleweldon www.micheleweldon.com