Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
There is a lot of career advice out there. Most of it is missing the mark or is entirely outdated. The workplace has changed so much since 2020, and our methodology needs to adapt. With so many choices to be made about your career, both short-term and long-term, I am a fan of simplicity.
The only career advice you need to follow is to pick which of these three lanes you currently fall into and how they will shape your career progression. They include:
Sign up for this free event: What To Do When Your Job Won’t Pay You More
- Learning — Adapting new skills, certifications, degrees and mentorship.
- Earning — Focused on earning potential, status, networking and growth.
- Coasting — Go with the flow; it allows you to focus on other things and recharge.
You can pick one or two of these lanes at a time, and shifting from one to another is also okay. Many factors affect your lane, including the season of your career, life’s changes and how much energy you have to bring. I use this approach compared to other career advice because it is timeless and can help put you in the right mindset for the next set of choices you need to make.
None of these choices are the right one. The beauty is that you get to choose which options work best for you. Sometimes, I identify that I am in a phase of needing to learn and earn. Other times, I realize I need to coast for a plethora of reasons. Sometimes, I need to coast to recharge so that I can learn and earn better in the near future. Sometimes, personal events need to be prioritized, which results in me coasting.
So, which lane(s) are you currently in? Here is how I help identify where I’m at and what I need to keep going:
- Learning —This is your patient but proactive phase. You trust the process and invest in yourself. You can see the potential.
- Earning — This is your “why not me?’ phase. Take all of what you have learned and achieved and apply it to your next career jump. This is my favorite process for earning more money:
- Assess if there are earning opportunities at your current job.
- If there are, book a meeting with the decision maker as soon as possible.
- If there are not, it’s time to job-hop.
- If the opportunity at your current job isn’t a good fit (whether from timing, scope of work, salary, etc…), it’s time to job-hop.
- Coasting — This is your opportunity to rest. Career growth isn’t always linear, so if you need to take a foot off the gas pedal to research your next step or focus on personal matters, this is your time!
When you feel stuck or need help figuring out where to move forward, look at which lanes you currently fall into and assess if this is the right path for you to progress. Especially with your career, consider job-hopping if you do not see a path to more opportunities.
You will always eventually need more earning opportunities at your current job. This is natural and an indicator of your success.
Related: Promotions Don’t Always Come With Pay Bumps — But You’ll See the Biggest Gains in These 3 U.S. States
As a fellow Gen Z, I can confidently say we view job hopping as today’s promotion. Long gone are the days of waiting on your employer when there are many other opportunities to seize. The opportunity cost of staying at an employer who is no longer aligned with your career goals has never been higher.
I hope you can use this simple yet timeless career advice to improve your feelings about your position and organize your priorities a bit more. Follow me at Anti Work Girlboss for more content and inspiration.
My Upcoming Free Event
I am hosting a free Entrepreneur workshop on Thursday, September 12th at 2 PM ET teaching you how my best strategies for accelerating your earnings and getting the raise or promotion you deserve.
Click here to register now for free.
And you’ll learn:
- How to maximize your time and money in the workplace
- Leveraging pay transparency to get more money
- What to do if you feel undervalued and underpaid
- Strategies for getting a raise through job hopping
