When one has more freedom in choosing job opportunities, it is quite normal to change jobs frequently. However, many people face the challenge of limited professional growth due to excessive job-hopping. Let's explore the story of a young woman who changed jobs nine times in seven years and examine the underlying reasons behind her actions.
During her first interview at Wuhai Recruitment Network in Inner Mongolia, Jingjing felt extremely confident. Within just thirty minutes, her elegant appearance and natural communication left a good impression on the interviewing manager. Jingjing felt certain that she would secure this job. As expected, she smoothly began her first job, and her manager, being particularly considerate towards her as a newcomer, recommended several business-related books for her to study. Fresh out of school, Jingjing realized how much there was still to learn and resolved to finish all the recommended books and achieve success in her work.
However, Jingjing’s determination did not bring her the anticipated success. After a few months, those books were only skimmed through, and the tasks assigned by her manager were not completed satisfactorily. Initially, the manager could tolerate her performance as a new employee, but over time, dissatisfaction with Jingjing began to show. Sensing her manager's dissatisfaction, Jingjing became increasingly uneasy and found herself unable to fully commit to her work. She always took a long time to make decisions, delaying work further due to her worries and anxieties. By the time she finally started a task, there often wasn’t enough time left, forcing her to rush through it.
Within half a year, Jingjing could no longer bear the strong sense of inferiority and unease, deciding to resign. She consoled herself, thinking perhaps this company was not suitable for her. During her next interview, she once again experienced the confidence and appreciation from others that she had felt during her first interview, making her happy and hopeful that she would finally have the opportunity to make up for the imperfections and failures of her previous job.
Avoiding current failure creates greater risks
Changing jobs did not bring Jingjing the expected smoothness; instead, it was similar to her previous experience—she soon felt overwhelmed and wanted to quit again. Over the span of seven years, Jingjing changed jobs nine times, staying at her longest position for only ten months. Each resignation came with a reasonable justification: the company’s management philosophy didn't align with hers, wanting to switch to a more suitable industry, or not getting along well with her manager... But during interviews, such experiences became increasingly hard to explain. Frequent early job changes might be seen as adjustments to find a direction suitable for personal growth, but if every job follows the same pattern, how can it be justified?
Jingjing's confidence gradually diminished. Every time she faced a new job, she told herself to start anew and study more, yet she kept falling into the same "vicious circle" — unsatisfactory performance, over-cautiousness leading to counterproductive results.
Shifting focus away from failure
With trepidation, Jingjing sought out a psychologist, expressing her doubts. The psychologist explained to Jingjing that stress stems from our perspective on work, which directly affects behavioral changes. The psychologist also noticed that Jingjing's perception of her own mistakes and criticism from others seemed overly extreme. The psychologist asked Jingjing, "Every time you change jobs, you attribute it to external factors. Do you have any doubts about yourself?"
"My doubts about myself stem from worrying that I am not competent enough, always wanting to do better but never achieving it," Jingjing replied.
"Do you feel incapable because of insufficient ability or for another reason?"
This question left Jingjing speechless. In her work, she consistently focused on what she couldn't do, failing to meet her manager's expectations despite wanting to improve but feeling sluggish. All these made Jingjing feel inadequate in her abilities. However, when she expressed this, the psychologist informed her, "No cause is absolute, and neither should it solely be attributed to oneself or lack of ability. Such causes are too extreme."
Jingjing's extreme lack of self-confidence clearly related to her job-hopping experiences. To address the present issue, the psychologist suggested Jingjing first learn to perceive changes in others' emotions and distinguish between their feelings. "If it truly is because you haven't done well enough, you can improve; otherwise, don't take it as your fault."
After the consultation, Jingjing followed the psychologist's advice and began recording an "emotional diary" at work. When she sensed her superior's mood shift, she carefully documented what happened, their behavior, and her own reactions. Then, she thought of a good solution for that day's work.
In the initial weeks, her old habit of wanting to run away at the first sign of trouble still influenced her. However, after persistently keeping records for two months, Jingjing noticed some changes in herself. In her diary, she wrote, "Today, my manager's response wasn't as satisfactory as I imagined, which made me very anxious. But indeed, there were parts where I didn't perform well enough, yet he didn't react excessively. I think I can improve." Jingjing's attention gradually shifted from worrying about her performance to resolving problems at work. This shift also helped her realize that most of the nine job changes in seven years were attempts to avoid her sense of failure. Facing the fear of failure could help her break this vicious cycle.
Public Opinion - How should we view frequent job-hopping?
Too frequent = instability
Wang Tao, 27 years old
Among my peers... (The text ends abruptly here, but based on context, the writer may continue to discuss opinions regarding frequent job-hopping.)