Job-hopping For Mental Health, Be Free From Ties And Explore Different Lives

Have you ever felt stuck in your daily routine, felt a massive weight on your shoulders, and experienced huge swing moods (usually between extremely bored and overwhelmed by your tasks)?

Have you ever wished to experience another way of living?

Then, welcome to the club. Just ask around you or look at the faces of the people on the metro: what do you think they’ll tell you?

I hate my job. 

Boss. 

Workmates. 

Whatever: the point is that they have had enough. 

I have got two words for you: job-hopping. That is to say, the art of changing the workplace every so often.

Let’s answer a few questions that I have been asked throughout the years about my job-hopping.

Does job-hopping look bad on the resume?

That’s the most common and probably the biggest concern. No, it doesn’t, it all depends on your resume. Your resume must reflect yourself, not merely the jobs you have done, so it is important to explain the skills and the knowledge you have gained in the light of the new job you are applying for. Sometimes it’s even ok to delete a position or two because superfluous. 

There’s no need to mention your years as an ice-cream shop assistant if you’re applying for an IT position unless you need to demonstrate your customer care experience. Just keep it short and straight to the point.

The employer will scan the document in search of what they’re looking for, so you have to demonstrate that you’re that person.

You’ll have to start all over every time you land a new job, what about building your career?

This is not true anymore. Our parents would start to work in a firm at a young age and possibly stay there until retirement, and that was the way you got a career, you got promoted internally, like an ancient dinosaur.

We are less likely to stay in the same workplace forever as the working world has changed. Factories and businesses open and close, the internet has made everything more competitive, there are professional profiles that did not exist until a few years ago. Everything seems to be faster and more efficient. 

Employers want someone dynamic, capable of adapting to the new working scene, which keeps changing.

Now, how can a person who’s been in the same working position, in the same working place for years and years demonstrate their versatility?

What if the new workplace is as bad or even worse than the previous one?

You change again. Next, please.

It’s normal to hate your job…

This is not a question, it’s the saddest statement I’ve ever heard. Right next to “I am not like you; I am not confident enough to look for another job”. 

If you do not believe in yourself, who will? Ever heard of that saying “Fake it until you make it”? 

Of course, you do not want to lie about your capabilities, you just want to emphasize your qualities instead of your limits. You’ll get where you need to be when you need to.

How will I know if it’s the right place for me if I keep job-hopping?

I believe in the right place, in the right moment. Time and space need to fit harmoniously and you will feel full of positive energy, creativity, and amazing ideas. 

Nevertheless, if you are stressed, can’t sleep, and looking forward to the clock-out time, so that you can gulp down a bottle of wine just to cope, well, then you have a problem. And it’s probably not the right place for you.

You can cope for a while, taking care of your mental health through yoga and meditation, but eventually, you will need to sort out the situation at the heart. Look into yourself; what will make you happy?

Keeping your job and getting on with your life means taking your responsibilities and is a sign of maturity.

That is true until it doesn’t touch your health. You’ve got one and only one life (that we are absolutely certain of). Don’t waste it. 

Constant unhappiness can cause depression and depression can weaken your immune system and, in extreme cases, lead to suicide. For a job. Really? Just do something else.

Isn’t it stressful to change jobs often?

I wouldn’t say so. I tend to be a little anxious, as I want to give the best performance I can and a good impression to my workmates and boss. But I also find the new experience exciting and interesting. I’m there to learn new things and explore a new reality, it’s a sort of an adventure. The new challenge awakes my senses.

It’s a little bit like celebrating the arrival of the New Year. A shitty year is finally over and you’re ready to start a new one, filled with projects and decorated with good resolutions (the same for most of us: learn new skills, lose weight, be healthier, do some volunteer work). Laugh out loud, please.

How often do you change your job?

Two years.

That is how long, on average I have been spending in the same workplace before leaving and start afresh somewhere else.

I envision my life in chapters and I feel it in my body when it’s time to turn the page. For example, if at my workplace I hide daily in the washroom to cry in frustration, well, that’s unequivocally a symptom that the chapter has reached its end and I have to start writing a new one.

Maybe you just haven’t found the work you like.

Not on a long term in any case.

I personally also love to change my profile completely. I have been working in two ice-cream shops, two restaurants, three hotels, three childcarers, two offices, and one library, in three different countries. Sometimes in the same position, other times not. 

I love to keep my life interesting and challenging. Obviously, it can be a little different if you are your job. Some professions are believed to be a call and I think they are; have you dreamed to be a doctor for all your life, to save lives and make a difference in the world? Forget what I just wrote and thank you for your service.

I do jobs, none of them has ever been the goal of my life, quite the opposite. It’s important to me to work and be independent, but the ultimate purpose of my job has always been myself, how it impacts my life and makes me feel. 

It’s a way of living different types of life, live them freely and get to know yourself on a deep level.

After all, if we are happy, we emanate positive energy and ultimately, it’s easier to make a positive impact on the world around us.