Janet Godwin, the CEO of test company ACT, says the best career advice she ever got was to stop scheming about your next promotion and make today's job unmissable.
What Happened: "If you're so busy thinking about what you're going to do next, I guarantee you you're not putting enough energy and time into what you're doing today," the longtime ACT executive recalls advice she once received from her boss as she spoke to Fortune.
Godwin, now 59 and chief executive of the college-admissions test maker, calls that warning "some of the best advice I ever received as a young employee."
Godwin argues that constant hopping can backfire, leaving résumés rich in titles but thin on mastery. "You need to learn and mature in your current job before you have your eyes set on something else," she said.
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She speaks from one company’s experience. The former English major joined ACT in 1990, writing test questions, and rotated through nearly every department before becoming CEO in 2020, just days before pandemic lockdowns shuttered test centers. "That's what I mean about being curious. Because if you think you know where you're going to be 10 years from now, you probably don't," she said.
Why It Matters: Despite Godwin’s view on frequent job switching, research shows Gen Z is approaching corporate life with a vastly different attitude than previous generations. Gen Z has a clear gig economy mindset when it comes to working in corporate America, as noted by experts in a recent report.
Financial influencer Vincent Chan, meanwhile, believes that staying at the same job is the biggest financial mistake you can make. Job hopping may be scary, but it can also lead to higher earnings, he says.
That said, the numbers suggest that frequent job-hopping has its downsides as well. Research shows someone who switches jobs every two years in their twenties could forfeit more than $90,000 in retirement savings, an amount which is nearly the median U.S. nest egg.
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