“I hope suffering happens to you.” This was a quote from from Jensen Huang’s speech at his Alma Mater Stanford university. In the context of the article I read, he meant :“Greatness is not intelligence. Greatness comes from character. And character isn’t formed out of smart people. It’s formed out of people who have suffered.” Our generation and those after us grew up in a time of increasing wealth and progress. Hardship is a foreign and easily avoidable because options are plentiful in Singapore. Quitting is easy. Solving problems is hard. I have a personal timeline when I am in a new position. Year 1 is to get a lay of the land. Figure out who’s who, how things get done, who are the decision makers and who are the trouble makers etc. Figure out a plan to align what I want to do, what I have to do and how I’m gonna do it. Test the waters, learn to navigate. Year 2 is to activate the plan and pivot when necessary. Year 3 is to take stock and review if there is any progress and if it is worth staying. Year 4, plan for career progression (lateral or vertical) or exit. The stages could be shortened with experience but anything less than a year, tells me the candidate did not give himself or herself a good shot at applying themselves.
Maybe I’m really old-fashioned but I can’t see how #jobhopping can be seen as positive… As an employer, my approach is simple- a job is a match between the organization and the prospective staff. 1️⃣ It’s a two-way street: Organizations provide pay, learning opportunities, career progression and a healthy work environment; Staff contribute in turn their time, energy, intellect and commitment. 2️⃣ Practically, it does take time to learn and also time before staff are contributing back effectively. Hence I remember back in clinical practice the reluctance to take trainees/ residents for anything less than 6-month stints- 3 months to learn, 3 months to use what has been learnt to contribute back. In the non-clinical world, my experience has been at least 1-2 years for this ‘social compact’ to be realized on both sides. 🚩 Anyway, I would be cautious in #hiring anyone who has been in multiple jobs for only brief periods… A red flag for me.
Hwee-Lin Wee
6mo
Very helpful advice. Thank you.
Eric Chan, PhD
6mo
Whei Chern Ho great sharing thanks
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6moSome (or nowadays, most) leave in year one. Based on your timeline, I am now in year 3 😱. I am still trying to unentangle the knots that I can see - some of them are dead knots which I can do nothing about, but some are simple to untie. I hope to leave behind what I am doing now in a better position than when I arrived, when I eventually leave. It’s not important what people think of you when you arrive, it’s more important what people think of you when you leave.