Whether you leave voluntarily or are let go, moving on from a job is stressful. It can fill you with worry about your immediate and long-term futures, create doubt about your professional worth, and negatively impact your financial, physical, and emotional wellness.
Because each career change is tumultuous, frequent unemployment can feel exasperating. If moving from role to role is a regular pattern and you find yourself asking, “Why can’t I keep a job?” it’s time to do some professional soul-searching. Developing the healthy career path that you deserve depends on it.
5 common reasons for losing or leaving a job
The first step in building a stable career is identifying the source of your professional woes: why is it that you find yourself dissatisfied in new positions?
It’s time to examine the root of the issue. Here are five common reasons for losing or leaving a job — see if any sound familiar:
1. Job performance
When your work isn’t meeting expectations, it can harm your reputation at work, lead to fewer advancement opportunities, and disrupt your career path. If you’re frequently let go from jobs because of job performance, it may indicate an underlying problem.
Subpar job performance can stem from several issues, including a lack of professional purpose, poor sleep, or tension with coworkers or supervisors. It can also become difficult to do your best work when you lack the necessary support from your employer, such as mentors, health benefits, or tools.
Working to address and heal the reason behind frequent slip-ups in your role empowers you to do your best work.
2. Poor mental or physical well-being
You don’t work in a bubble. Problems in your personal life carry over into your professional world. Without proper treatment from health professionals and support from your organization, you may have difficulty staying focused, feel overwhelmed by day-to-day tasks, or become burnt out.
If your mental or physical health gets in the way of your dream job, investing in self-care routines and seeking professional help is vital. Feeling your best can make you more fulfilled, both personally and professionally.
3. Discomfort or inexperience
In your career trajectory, taking risks is unavoidable. But constantly pushing yourself outside your comfort zone without proper support and preparation may make you feel like you’re in over your head.
Excessive discomfort at work may lead to social anxiety around your peers, decreased job performance, and intense imposter syndrome. If you don’t seem like the right fit for new roles, consider reevaluating your skill set and working with a career coach who can help you align your career goals with your skills.
4. Wrong work environment
While adaptability and flexibility are important employee soft skills, you shouldn’t bend over backward to adjust to a company culture that doesn't fit your needs. Every company, as do you, has its own way of conducting business. Maybe you need a quiet office to concentrate, a strong employee value proposition to motivate you, or new opportunities to challenge you.
Whatever your requirements are, your job performance will likely suffer if they aren't met. As a consequence, managers may want to find someone who’s a better fit.
5. Lack of opportunity
A lack of career development opportunities is the reason why a lot of people search for new jobs. If you feel stuck in your career and don't have opportunities for advancement, it’s no wonder your motivation drops and you find yourself scrolling through LinkedIn for new jobs.
Rather than looking for a new position in the same industry, it might be time to re-examine your current job role and consider a career change. If you want to stick it out at your current organization, don’t be afraid to make polite inquiries about the availability of promotions and policies around raises.
7 strategies for keeping a job
No matter where you are in your career, there’s always room for learning and growth. If you struggle to hold onto jobs, you can develop skills to improve your performance and satisfaction.
Here are seven ways to land a great job and keep it:
1. Kick off your job search
The average U.S. worker stays in the same job for 4.1 years — that’s a long time. While it may sound obvious, liking your job is important for success.
If you feel bored or disconnected from your work, it may be a sign that you need to change up your career rather than hang on to a dissatisfying role. Begin with some self-reflection. Ask yourself the following questions:
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What kind of team makes me feel like I belong? Do I prefer constant collaboration or independence?
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What are my strongest hard and soft skills? Am I in an industry or role that utilizes my knowledge and expertise?
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What work environments motivate me? Do I need an office structure or the flexibility of gig work?
Consider working with a career coach to add an outside perspective. A coach can help you analyze your situation and create an action plan to find the job that best suits your needs.
2. Nail down the basics
Employers have baseline expectations for you: arriving to work on time, meeting deadlines, and communicating problems with your workflow.
They reflect the basic traits of professionalism, such as accountability, work ethic, and time management. Here are a few ways to work on these skills:
- Learn to prioritize your work tasks, organize your workday, and stay on top of deadlines
- Prioritize your sleep schedule and morning routine to arrive to work on time refreshed and ready to succeed
- Practice communication skills and learn to ask for support when you need it
3. Be respectful with your coworkers and manager
You may not like or agree with every decision your coworkers, teams, and managers make, but you must voice concerns and deliver constructive feedback with respect and professionalism.
Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand feelings and how they influence actions and perspectives. It’s how you perceive, interpret, express, and regulate your emotions, as well as the emotions of others.
If you’re frustrated with decisions made by a colleague, emotional intelligence allows you to assess your feelings and discuss them calmly — and it gives you empathy for your coworker.
Developing strong emotional intelligence doesn’t just help you get along better with your coworkers. Replacing office tension with healthy communication gives you the headspace you need to concentrate on what’s important: your work.
4. Adapt to changes
Current professional environments are more diverse, digital, and dynamic than ever before. Teams may be dispersed across the country or around the globe. Recruiters and hiring managers want employees with a team mindset who can collaborate and support their coworkers, even when they’re spread across hybrid work schedules and remote home offices.
If you hop from one job to another, it might be a sign that you need to find the right work environment. Imagine the professional setting that motivates and makes you feel like you belong, and look for opportunities that align with that vision.
You should also strive to be flexible, open to change, and communicative. The perfect work environment may not exist, so it’s key you’re able to grow into new spaces.
5. Analyze your interpersonal skills
Americans are more likely to make friends at work than in any other setting. And these professional friendships don’t just make work more enjoyable — they also make you more productive, reliable, and prone to innovative ideas. In other words, work friends make you better at your job.
Good teamwork and relationship building requires you to exercise interpersonal skills such as active listening, empathy, and showing gratitude. Honing these traits allows you to make friends at work, inspiring you to be more valuable to your organization and find greater joy in your professional life. After all, a work best friend can inspire you to stick around for longer.
6. Never stop learning
The job market never stays still. It ebbs and flows alongside economic trends, advancing technologies, and consumer demand. To remain competitive, you must be current with the latest industry needs.
Imagine you’re working in marketing, and your company decides to adopt a new software strategy. If you keep up with industry developments through upskilling and continuously learning your trade, you can keep up with changes. If you don’t continue learning, you might resist change and slow the company down.
Remember, it’s never too late to learn something new. Constant growth makes you a valuable asset to your team and encourages professional development.
The importance of keeping a job
A steady paycheck, 401k, and benefits like healthcare are a few obvious reasons for holding on to a job. But a long-term full-time position is also vital to your personal and professional development. Here are six reasons why keeping a job benefits you:
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Financial stability: A regular job provides a steady source of income that shapes your short and long-term financial goals, informs projections for the future, and covers your current expenses.
Knowing how much money you can depend on each month allows you to care for a family, save for a home, or reach other milestones.
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Networking: Your professional connections push your career forward, especially when looking for new work. Many job seekers find new roles through their network.
However, your network may be less keen to recommend you to a colleague or manager if you’ve developed a reputation for job hopping.
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Less jobseeker stress: People with job insecurity are three times more likely to experience depression than those who are secure. Job loss depression combined with job search anxiety can create a vicious circle.
Poor mental health related to frequent unemployment may extrapolate the stress of looking for a new job and cloud your judgment when assessing opportunities.
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Professional development: Acclimating to your job responsibilities, company culture, and day-to-day routine takes months. Once you’ve adjusted, you're able to absorb new learning.
Cutting your tenure short may form a wall between you and new skills while sticking with a job will help you learn resilience and gain valuable professional experience.
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Sense of belonging: Your work relationships are an important element of your social life. Constantly starting over could chip away at your sense of community and belonging.
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Career advancement: While most people don’t stay with the same company through their whole professional life, remaining long-term can lead to opportunities for career advancement, promotions, and raises. Likewise, loyalty and resilience are traits hiring managers and recruiters pay attention to.
Should I quit my job?
Deciding to leave your job isn’t a decision to take lightly. If you feel moving on is the right choice, ensuring you aren’t transitioning from one mismatched opportunity to another is essential. Here are three things to consider before signing on the dotted line:
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Life changes: Necessary changes in your life have shifted your capabilities or needs. Whether you require childcare, eldercare, or a long-distance move, if your current job can’t accommodate your current circumstances, ensure the next one can.
Carefully analyze the employee value proposition and discuss your situation with your new employer before joining the team.
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More opportunities: Growth and advancement opportunities are linked to professional satisfaction — in other words, they promote job longevity. During the interview, ask about the company’s commitment to job growth, promotions, and continued training.
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Purpose: Your work takes up a big chunk of your time. To make the most of that time, your professional life should fill you with a sense of purpose. Read up on the new company, ask about its long-term mission and vision, and talk to other employees about their experiences to decide if your values align.
You deserve to love your job
Jumping from one job to another may be a sign that something isn’t adding up in your career choices. If you frequently ask yourself, “Why can’t I keep a job?” you now have plenty of answers to bring you some clarity.
You deserve to love your work, enjoy the company surrounding you, and feel fulfilled by your day-to-day routine. A little self-reflection will help you refine your goals and go after the jobs that won’t have you doubting your professional worth.
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