Readers now we are presenting the story of a software guy who has changed many companies before he was laid off.
Some, rather most of the organizations reject his CV today because he has changed
jobs frequently (10 in 14 years). My friend, the ‘job hopper’ (referred
here as Mr. JH), does not mind it…. well he does not need to mind it at
all. Having worked full-time with 10 employer companies in just 14 years
gives Mr. JH the relaxing edge that most of the ‘company loyal’ employees
are struggling for today. Today, Mr. JH too is laid off like some other
14-15 year experienced guys – the difference being the latter have just
worked in 2-3 organizations in the same number of years. Here are the
excerpts of an interview with Mr. JH:
Q1: Why have you changed 10 jobs in 14 years?
A: To get financially sound and stable before getting laid off the second
time.
Q2: So you knew you would be laid off in the year 2009?
A: Well I was laid off first in the year 2002 due to the first global
economic slowdown. I had not got a full-time job before January 2003 when
the economy started looking up; so I had struggled for almost a year
without job and with compromises.
Q3: Which number of job was that?
A: That was my third job.
Q4: So from Jan 2003 to Jan 2009, in 6 years, you have changed 8 jobs to
make the count as 10 jobs in 14 years?
A: I had no other option. In my first 8 years of professional life, I had
worked only for 2 organizations thinking that jobs are deserved after lot
of hard work and one should stay with an employer company to justify the
saying ‘employer loyalty’. But I was an idiot.
Q5: Why do you say so?
A: My salary in the first 8 years went up only marginally. I could not save
enough and also, I had thought that I had a ‘permanent’ job, so I need not
worry about ‘what will I do if I lose my job’. I could never imagine losing
a job because of economic slowdown and not because of my performance. That
was January 2002.
Q: Can you brief on what happened between January 2003 and 2009.
A: Well, I had learnt my lessons of being ‘company loyal’ and not ‘money
earning and saving loyal’. But then you can save enough only when you earn
enough. So I shifted my loyalty towards money making and saving – I changed
8 jobs in 6 years assuring all my interviewers about my stability.
Q6: So you lied to your interviewers; you had already planned to change the
job for which you were being interviewed on a particular day?
A: Yes, you can change jobs only when the market is up and companies are
hiring. You tell me – can I get a job now because of the slowdown? No.. So
one should change jobs for higher salaries only when the market is up
because that is the only time when companies hire and can afford the
expected salaries.
Q7: What have you gained by doing such things?
A: That’s the question I was waiting for. In Jan 2003, I had a fixed salary
(without variables) of say Rs. X p.a. In January 2009, my salary was 8X. So
assuming my salary was Rs.3 lakh p.a. in Jan 2003, my last drawn salary in
Jan 2009 was Rs.24 lakh p.a. (without variable). I never bothered about
variable as I had no intention to stay for 1 year and go through the
appraisal process to wait for the company to give me a hike.
Q8: So you decided on your own hike?
A: Yes, in 2003, I could see the slowdown coming again in future like it
had happened in 2001-02. Though I was not sure by when the next slowdown
would come, I was pretty sure I wanted a ‘debt-free’ life before being laid
off again. So I planned my hike targets on a yearly basis without waiting
for the year to complete.
Q: So are you debt-free now?
A: Yes, I earned so much by virtue of job changes for money and spent so
little that today I have a loan free 2 BR flat (1200 sq. feet) plus a loan
free big car without bothering about any EMIs. I am laid off too but I do
not complain at all. If I have laid off companies for money, it is OK if a
company lays me off because of lack of money.
Q9: Who is complaining?
A: All those guys who are not getting a job to pay their EMIs off are
complaining. They had made fun of me saying I am a job hopper and do not
have any company loyalty. Now I ask them what they gained by their company
loyalty; they too are laid off like me and pass comments to me – why will
you bother about us, you are already debt-free. They were still in the
bracket of 12-14 lakh p.a. when they were laid off.
Q: What is your advice to professionals?
A: Like Narayan Murthy had said – love your job and not your company
because you never know when your company will stop loving you. In the same
lines, love yourself and your family needs more than the company’s needs.
Companies can keep coming and going; family will always remain the same.
Make money for yourself first and simultaneously make money for the
company, not the other way around.
Q10: What is your biggest pain point with companies?
A: When a company does well, its CEO etc will address the entire company
saying,
” well done guys, it is YOUR company, keep up the hard work, I am with
you.”
But when the slowdown happens and the company does not do so well, the
same CEO etc will say,
“It is MY company and to save the company, I have to take tough decisions
including asking people to go.” So think about your financial stability
first;
when you get laid off, your kids will complain to you and not your boss.
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