It's Always Job Hunting Season

I used to think that all of the babble about millennials being a generation of job hoppers was a little over the top. I have even heard extremes such as, "they change jobs like their parents changed clothes." The past few weeks have completely confirmed that statements like this are not exaggerations. Managers: It's job hunting season for you're top talent…but what else is new?

At happy hour last Wednesday I found out that two good friends of mine just put in their two-week notice after landing new jobs. We discussed how they could not stand their old jobs and had plans to leave for new ones that provided more excitement, flexibility and hopefully fulfillment. After beating around the bush, they both told me the new job offers were more than a 20 percent salary increase over their old salaries.

On Thursday, I found out that a friend from college is moving from a boring, underpaid sales job to a new high-paying job in Manhattan. On Saturday, my mother told me that a good family friend is going to a new company and basically performing the same role for at least a 25 percent salary increase. Money was probably not the driving force behind any of these people switching jobs, but a huge salary jump reeled them in.

Boredom was probably the key contributor. Going to the same building, performing the same tasks and talking to the same people day after day for a year or more will just not fly with people my age. To keep us around for more than a year, the only constant should be change itself.

Right now, the job market is unbelievable. It's a strange phenomenon that finding another job that will pay up to 40% more than my current job is easier, more practical and more enjoyable then sticking around and asking for a raise. I guess that's just the way the economy works right now. I recently discussed the job search process with a girl who just graduated from Virginia Tech. She told me about a salary offer that was "way too low." The funny thing is, that same offer would have been considered more than acceptable for a new college grad just last year!

All of this is great. Moving from one corporation to the next for a good deal more money is exciting, but it's certainly not fulfilling. Corporations apparently really need top, young talent, so they do what they have always done – throw money at the situation. The problem is, the girl from Va. Tech who balked at the "low" salary will inevitably dislike her job after a year and go looking for something better. And my buddies who just inked new contracts will begin looking for new jobs that pay more money after a few boring months.

What everyone will really be looking for is something more; something meaningful; something exciting. The problem is, very few of us can even define what something meaningful and exciting really is, so we settle for more money. Obviously, everyone must define these questions on their own terms, but for now, instead of job hopping for more money, we need to start switching jobs for the right reasons. Rather than looking for high salaries, we need to look for the real difference makers like a great company culture, remote working arrangements, flexibility, autonomy and limited bureaucratic nonsense.

This is how young workers can make a difference in the work place. We have the upper hand. If we don't start demanding the right things instead of falling for the traps our parents fell for, then nothing will change and our generation will continue to make great money, but hate our jobs more than any generation in history.

Although the future is bright and the market should stay hot for a while, history tells us that this will not be the case forever. There is more to a job then a paycheck and we all know this. We just need to get it through our heads that happiness comes from so many other places. Milk the corporations for all you can while discovering what will really make you happy. Then demand the truly important things from your employer or use the money you save to pursue whatever it is you truly love.