What if there was a surefire method not only to advance but to maximize, your career?

You know how when you start a new job, you’re super excited? Your brain is a sponge, and you’re just trying to soak up everything about the company, position, and industry that you can. That’s the honeymoon phase, and it lasts for six to twelve months. During this period, you’re highly engaged and gaining terrific experience.

After the honeymoon phase, you continue to gain experience and stay engaged. However, after two or three years in a role, the novelty and excitement that you once felt level off. In other words, what was once new, interesting, and challenging becomes just another Wednesday at the office. Once you hit this phase, it’s time to push for either a promotion or a new opportunity with a new company.

The graph below provides a visual of how you can maximize both your experience and your engagement by picking the best time to leave one opportunity for another. To get the most out of this method, timing is critical. Two to three years in a position is ideal. Four to five years is too long.

You might be thinking that two or three years is too often to change positions. Isn’t that the kind of “job hopping” that you’ve been warned against? You’re exactly right, this is “job-hopping”. However, if your career trajectory continues to rise, and if you’re putting yourself in a position to maximize your experience and engagement, you won’t need to explain yourself to a hiring manager. You will have made yourself so valuable that they won’t question you about much of anything. “Job hopping” or not, they will want you on their team.

So, where does your career fall on this graph? Is your career trajectory trending in the right direction?