I changed jobs 10 times in 10 years to get the career I wanted
A 32-year-old professional shares her experience of 'lily padding,' a career strategy involving frequent job changes across different universities to gain diverse skills. This trend, increasingly observed among Gen Z, prioritizes skill acquisition and employability over long-term tenure at a single organization.
Why it matters
This highlights a shifting paradigm in labor market behavior where younger generations prioritize career agility and skill-building over traditional company loyalty.
Image source, Brittany Harris-Nelson Image caption, Brittany Harris-Nelson has had 10 different jobs at six different universities over the past decade
Brittany Harris-Nelson describes her career journey so far as being like "a frog moving across lily pads".
"Each step brought me closer to where I ultimately wanted to be, even if the path wasn't always linear," says the 32-year-old.
Today, Harris-Nelson works in a mid-level administrative position at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, a role she had long coveted.
She says that to get there, she leapt from one college job to another for close to a decade, using each new role to gain specialised skills that would help with her career advancement.
Overall, she has had 10 different jobs at six different universities over the past decade, starting with several positions when she was still a student, and then three full-time roles.
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