Prof Matthew Bidwell on why to stick with your job—or when to quit

For this week’s MVP, we’re chatting with Matthew Bidwell.

In an age of viral HR buzzwords like “quiet quitting,” “revenge quitting” and “The Great Resignation,” not much is said about the decidedly less sexy career option of staying put, sticking it out and playing the long game.

---

From our sponsor

---

That’s a shame, says Wharton School professor of management Matthew Bidwell, because the brief, glorious high of telling your boss to shove it probably doesn’t begin to approach the massive perks of, as Bidwell calls it, “the insider advantage.” He’s referring to all the benefits, advantages and leverage that a worker already has, just by virtue of already working at the company—which would also much rather keep you than hire someone new, by the way, no matter what anyone says.

In this week’s MVP, we’re talking to Professor Bidwell, author of the new book The Insider Advantage: Moving up, Finding Success, and Building a Career That Lasts.

Here’s a very relevant question: how long have you been at your current job?

I’ve been at Wharton for over 18 years now. I joined about a year after my daughter was born, so it was a good time to settle down. Before that, I spent four years teaching in Singapore. 

Many people in their 20s and 30s move around a lot—as I did—but by the time you’re in your 40s or 50s, the average worker has been with their employer for about eight years. Most people are like me, despite what you may have heard.

Does the media—including me, ahem—have it all wrong?

I read all the time about how you’ve got to leave to get ahead, that there’s no such thing as long-term employment anymore, and that nobody stays in the same place for 10, 20 or 30 years anymore. The disconnect between what we’ve been told about how careers work and what actually tends to be our experience is quite dramatic.

So, while it’s true that the 20s are often a trial-and-error period of exploration and figuring things out, most people eventually join a company that’s a good fit for them. At that point, when you’re in a job you want to be in, often people stay for quite a long time.

But I always hear that if you’re not advancing, learning, being challenged, etc., then it’s time to jump ship. Is that all wrong?

Not necessarily, but often there are a lot of opportunities to change what you’re doing and continue growing without moving companies. It depends on what you’re doing, of course, and this may be more of an issue if you work in a very small company.

It’s true that you want to be constantly developing new skills because your old skills start to atrophy and maybe they become less relevant. Also, we get bored, and we start looking for new challenges.

For most people, taking on new challenges actually doesn’t mean changing employers. If you’re looking to get promoted, it’s a lot easier to get a promotion where you already work. You have the advantage over everybody else.

OK but what if I seriously hate my job?

I’d advise you to think more about why you hate your job. If it’s because you’re bored or feeling stagnant, or just want to do something else, you can probably do that inside your organization. Just as it’s far easier to get promoted where you are, it’s not too difficult to persuade people who already know and like you to let you try something new.

Your employer who already knows and trusts you is going to be much more willing to let you try and play with something new. If you know what it is that would make you like your job again, tell that to your boss.

In this job market, how do I tell my boss “I’m bored and I dream about quitting” without causing any personal or professional damage?

It can be a challenge, obviously, but certainly if you’re at the point where you’re really thinking about going somewhere else, it probably is worth having that conversation. I’m not sure there’s a magic formula about what you should say, and I do hear complaints from managers that employees who have only been in their job for three months feel like they can run the company.

I think you need to be doing your job, well, for at least a year to start this conversation. Then I’d say, “I’ve been enjoying my job. I feel like at this point I’m kind of really on top of it. I want to continue growing in my career and I’m interested in new challenges. Can we chat about what those opportunities might look like?”

If the answer is no, then maybe you should leave, but I promise you the answer will be yes.

Read more from this issue of The Get:

1. Is finance hard or is it ADHD?
2. What is free time? How much third places cost Canadians?
3. How Albertans feel about the referendum and their personal finances
4. How hard is it to fix errors with Uber and other rideshares?