In my 10 years of recruiting, you would be surprised the #1 reason I see people change jobs. Here are some hints:
💵 It’s NOT the money
⏱️ It’s NOT the schedule
🏚️ It’s NOT the ability to work from home
⬆️ It’s NOT career progression
🍕 It’s NOT culture or the pizza parties
🕴 It’s NOT EVEN a bad manager
If this were Family Feud, YES, all those reasons would be up there on the board.
They are all valid, and I hear them all the time.
But the #1 reason?
If I tell you, you’re going to think I’m a terrible recruiter. You’re going to think people move for really petty reasons.
Maybe both are true. 🤷♀️
And, really, people ALMOST NEVER give this reason in the interview process, but here’s the initial attention-grabbing reason that opens up the door to: “Actually, I am interested…” The beginning of the end conversation I have when a passive candidate becomes active.
The reason?
It is the COMMUTE. 🚗
And, as silly as it sounds, I KNOW you know people who’ve left jobs to take another one closer to home. It’s so practical and so boring.
And, yes, once I had an executive on interview who straight up told the hiring manager he was interested because, “The job is really close to my house.” Sadly, he didn’t get the job, because “Culture” and “Mission” really are better answers.
But, 30 minutes extra each way over a working year is 30 minutes x 2 times per day x 20 days per month x 12 months per year = 14,400 minutes or 240 hours. Over a 40 year career, that is 9,600 hours.
9,600 hours over a career is the same as 240 weeks of PTO lost or 4.6 years of additional work life.
So, I don’t personally believe it is petty.
That’s all.
~Jenny