BBC News, go to content Main See Listen Main sections News Economy Health and Science Culture and Arts 2026 World Cup Investigations News Economy Health and Science Culture and Arts 2026 World Cup Investigations I changed jobs ten times in ten years until I found the profession I wanted. The photo was released, Brittany Harris-Nelson
Brittany Harris-Nelson describes her career thus far as being akin to "a frog hopping on lily pads," meaning "lily padding," a job-hopping term.
Regarding her career path, the 32-year-old American woman says, "Every step brought me closer to where I wanted to be in the end, even if the path wasn't always straight."
Today, Brittany works in a mid-level management position at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, a role she had long aspired to.
To get there, she revealed a long journey of ten years among a myriad of college jobs, but she viewed each position as a new stage to gain specialized skills that would later assist her in career advancement.
Overall, Brittany held ten different jobs at six different universities over the past decade, starting from when she was a part-time student and then working in three full-time jobs.
She also held a position as an office manager, a university admissions counselor, and a student advisor before reaching her current position as assistant director of student engagement.
Brittany has not disclosed her current income, but she says her salary does not increase much after changing jobs. However, she has received additional benefits, such as extra paid time off and larger contributions to her retirement plan from her employer.
She says, "Every role I held previously helped me build skills and perspectives I didn't know yet, and these experiences collectively prepared me for the work I do today."
Brittany is not the only one who has gone through this experience.
There is a need for in-depth explanation of the main events and themes to help you understand the major changes around you and their impact on your life.
Employment specialists have noted the emergence of a new work trend among Generation Z (those born between 1997 and 2012), referred to as "lily padding" meaning job hopping.
This term refers to young people transitioning between jobs in pursuit of enhancing their skills and increasing their chances of attaining higher positions and better salaries, rather than settling into one job at one company. The primary aim is to significantly boost their opportunities in the labor market.
Data seems to support the prevalence of this phenomenon among young people at the moment.
The average tenure of a Generation Z employee during the first five years of their career is just 1.1 years, compared to 1.8 years for millennials (those born between 1981 and 1996).
While this rate rises to nearly three years for older generations, according to a 2024 global survey by the staffing agency Randstad covering 11,250 workers.
Meanwhile, a more recent study in 2025 showed that increased job mobility leads to higher salaries, at least in the UK.
The study, conducted by the financial company "Welfify," reported that individuals who changed jobs four times or more over the past decade earned an average salary of £39,276 annually, compared to £30,088 annually for other workers, an increase of 31 percent.
Those who describe their career strategies as "just crawling" are always looking for the next opportunity.
This is the case for Adam Smiley Bosulski, a 42-year-old public speaker and author who lectures and writes about improving workplace cultures.
Adam, a resident of San Francisco, U.S., says the traditional career advancement model of staying with one company and moving up through the ranks didn't work for him. He clarifies that his goal was to seek "meaning and purpose" in his work and life.
To achieve this, he transitioned through government, non-profit, creative, and even corporate job sectors, holding numerous positions over 15 years.
His positions included project lead in...