"Sure, good things come to those who wait and all, but seeing minimal career progression after grinding day in and day out can be a major buzzkill. While it’s great to be loyal to your employer, the last thing anyone wants is to wake up one day and realize their loyalty stalled their career. So, how long should you really wait to get that well-deserved pay raise and promotion before looking at other opportunities? Turns out, the 4×6 method for job hopping has the answer.
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Coined by TikTok user Ladan Nia, the 4×6 method for job hopping allows you to scale the career ladder by maximizing your opportunities and potential earnings every two years. Claimed to be the answer to quick career progression, I set out to learn all I could about this method and how it works. Ahead is everything you need to know about the 4×6 method.
What is the 4×6 method?
With the 4×6 method, you perform six-month job sprints four times, with each sprint serving a different purpose. According to Nia, the first six months are all about learning your role and the company’s culture, staff, and who the big players are (think: stakeholders, partners, and board of directors). This will show you what the company values and prioritizes so you can become a model employee and produce work aligned with them. This sets you up nicely for the next six months, which is when you’ll master the role to the point where you can perform it in your sleep. You then take what you’ve learned and apply it to the third sprint to do something innovative, like defining new processes or breaking into a new market. From there, the fourth step is to job search for six months.
Admittedly, dedicating half a year to finding new employment doesn’t sound fun, but Nia says it’s a foolproof strategy. On top of being able to spruce up your resume with your latest accomplishments, you don’t have to stress about finding employment quickly since you already have a job. Plus, you can “negotiate while you’re still in the comfort of a job that you haven’t started to hate just yet,” Nia said. Ultimately, all of these factors will help you bring a more confident energy to your interviews and negotiations. You’ll know exactly what you bring to the table and won’t settle for less.
In essence, the 4×6 method forces you to put an end date on your employment the moment it begins. While this might sound scary, it’s a surefire way to prevent your career from stagnating. After all, moving up isn’t always easy, especially if there are limited opportunities within your current company for promotions and pay raises.
How does job hopping progress your career?
Starting over at a new job every two years might sound exhausting, but job hopping is incredibly profitable and a smart strategy for career growth. Instead of watching promotions pass you by, job hopping inadvertently drives you to go out there and take what’s rightfully yours. What’s more, job hopping can also give your salary anywhere between a 5 and 15 percent increase, with most workers reporting a salary increase of 10 percent from their previous employer. This can be attributed to the fact that each job has unique challenges and learning opportunities that can sharpen and diversify your skill set and add experience to your resume.
“The 4×6 method forces you to put an end date on your employment the moment it begins. While this might sound scary, it’s a surefire way to prevent your career from stagnating.”
Needless to say, all of these things will only work in your favor when it comes time to make the switch. They give you more leverage when it’s time to negotiate with potential employers. On top of being able to secure a more lucrative salary, this also positions you to secure better benefits and perks, like more vacation time, flexibility, and so forth. Plus, more jobs allow you to expand your professional network faster. This can come in handy when it comes time to put feelers out for new employment or when you need a favor.
Is job hopping ever a bad idea?
Chief People Officer for Relay Payments Amy Zimmerman explained to CNBC Make It that the sweet spot for switching jobs is every two to three years—the same timeline the 4×6 method calls for. But can’t short spurts of employment back-to-back look bad on your resume? The answer: It depends. There is a stigma around job hopping, but author Kimberli Lowe-MacAuley noted in an article for FlexJobs that having logical reasons and being truthful with prospective employers about why you left each position can work in your favor. And if the question of loyalty arises, legal expert and founder of Lawsuit Legal Thom Pryor told U.S. News that “If they like you and want you for the role they are looking to fill, employers will overlook it.”
Of course, you can’t guarantee it will be overlooked, and there are some other disadvantages to job hopping to consider. Having to learn a new role and the inner workings of a company when you start a new job, build your PTO from scratch, and receive new health insurance coverage might not be worth it for you. Likewise, while establishing relationships with your co-workers is vital for teamwork, collaboration, and job satisfaction, building them can be challenging if you come and go often.
Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide whether job hopping is worth it or not. However, while there are some disadvantages to job hopping, it seems evident that the pros outweigh them. With the 4×6 method, you’ll be able to stay at one place long enough so it doesn’t look suspicious to employers and gain the necessary skills and experience needed to climb the career ladder quickly. If you ask me, I don’t mind switching health insurance companies now and then for the sake of my career growth.
How to apply the 4×6 method to your career
Month 1: Learn about the company
Learning everything you possibly can about your place of employment will help create a strong foundation to stand on for the next two years; it’ll ensure you’re churning out work aligned with the company’s goals, values, and priorities, and ultimately set you up for success for the following three steps. To do this, learn about your company’s history and analyze its priorities to learn the workplace culture, mingle with your co-workers in and outside of work, and observe how your peers and supervisors interact with each other and amongst themselves. Also, get involved as much as possible. Join committees, volunteer, and take on whatever opportunities come your way.
“Instead of watching promotions pass you by, job hopping inadvertently drives you to go out there and take what’s rightfully yours.”
Month 2: Master the role
Once you’ve laid the foundation, you can then begin the task of mastering your role. Since you’ll already have a hang of your role from the first six months, these next six should be dedicated to fine-tuning everything about your job. Obviously, leaning on your skills and experience is helpful here, but it’s also a good idea to seek feedback from your bosses. If they don’t offer any, send them a quick email asking for constructive criticism because you want to do the best job possible. Applying their feedback will not only ensure you continuously churn out high-quality work but also sharpen your current skill set even further.
Month 3: Innovate
If you think innovation is strictly reserved for people like Steve Jobs, think again. Whether it’s inventing a company-wide program or tweaking an email campaign, there are so many ways to instill meaningful change in the workplace. And it all starts with tapping into your creative side and being open to change and collaboration. Staying open-minded will make it easier for creative ideas to strike.
Additionally, look at all facets of your department and determine if any areas need improvement; this will ensure you’re making impactful changes in an area that aligns with your expertise, which reflect well on your resume. For example, if you’re in the social media department, you might find that the team isn’t optimizing post times or integrating call-to-actions in posts and campaigns. Therefore, you might present a new integration strategy, tool, or program at your next meeting to streamline everything. When it comes time to present, be confident in your idea and showcase it in a way that won’t make your bosses feel criticized.
Month 4: Job search
When the time has come to begin your job search, start by updating your cover letter and resume to include the new skills and responsibilities of your existing role and actively networking online or in person. Also, while six months might sound like an eternity—and occasionally feel like one, too—it’ll go by in a blink. The last thing you want is to find yourself exactly where you started at the end of these six months. So, make sure you’re setting aside time to actively search for new employment. Making time to do this and keeping it at the top of your to-do list will prevent you from stalling your career momentum.
That said, you don’t want your boss getting wind that you’re on the job hunt and punishing, or worse, firing you for it. To prevent this from happening, dedicate 8-10 hours each week to job search outside of work. You can also update your LinkedIn profile to reflect your current skills so the right recruiters can see you—just don’t say you’re “open to work.” And when it comes time to interview, let your prospective employer know that discretion is important and ask if you can schedule a time to talk during your lunch break or before or after work. Recruiters want to work with you, and if you’re both serious about the role, they’ll be more than willing to make it work.
Arianna Reardon, Contributing Writer
Arianna is a Rhode Island native, professional blogger, and freelance writer. She’s passionate about helping women develop healthy relationships with money, become financially independent, and invest in themselves for the future. Arianna is a firm believer in going after what you want, taking time to stop and smell the roses, and the importance of a good cocktail.