Unsatisfied with your job? Here's when it's time to move on — and how to land a new gig

Welcome to Keeping the Balance, a newsletter for Gen Z. Subscribe to receive upcoming editions. This week, I spoke to Gen Z career coach Jahleane Dolne about navigating an early-career transition. Keep reading for her top job-search tips on breaking into a new industry.

Job hopping used to get a bad rap . People often warned against changing jobs after a few months or a year. Recruiters might view a short employment stint as a "red flag," they would say, causing prospective employers to question if you would also quit not long after joining.?

The truth is, most workers don't change jobs on a whim. They often move to roles that offer better pay, career advancement opportunities or more fulfilling work. Gen Z has embraced job hopping for these reasons, helping chip away at the negative stigma around switching roles after a short period. After all, the first few years in anyone's career are intended to be exploratory. Those of us who are starting out are still figuring out what we do and don't like. With each successive position, we can get closer to finding the right fit.

No matter why we decide to switch jobs, Gen Z career coach Jahleane Dolne says what's most important is that we are running toward, not away from, something. When considering a career change, Dolne advises to first understand what's causing us to look elsewhere. This reflection will help us identify what we want in our next job.

I spoke to Dolne about how to navigate an early-career transition, from networking with people in a new industry to leveraging transferable skills. Below are excerpts from our conversation (some quotes were lightly edited for length and clarity):

Before we talk about how to make a career transition, how do you know that it's time for a change??

There are a couple of signs that your role might not be a good fit. If you get the Sunday scaries often, that's a sign. If it's a toxic workplace environment, if you are looking at people in other industries and thinking, 'I wish I had that,' if there's a sense of general unhappiness, if you feel stagnant in your career or maybe you're not making enough money. Also, if you look at your overall 'why' and your job doesn't align within your 'why.' Also, it might not completely fit together within your zone of genius. What I mean by that is, it's a mix of your talents, skills, strengths and values. Everything comes together so that you're able to have a fulfilling career.

What's your advice on figuring out what you want in your next job??

Network and have as many informational interviews as you can. When you're having informational interviews, ask honest questions about … what it's been like for them to get to the point that they're at. I sometimes find that our talents or our passions don't necessarily change from when we're young. So for example, if you've always loved being a performer, maybe that can come across in some different industry. For example, sales. You're performing a script. So I think there are some core aspects to our identity that can be translated into a career.

How do you determine your must-haves and nice-to-haves before jumping into a job search?

Organize your thoughts as best as possible. [Think] about your must-haves: Do you want to work in person? Do you want to be remote? What are your financial expectations for this job? These are questions you can explore within informational interviews. Go ahead and rank everything, aligning them back into your 'why.'?

Once you understand what you want, how do you build a strong job-search strategy??

It's a mix of inbound and outbound efforts. Inbound, most importantly, is optimizing your LinkedIn profile. The economic climate right now is scary, but there still are recruiters searching for people to fill roles and the hidden job market is very real. If you have a strategically optimized LinkedIn profile, you're going to open yourself up to a lot more opportunities.?

Then, there's an outbound part. You can go and apply for jobs, but I think that now, since so many people are just applying for jobs left and right, you have to take extra steps. Send an email to the hiring manager. Send an email to the recruiter. It's not about sending a templated response. You have to be personalized. I think it's about providing as much value as you can upfront in your outbound strategy so that you aren't lost in the sea.

What are your top tips on optimizing your LinkedIn profile?

Go to about five different job postings and see what words are repeated across those job postings. So for example, if you work a sales job, I can guarantee probably five keywords that would be repeated are cold emailing, prospecting, cold calling, HubSpot and Salesforce. Put those skills on your profile. If you can get people to endorse the skills section, you might appear a little bit higher in the recruiter's search. Also, for your header, maybe do a one-liner about what you do and what role you're looking for. Since your header is above the fold, it's one of the first things that recruiters see.?

How can applicants personalize their outreach and follow-up emails??

When you're following up after an interview, reference something that you talked about that may have not been about the job but was a way of connecting. It's one way to establish likeness. If you're sending someone a cold [outreach] message, if you went to the same university, that's a way of establishing likeness. Do your research on the person. When you're starting off your email, you want to use words like, 'I noticed that,' 'I saw your recent TikTok about,' 'I read your LinkedIn post about.' You want to make it about them. Make them feel seen to establish that relationship. Also, make it super short and actionable. No one wants to read huge blocks of text. If you're able to put in numbers anywhere, use numbers. If you're able to quantify something, it's easier for the other person to understand. And have a soft CTA [call to action], not a hard CTA. I like to end my emails saying something like, 'Either way, let me know.'

What's your advice on highlighting your transferable skills when applying to jobs in a different industry??

I was transitioning from a job in the transportation industry to a job in tech B2B sales. They were both sales roles but in completely different industries. [I showed my prospective team] 'I went from selling this much per car and this was my percentage impact. Here's how I can translate this to a sales pipeline.' If you're able to quantify anything, do that.

I also would say that when you're looking to show transferable skills, you should not forget about your volunteer work. I had a biology degree, but I transitioned into a sales job. Since biology wasn't super applicable, I looked at my extracurriculars, which were being a cheerleader and being a tour guide. I stressed things like communication and interpersonal skills. I stressed adaptability as a skill because I was working with people from all around the world. You have to be creative with your experiences.

?? What's your advice on navigating an early-career pivot? Share in the comments below.

?? College corner: Tips for career starters?

Negotiation tips to maximize your salary by Todd Dybas : Salary is always a weighty issue when talking terms before a new job. And haggling to improve an offer can be challenging. Here are four tips from Fast Company to help financial negotiations: Know your worth beforehand, be clear on what you provide, use more facts and less emotions and understand other perks. Read more here .

Resume mistakes to avoid by Todd Dybas : The role of artificial intelligence in everything lurched forward in recent months. How it participates in hiring remains murky and often a concern for job hunters.CNBC Make It reports that in January the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission estimated that 99% of Fortune 500 companies use automation to parse applicants. The automatic filtering can create what some experts call a "resume black hole." Read more here .

What to know about the summer job market by Andrew Seaman : Labor markets around the world continue to shift as economies find their footings and employers evaluate the size of their workforces. LinkedIn Chief Economist Karin Kimbrough joins the Get Hired podcast once again to report on the latest trends, including why most U.S. states still have tight labor markets and why job seekers in the UK are better off than first thought. Read more here .

?? The 411: What Gen Z is talking about

Just days into Pride Month, the Human Rights Campaign declared a state of emergency for the LGBTQ+ community amid the rise of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. SoundMind co-founder Brian Femminella writes on LinkedIn that "it is crucial to sound the alarm on the injustices that lawmakers are committing to silence our voices." See Femminella's call to action in his post below.

?? Stay a student: How to gain new skills

As career coach Jahleane Dolne shared, establishing a rapport with an interviewer can boost your likeness during the hiring process. For more advice on how to engage the likeability effect when job searching, check out this LinkedIn Learning course . It covers everything from how to be a likable candidate to what recruiters look for when hiring. Watch the course below or by clicking here .