Have you ever had to leave your job? Or considering leaving your job? Or are you looking for new job opportunities? Or maybe wanting to make career progression towards different industries? Whatever it may be, a very common question you may get asked during your interview is - Why did you leave your last job? And it’s best to be well-prepared to answer this one! This is not something that will only help your current or future employer to understand your situation, it also helps you as an individual to prioritise what’s important to you at your job and what’s not.

Recently we conducted a survey to understand the top reasons for employees to leave their jobs with a sample size of 100 people.

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Below are our findings from the survey.

88% of our interviewees had quit their job at some point in their career!

The top 5 reasons people left their job was due to:

No or limited career growth (58.8%)
Dissatisfied with the salary (47%)
No or poor work-life balance ( 20.6%)
Inequality within the work environment (14.7%)
No or low job security / Covid-19 pandemic (8.8%)

Around 63% wanted to switch their career path and 37% wanted to stick within the same career path. We also wanted to know if people had the intention of upskilling themselves whether that’s to help at their current job or for a career switch. Around 90% were interested in upskilling themselves whereas 10% were not interested.

Top 3 reasons for people leaving their jobs

1. No or limited career growth

It is in human nature to grow and want more and it goes without saying that it applies to career growth too! Either you grow into it or grow out of it.

It is definitely an important factor for employees to assess career growth at their current or prospective job.

However, is quitting and changing your job the only way to grow?

Tips to boost your career growth without leaving your job

There are few things you can do to improve your career growth and take the things into your hand.

• Upskilling and reskilling allow you to expand your career growth and open more avenues for you to explore within your current job.
• Raise the issue to your employer about how to further your career growth within the company.
• Look for an area in which you can add value for the company and possibly expand.

2. Dissatisfied with the salary

Salary is one of the most important factors in motivating employees of all ages to leave their jobs and look for other opportunities. It is a legitimate reason to leave a job where you feel you are underpaid.

Tips to negotiate for a higher salary

There are few things that can be done if you’re not satisfied with your salary for the job you do.

• Upskill yourself with additional skills that may allow you to be more resourceful at your current job.
• Negotiate with your employer and prepare some facts to back up your points as to how you’ve helped in the company's growth.
• Do market research on the salary range for your industry and experience level.

3. No or poor life balance

Poor work-life balance can affect your mental and physical health and it challenges many of us. Having a harmonious work-life balance is essential for your long-term benefit.

Tips to balance your work-life without quitting your job

Here are a few tips to incorporate into your daily routine to have a better work-life balance.

• Prioritize the tasks that need to be completed urgently and your time accordingly.
• If you’re a morning person, try completing the harder tasks in the morning, however, if you get energized in the afternoon then leave the complicated tasks for then.
• Set short and long-term goals and work towards them to keep yourself focused.
• Upskill and reskill yourself to improve your overall productivity and performance while encouraging you to cope up better with the work.

There are various reasons why an employee may quit their job, it could be due to a single reason or many, and you never know upskilling or reskilling yourself might help you to deal with those issues.

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How to get a future-proof job?

Future-proof job may seem a vague concept but it basically means to take extra steps in preparing yourself for future changes in the workforce, especially since we’re moving more and more towards technology. And it also means being able to adapt to those changes.

Tips to future-proofing your career

• Become tech-savvy to stay relevant with the technological developments, which can also aid in your current or prospective job.
• Keep expanding hard skills and soft skills that are transferable that employers seek.
• Keep inventory of your accomplishments as you continue working to ensure you don’t forget highlighting them in interviews.
• Try setting up digital portfolio to showcase your work to future employers
• Keep networking in the right and meaningful way virtually or in-person.  
• Set your career progression plan to not lose path and rather be determined to pursue them by taking required training, developing technical skills, etc.

With rapid technological advances, it is important to continuously develop your skills which is the foremost way to future-proof your employability. Expand your skills either by formally joining tech courses, on-job learning or switching your job.

At Xccelerate, we have many students from various backgrounds, industries and ages wanting to either upskill themselves for their current job or completely switch careers to tech industry.

With the tech industry evolving rapidly so is the tech industry job market! According to Investopedia 2020, the top best tech jobs are - [data scientists], [software developers], information security analyst, computer systems analyst and web developer. It is quite popular nowadays for people to switch to tech careers without any prior coding experience or other technical skills.

Read Also: Tech Career Outlook for Hong Kong 2021

Here are a few success stories of our previous students who came to Xccelerate to boost their careers and successfully accelerated their careers.

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Xccelerate Student Stories

Fixing company’s ‘tech neck’

Fred, our former Data Science & Machine Learning Immersive student, runs Internet of Things (IoT) and automation company in Germany. He came to Xccelerate to upskill himself to be able to use the learned knowledge and apply it within his business and foster team and company growth.

Read his story here

Marketeer to Front-end developer

Jacqueline, our former Web Development student, started her career in marketing but with limited career growth in the company and not being able to meet her personal savings goal, she decided to pursue a career as a front-end developer.

Read her story here

3D artist to UX Designer (UX)

Erika, our former UX Design student, was working in an architectural company prior to joining the part-time user experience design. She was looking for a more collaborative work environment and wanted to pursue her passion for design.

Read her story here

Related Tech Courses in Hong Kong

• Full-time Data Science & Machine Learning Immersive
• Full-time Full-stack Web Development Immersive
• Full-time Full-stack UX Design Immersive
• Part-time User Experience Design

Need more advice?

If you are at a choice point in your career and need someone to help you navigate professional challenges. You can make an appointment to our complimentary 1-on-1 Career Consultation and receive personalised career advice.