The days of working with the same employer for life are well and truly over in the marketing and digital space. Generations Y and Z are often looking for diverse working experiences and try a number of different types of roles in various companies in their early careers before finding their niche. However, as recruiters in this space we see a number of consistent themes that both job seekers and employers might find useful when planning that next career move or recruiting a new member of staff.

Here’s our top 5!

Career progression – we’re not talking about salary here (but we will). In structured hierarchies, whilst an employer may think they are offering all the opportunities in the world, if progression is blocked staff will look elsewhere.

Salary/Benefits – whilst a cliché, in reality many people can get more money in their bank accounts each month by moving jobs regularly. 5-10% increases for moving jobs on top of your annual increases soon add up. The down side here is that you could quickly be seen as a ‘job-hopper’ and then all sorts of awkward questions arise in interviews that you’d rather not have to answer...

Technology – possibly the main reason young people move on from a company, particularly within the creative sector, is that they are attracted by working with the best/latest technologies. New companies moving into a region often come with exciting new ways of doing things and this will be a real pull for ambitious creatives, keen to progress their careers.

Working relationships with peers and managers – although a key emotional driver for some, and certainly very important as you spend more time at work through the week than you do at home (hopefully you like your partner when you get home!), there are very few places that are ‘bad’ to work at. However, equally, most aren’t perfect. So, make sure you’re doing what you can to contribute to the positive work environment. In interview, be careful how you position this…

Corporate culture and open communication – staff can often feel disengaged and therefore start to look for other things when they don’t know what’s going on in the business. Where are you heading and are they with you? Worth spending a bit of time thinking about this if retaining staff is important to you.

So, plenty to think about from both an employer and employee perspective. Sometimes it’s right to move on, sometimes you should stay. We hope our guide helps!