Anupam Mittal defends Gen Z job-hopping as ‘career dating’ but warns of one mistake that kills leadership dreams

Anupam Mittal described job-hopping at this stage as a form of self-discovery. Young professionals, he said, are essentially ‘dating’ different industries, roles, and workplace cultures to figure out what suits them best.

3 min readNew DelhiFeb 3, 2026 02:53 PM IST

Mittal suggested a rough roadmap for young professionals: explore aggressively between 21 and 24, but once past 25, commit to a role or organisation for at least four years.

Anupam Mittal, the founder and CEO of Shaadi.com and a familiar face on Shark Tank India, has weighed in on the debate around Gen Z professionals and their tendency to switch jobs early in their careers. His recent LinkedIn post, which quickly gained traction online, pushed back against what he sees as unfair criticism of young workers.

“Let’s stop shaming GenZ for switching jobs,” Mittal wrote, calling out “career gurus” who, according to him, harshly judge 22-year-olds for changing roles frequently. He argued that the early years of a career are meant for exploration, not rigid expectations.

Mittal described job-hopping at this stage as a form of self-discovery. Young professionals, he said, are essentially “dating” different industries, roles, and workplace cultures to figure out what suits them best. If something doesn’t feel right, they shouldn’t feel pressured to stay. “If you not feeling it, move. Don’t feel bad about it. This is the time to explore,” he wrote.

That said, Mittal was clear that this freedom shouldn’t stretch indefinitely. Calling it a “big but”, he stressed the importance of eventually settling down and building depth. He wrote that while evaluating candidates for senior leadership roles, he often dismisses CVs that don’t show at least one long stint of four to five years.

He also broke down why time matters. “Usually, one cannot see the consequences of their own decisions in 12 months,” he explained, adding, “Year 1 – You’re learning. Year 2 – You’re executing. Year 3 – You’re dealing with the mess in Year 2 and scaling the wins.”

Check out the post:

Mittal suggested a rough roadmap for young professionals: explore aggressively between 21 and 24, but once past 25, commit to a role or organisation for at least four years. According to him, longevity is essential for anyone aspiring to leadership. “If you want to be a Founder or a CEO, you need to prove you can stay in the kitchen when it gets hot,” he wrote, adding that while it may take a year to understand a job, it takes three to five years to truly understand an industry.

His post struck a chord with many LinkedIn users, who shared their own reflections in the comments. One of them wrote, “This hit closer than I expected. I’ve been confused for a while about whether switching = failure or growth, and this honestly cleared my head. Exploring first and committing later makes so much sense when you put it this way, Anupam Mittal sir.”

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Another user commented, “Job switching and exploring is a smart move, in my opinion. By the time I was 23, I had a clear idea on exactly what I didn’t want to do!”

A third user commented, “GenZ have different way of thinking and working that’s simple as it is.” A fourth commenter wrote, “Early switching is exploration but staying long enough is where judgment is built.”