Job Hopping: Disadvantages, Advantages and Strategies

The company would offer lifetime

employment in exchange for

loyalty. That unspoken agreement

has radically changed.

Today, we can be let go at a

moments notice, and so career

self-management has never

been more important.

What exactly is job hopping?

Loosely defi ned, it is too frequently

changing jobs to the

detriment of your career. The

phrase “too frequently” is subjective.

Someone may say

3 years is too frequent while

someone else may say changing

jobs once a year is not a

problem. Also, Job hopping

may depend on the fi eld. For

start-up companies, the guideline

might be 2 to 3 years of

loyalty. It also depends on the

level of responsibility. For example,

a college president that

leaves after only a few years

might be perceived negatively.

Few would argue that less than

a year is job hopping.

Disadvantages

Employers do not want a new

employee to experiment with

their career choices on company

time. Corporations don’t

appreciate a worker leaving

right after they have made an

investment in their training.

For some jobs, it takes time,

perhaps a whole year or more,

to get someone up and running

from infancy to productivity.

When an employee job hops,

the company loses the investment

they have made in them.

The person should assess,

what did I really accomplish in

the mere 6 to 9 months I was

there? It’s hard to explain that

to your next employer.

People job hop because they

get easily bored and become

impulsive. They may panic

and just take the next random

job that fi ts their fancy at that

moment. Be aware in advance

of the warning signs of a necessary

move before the job

becomes intolerable and you

are backed into a corner or feel

trapped. You don’t want to get

to the boiling point where you

simply can’t take it any longer

and make an irrational decision.

Gone are the days of lifetime

employment with a corporation,

but the other extreme of

bouncing from job to job has

its consequences. Unfortunately,

sometimes those consequences

set in later in a career,

especially in future interviews.

You may not think your resume

is spotty, but a potential

employer may perceive you

as someone who is not going

to stay and may be unreliable.

You will be expected to support

your rationale for leaving

each job in an interview situation.

Ask the interviewer what

the expectations are of staying

in this position so that you are

both on the same page.

In the short-term, you can take

any job for the safety and security

of benefi ts and salary, but I

assure you in the long-term that

alone will not sustain you if it’s

not your passion. Job hopping

is typically a result of a lack of

long-term career goals, and so

your career should be purpose

driven.

Advantages

Moving from job to job in your

20s is different than when you

are more professionally mature.

In the early stages of your

career, you might stay in jobs

1 to 2 years, then 2 to 3 years,

and then you might be off to

graduate school. Next, you

might progress into jobs where

you stay 3 to 5 years then other

more seasoned positions for 5

to 7 years. I do not recommend

staying in any one position for

more than 10 years. Staying in

the same job for 30+ years is

a no-no in today’s market and

may result in career suicide.

However, staying with one

company for 30 years and having

several diverse jobs or even

careers which would keep you

challenged and your skill set

sharpened is positive.

Try to strike a happy medium

between job hopping and staying

too long. Sometimes job

hopping is unavoidable because

the situation is intolerable.

It’s advisable that a shortterm

stint be followed by a

long-term position to reassure

future employers that you are

less of a hiring risk.

Strategies

Every time you make a move

you need to be thinking, what

are the consequences both positive

and negative? Before you

make a decision consider these

questions:

• Am I leaving this job because

I’m desperate or I am making a

strategic decision?

• Where will this position take

me next?

• What doors will be opened

and what doors will be closed

from making this important

choice?

• Will this move help me advance

my career or is it a place

holder?

• How long will I be in this

next job?

• Have I kept my resume and

skills sets up to date?

• Am I highly networked or do

I need to improve in that area

this year?

Most people don’t think this

way, but in today’s competitive

economy you need to take

ownership of your career development.

You want to stay

with an employer to show your

commitment, gain experience

and build your resume. You

don’t want to stay too long that

you are not challenged and

your skills and experience become

stale. To stay ahead of

the game you want to have a

strategy and a timetable.

With proper self-assessment

you can develop a set of shortterm

and long-term goals to

guide your decision-making.

I recommend that you remain

conscious and deliberate

in each job move. I suggest

that you think in terms of

short-term, intermediate term,

and long-term goals. Be sure

your goals and job choices are

aligned with your core skills,

values, interests and personality.

By committing your goals

to writing you are more likely

to stay on track and achieve

them.

Even if you love your job today,

start looking for your next

one right now. I recommend

you stay organized by keeping

a folder of “opportunities”

that you come across. No employer

expects you to be with

them for a lifetime, because

they themselves have changed

jobs too. Sometimes you have

to reinvent yourself.

Some people don’t even know

that they are job hopping because

they have not taken

stock of their past experience

as well as how long they have

been in each job. Updating

your resume on a regular or annual

basis can help you realize

the need to build your education,

training, skills and experience.

Meeting with a career

counselor for an annual “career

check-up” can be motivating

and improve the direction of

your career. It’s never too late

to explore your options.

If you are results oriented, you

will continue to be marketable.

If you have energy and

enthusiasm, you increase your

chances of being hired. It matters

less where you are, than

where you want to go, how

you will get there and who

will help you reach your goals.

Ask yourself, what am I going

to do to further myself in the

next 12 months? You have to

be proactive and take care of

your career like you would an

infant. It’s your responsibility

to nurture it and love it.

Thomas J. Denham, MEd is the

Managing Partner & Career

Counselor of Careers In Transition

LLC. He helps people

explore their options with career

testing, make job changes,

write resumes and cover letters

and prepare for interviews.

He can be reached a (518)

366-8451 or on the Internet at

either www.CareersInTransitionLLC.

com or careersintran

sition@yahoo.com.