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Job-Hopping: Career Killer or Savior?
Tania Khadder | Excelle
Job-hopping as an asset
It sounds like a contradiction in terms, but some experts now say there are benefits to job-hopping — and not just for the employee.
For one, they argue, it can help those early in their career figure out what they want to do. Let’s face it: no personality test or career adviser can compare with real world experience.
On her blog, Brazen Careerist, career expert Penelope Trunk wrote about job-hopping as a path to career stability. In her post, says it’s “nearly impossible to find something right without trying a bunch of options”
Trying different jobs also means building a more diverse skill-set.
Explore to figure out what you like
“[Job-hoppers] continue to hone their skills and develop new ones,” says Ron Katz of Penguin HR Consulting. “And not just the tactical/technical skills. They also develop the strategic skills, the ones that transfer from job to job and assignment to assignment.”
And what effect does all that hopping around have on performance?
Trunk says job-hoppers tend to be top performers because they have no choice but to deliver results. “If you don’t need to get another job anytime soon, then you don’t need to perform well in the next six months. You can coast,” she says. “Job hoppers don’t coast or their resume will look bad.”
Another benefit to job-hopping, at least in the short term, is monetary gain. Career consultant Tammy Kabell says you can negotiate a 10-15% salary increase with a new company, a significant gain from the average 3-5% you’ll get annually if you stay put.
And it’s not just the job-hopper who benefits. “Employees that move from company to company are like bees collecting pollen… and sharing that info with a new employer each time they come on board,” says Kabell.
“This is especially evident when a smaller employer hires someone who has experience from a large company. That employee brings with them excellent training, policies, procedures – basically the best practices of companies with much larger budgets and possibly a longer history and therefore a longer evolution than a smaller or newer company.”
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about 1 year ago
786 comments
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lpurello
over 2 years ago
6 comments
I gain much needed review on career reasons to stay or leave a job. It needs to be a well thought out decision. Sometimes though you have to have at least a few positives in the group or you get weighed down by the negative forces.
Bapshae
almost 3 years ago
10 comments
In some states there is a Right to work law that states that employers do not have to hire or fire with good or bad reason. So qualify or not, you think you got it but you don't. This includes the equal oppertunity employer agreement that gives them lead way not to follow. This makes it difficult for jobseekers to get a job especially if they where not internally referred through the company. Do you have advice for that.
Bapshae
almost 3 years ago
10 comments
In some states there is a Right to work law that states that employers do not have to hire or fire with good or bad reason. So qualify or not, you think you got it but you don't. This includes the equal oppertunity employer agreement that gives them lead way not to follow. This makes it difficult for jobseekers to get a job especially if they where not internally referred through the company. Do you have advice for that.
Bapshae
almost 3 years ago
10 comments
Do you have any other advice for those who probably look like a flake but aren't.
dbrct
almost 4 years ago
10 comments
Great article. This is consistent with the trend of mobile, knowledge workers. With the rising costs of employment, companies are trending towards seasoned (even mature) workers that have a good work ethic and can deliver results.
After graduating in 2000, I worked for 2 companies in one year (2001), and both shut down and moved to Mexico. It was unbelievable, and I knew then I could not get too comfortable at a company. Ironically, I've been with my present employer for 7 years - however, I've held 3 positions ranging from engineering to finance to quality.
When I interviewed for my current position, I knew I was a great candidate because I had a large network of contacts from previous jobs along with operations and finance experience. Job-hopping with a purpose is different than just wandering from job to job.
I just wrote a blog on my website (www.careercougar.com) focused on career development. All of my moves had an express purpose for my long-term goal.
Thanks.
Daphne Robinson
www.careercougar.com
careercougar.wordpress.com
LaurieSheppard
almost 4 years ago
24 comments
Good information and pleased to see you provide an article outline first and stick to it. Site and book references also helpful. It doesn't specifically target do's and don'ts in this tough economy and it really is a matter of savings and pain quotient as to whether one should consider this now when so many are laid off. But certainly in terms of looking bad on your resume, the main two points being that it depends what you accomplished before leaving and what your reasons are for leaving, are clearly stated and useful reminders!
Laurie Sheppard/Life and Career Coach
PhillAlexandros
almost 4 years ago
10 comments
I'm 29 years old, and the longest I've stayed in a job is two years. Apart from the economy, I've never had trouble finding another job (given the expected 3 month wait). Questions about why I left those jobs are only natural, after all companies want to know why you're going to leave them, and they know you will. Unless you work for government, there really isn't much to stick around for anymore. Not to mention the amount of people who get fired after 20+ years service because they are approaching retirement. I don't look at job-hopping negatively, if anything, it says a person is able to cope with change.
gardentigeress
almost 4 years ago
32 comments
Try job hopping in the trucking world and you will get hit with a big eight ball on your forehead or only get offers from companies that take anyone with a CDL and you are just a number.
julienaclim
almost 4 years ago
14 comments
I worked for a company for eleven years until it went bankrupt. It was my first "real job" out of college and an experience that while I am grateful for I never wish to do again. In the last two years I have had a job per year (contract work) on account of the economy. It has been awesome. I have learned more than when I was permanent. It has openned new doors and I have received much higher pay. I no longer believe that it is healthy to ones carreer to stay stagnated in the same company. I was told once in an interview that there where two types of employees "the lifers" and "the shakers and movers". A lot of companies are undergoing severe internal transitions, some even trying to catch up with 21st century software programs (fare-thee-well-dusty-old-abacus). These companies are looking for guidance, fresh blood basically, someone whose been on the outside and can shed new light on their dusty cubicles. There is a lot of friction from old timers who are resentful to the shakers and the movers. Eventually I will like to stop being a shaker and a mover but having been a lifer once I think it will be a while before I decide to anchor permanently anywhere.
barbpro39
almost 4 years ago
4 comments
I agree in the sense that job hopping can expand on your skills and experience. I am still in doubt how it comes across because I have experienced recruiters and managers on interviews questioning why had I left previous positions, and when my last "long term" position was, but especially during these times, I feel it is to be more expected than usual that employees change jobs more often. Now also I can say I am more focused than before on my specific career goal and what I want to do.
megrhoedd
almost 4 years ago
2 comments
I agree.. I'm what I guess you would consider a Job Hopper. I have training as a NursesAide, Retail,Sales,Data Entry, Cleaning,Food Service, Supervisory,and Customer Service. I have worked for Goodyear Corporate HQ, Interval Brotherhood Home,Rose Lane Nursing Home, SummaCare Insurance, etc. I'm a hard worker and I can land the jobs, in fact I could train someone how to get the job they want. From Rhonda, Clinton, OH
Caramelqueenm
almost 4 years ago
2 comments
Sooo tue! I too have had several jobs, great jobs with top companies. I go where the money and opportnutity lie. It's important to think of yourself as a business, because you are. Your fate should not lie in the hands of an employer, you should keep control and move where you see fit. Employers will replace you in a heartbeat, so gear up, and become invaluable to yourself, let no one determine your destiny, blaze your own path!
kbtordai
almost 4 years ago
1556 comments
I just turned 34. I have had nine jobs in the last ten years. I have been in my current position for just over one year and had a very good interview for a new prospect today! I get a lot of guff from family, friends and managers from time to time, and some even make fun of me. But little do they know how much knowledge I have gained and I can easily change jobs even in this economy - Whose laughing now?