Is Job Hopping The Right Way To Boost Your Career?
It’s been two months, and you are thinking of switching your current job already? Before you take the step, do consider if this is the right decision. How will you explain the short tenures of your respective jobs in the resume? How will it affect your long term career goals? Are you sure the move will be better for you? All these questions need to be taken into account before coming to a final decision.
What Is Job Hopping?
Job hopping is a term that has been coined for candidates who have switched various jobs within a short span of time. In the wake of the high inflation and the economic crisis, job hopping has become a far more common phenomenon than it was in the past. Nowadays, people switch jobs easily as long as they are being offered a better position and pay, or even if they are being offered only one of the two. Since it is becoming harder for companies to hold onto good employees, job hoppers are getting better employments as compared to what they did in the past. Yet, job hopping is a phenomenon that indicates inconsistency at your end, a trait that is frowned upon by all employers universally.
Common Reasons For Job Hopping:
Most of the time, all job hoppers have similar reasons for switching various jobs in a short period of time. These reasons include:
A Lucrative Pay:
A major reason behind any job shift is a better pay offer than the one that the employee is working on. Everyone wants to earn more and a better pay offer is often hard to resist. There are not many people who can refuse a good pay offer just to stay with the current employer. Most of the time when people take up a better job offer they fail to take into consideration the pros and cons that go with it.
Personal Goals:
Everyone has some career related goals that he or she wants to be fulfilled sooner than later. Whenever you receive a job offer comes in that promises to accomplish one or more of your personal goals, there is a high chance that you will take the job. The problem arises when you keep on receiving good career offers over a short period of time and go on accepting each offer. In the long run, it ends up doing more harm to your career than good.
Prestigious Company:
When you receive a job offer from a prestigious multinational company, it becomes almost impossible for you to resist. Sometimes people just accept the offer even if there are no monetary benefits associated or no promotion in rank is being offered. This is a mistake since the next time you move to another job, it will be hard to explain why you switched to a job that had so little growth to offer. Making such moves more than one time can even be disastrous for your long term career goals.
Stuck At The Wrong Job:
There are many people who feel that they chose the wrong field or company in the first place and are now stuck at a job that is not what they intended. In order to rectify that, they often switch jobs from one field to another or from one organization to another within the same field. Over time, it might happen that you have changed more companies than you can keep track of, and failed to gain any relevant experience.
Dealing With Job Hopping On Your Resume:
Job hopping is a phenomenon that becomes obvious from your resume at first glance and since the HR managers only give your resume a minute or two, there are high chances that your CV might be turned down from a lot of places. However, there are a few measures you can take to make sure that the manager does not throw your CV away after the first glance.
• Conceal The Dates
If you have switched too many jobs in a small period of time, make sure that you do not highlight the dates of your employment on resume. Either put them in a smaller font or in parenthesis so that the employer’s eye does not go straight to the dates. Another trick is to use the year only rather than the months and exact date.
• Eliminate Jobs:
If you held a job for only a month or so, and it does not hold significance as far as your career is concerned, it is better to remove that job from the resume. This will help in strengthening your resume by reducing the impression of being a job hopper.
• Improvise With The Cover Letter:
The best way to grab the attention of the managers is to us the cover letter to explain the reasons for switching jobs so often. Be sure to make a strong case for yourself and give reasons that are professional and show that you are neither inconsistent nor a causal worker. Prove your worth so that the managers feel obliged to at least give you a try.
• Provide recommendations:
If you left your previous employers on good terms, you should be able to provide letters of reference and recommendations on your behalf, which will create a positive impression on the employer.
Job Hopping An Asset?
While job hopping is a practice that can often end up setting you back in your career, it can be of some profit as well. Some companies view the large number of jobs you have held as a sign that you have gained a lot of experience in different fields and might be an asset to them. However, keep in mind that the managers will be interviewing you specifically to find out if you have actually learnt something valuable during the job hopping and if you have honed your skills or not. So, unless you have fully utilized the various opportunities to gain considerable experience, there are high chances that you might not be called in for a second interview.
Concluding argument:
While job hopping might offer some short term benefits such as an increased pay scale or a better position, it has little to offer in the long run. In order to achieve a steady career growth you have to be able to maintain a job for a certain period of time, during which you should strive hard to be at the top of your game. Once you have gained all the experience you need and feel that you have reached your maximum growth potential, only then you should make the move. Remember, once you gain the reputation of being a job hopper, it is very hard to be taken seriously in the professional circles.
March 10th, 2010 at 5:37 pm
While job hopping is not the best practice when it comes to career growth, one must not ignore the level of maturity shown by employers in retaining their best blood. Economic equation always works and the demand for some will always cause the attrition, however there will be few who plan a long term hopping before hand, just to grow. Employees have this tendency to look outside the organization if and when their current employer is lagging behind the market, either in terms of technology, salary or role. Many firms do not pay bonuses even when doing good, because the market is in recession. Many do not look at inflation trends during salary reviews etc. This eventually causes good people lose their buying power over time and even when they like the work environment, they are forced to look outside to keep abreast of their own financial growth. Again I disagree that people can plan to hop-up the org. chart, but market situations and lack of sufficient insight into HR policies definitely adds to it.
March 10th, 2010 at 5:54 pm
Thanks ROZEE.PK for such an informative article. Truly an eye opener. I was always against job hopping but not entirely. Now i can see the pros and cons of it.
March 11th, 2010 at 8:09 am
Subject is very relevant and the dimensions touched upon are good. I have only observation that concealing the dates of jobs changed in quick succession seems unethical and is equal to deception. It is better to speak the truth right in the beginning instead of having the facts unfold later and then a negative impact on the managers.
March 11th, 2010 at 10:34 am
This was an amazing article and gave me a lot of information, but there is one thing I wanted to share regarding how much time should an employee spend in an organization. There is a research that says that one should change the job after 3 years provided there is no growth in the current job. What would you recommend in this case?
March 11th, 2010 at 11:28 am
I think job hopping has some more advantages than described over here. A person switching two organizations within two years, means he might have gained more skills than staying in one organization. He will also have a better understanding of different environment than staying in one environment for two years. When a person joins an organization, his learning process mostly continues for one year, after which it slows down with time and at one point it just becomes repetition of work in our environment, which results in negative effects on employee’s energy and skills. While on other hand if a person switches an organization after one year, he may face new tasks, new goals and new environment so his enthusiasm and energy may not spurt with time as he will face new challenges which will result in enhancement of not only his professional but also analytical skills.
March 11th, 2010 at 1:03 pm
Thank you Rozee.PK for the wonderful article. I totally agrees with Ahmed Ayub. Also when an employer is lagging behind the market, in terms of benefits provided by other companies, one has to consider another job.
March 11th, 2010 at 6:03 pm
I think job hopping is not a good practice, not just it’s a vicious cycle but it shows the insincerity and disloyalty on the part of an employee. It also shows an employee’s immaturity and inconsistency that he is not able to stick with his decision for a significant time period and has started looking for a job after a couple of months. One should think wisely and should take his time in selecting a job so that there is no need of rethinking after a short time. Stay at the current job for at least a year, it will add 5 stars to your resume and will prove your loyalty with the current employer.
March 12th, 2010 at 10:02 am
Once I read in column by a well known HR consultant and Writer Rahela Narejo, that in today’s competitive environment, spending more than 4 years in the same company and with the same position is a career suicide. Job Hopping was an obnoxious practice in retrospect but now it has become the need of the hour. However, a balanced approach should be adopted and if someone comes across a better opportunity then he or she should go for it as the concept of employees loyalty is fading away because in the current economic situation, MNCs and local firms don’t hesitate to layoff their employees to cut cost so why should we compromise.
March 12th, 2010 at 10:15 am
Recruiters will not necessarily frown upon job hopping especially in a tight labor market or if you have stepped to a higher level position each time you move. However in a slower economy or if the movement is lateral (simply moving to similar positions with other companies) then it will not be looked upon favorably.
March 12th, 2010 at 12:44 pm
Thanks Rozee.Pk I will like to make some comments on what my colleagues have to say. To some extent I agree with Jaseem Jan that job switching has more advantages than described above. If a person switches an organization after a reasonable time period he may face new tasks, goals and environment which will result in enhancement of not only his professional but also analytical skills. Otherwise it is quite true that frequent job changes without gaining potential, skills and experiences are not better for the employee.
March 16th, 2010 at 12:57 pm
Thanks Rozee.Pk for such a nice and informative article. Here I just want to add my few inputs. The concept has changed regarding working years in a same place. Especially in the era where economies are now open. If you see the statistics about job hopping in government and private organizations, you will understand that there is little job hopping in government organizations whereas in multinational private organizations job hopping is high.
March 31st, 2010 at 3:09 pm
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