Job hopping – a term that has become synonymous with millennials, indicating that the youth entering the modern workforce aren’t sold on settling with companies that don’t recognize them for the fantastic, skilled individuals they truly are.But can job hopping actually help your career path? What benefits does it hold, and more importantly, what are the repercussions of job hopping?
What Exactly is Job Hopping?
Job hoppers are individuals that continuously (every year or two) move from one job to another. According to a Kelly whitepaper, the number of job hoppers across the world has almost doubled over the last 20 years. Employees that practice the art of job hopping are influenced by a range of factors including economic circumstances and a high demand for top skills. The report also indicated that 55% of Kelly’s social media followers believed that job hopping could help you climb the corporate ladder much faster when compared to grinding a 9-5 job up until the age of 65.
What the Stats Indicate
Even though the notion of loyalty to a company has changed over the last ten years, 89% of SA’s major businesses still argue that job hopping can be harmful to a candidate’s job hunting efforts. As much as 90% of HR managers across SA say that they’d need an excellent explanation from a candidate detailing the reasons behind their job hopping history. This means that even though job seekers aren’t expected to have stayed with one company for more than a decade before moving on to greener pastures, red flags would definitely still be raised if a candidate has a history of repeated short tenure.
According to recent studies, 45% of respondents believed that job hoppers that didn’t stay with a company for at least two years could be seen as unreliable. 20% of HR managers believed that job hopping is mainly caused by poor judgment and poor performance. They also believe that individuals that job hop are not resilient and didn’t deliver on what they promised in previous jobs.
What Are the Benefits of Job Hopping?
- There’s an opportunity to learn – If you’re frequently changing jobs, you’ll have the opportunity of learning new skills, gaining new experience, and observing the ins-and-outs of various environments. Your job-hopping history might not be the ideal fit for a company that’s big on loyalty, so while the extra experience might be a score for you, your lack of dedication to one job might be harmful in the long run.
- It may keep you motivated – We all know that the best jobs are the ones that keep us excited, and if you’re job hopping because you’re focused on being as efficient and productive as possible by working a job that motivates and challenges you, it may be advantageous to you.
- It can equal financial rewards – often, changing jobs has a lot to do with the opportunity for increased income, whether it comes in the form of salaries, bonuses, or added company benefits. Job hopping may be beneficial if you’re getting better perks with a new employer.
What are the Disadvantages of Job Hopping?
- It may forge employer preconceptions – A lot of employers will avoid hiring job hoppers because they have assumptions about people that often change jobs. Employers will often believe that job hoppers are unable to hold on to their jobs for extended periods of time, and since they might believe that job hoppers aren’t serious about the position or the brand, they might have yet another preconception that the job seeker won’t add any real value to their organization.
- It diminishes the possibility for building strong connections – Sure, job hopping might help you network, but it won’t do you any favors as far as building strong relationships associated with working alongside a team for extended periods of time.
- It may see you hitting a glass ceiling – Job-hopping might offer perks such as higher salaries, but it may also limit your ability to move up the corporate ladder because you might never get an opportunity to become part of a major business’ succession plan.
Final Thoughts
To be successful in the corporate world, you need to manage your career right from the start. Tenure patterns play a vital role as far as first impressions are concerned, and depending on which industry you’re in, job hopping might harm the future of your career. Sure, nobody expects you to stay in one role at the same company if the fit just isn’t right, but if you’re serious about your career, you’ll have to show prospective employees that you have applied your skills and experience maturely and consistently over the lifespan of your career.