‘Job Hopping’ is defined as an individual who has held multiple job titles at multiple different companies in a short period of time. In 2023, inflation has caused over 90% of employees to seek alternate employment, in search of a compensatory salary. A potential employer may be less inclined to offer you an interview, let alone a job if your resume indicates ‘job hopper’. To remedy this, recent job postings are demanding candidates have no more than 3 jobs in the last 10 years. Is a higher salary in the interim worth potentially damaging your long-term career growth?

There are a variety of reasons that may cause an individual to jump from role to role. Perhaps they are simply non-committal and are unsure of the direction they want to go, perhaps they’ve had a string of bad luck between the pandemic and mass layoffs and they’ve struggled to find their new niche.

Some may argue that job-hopping is not a negative thing to which we would reply, you are correct. In some circumstances, you may be hopping from one position that you’ve held for less than a year to a position with a higher compensation and benefits package. We are not referring to this instance. From our perspective, if you are being offered a new role or “recruited,” though it may look like job-hopping on paper, the hiring manager or recruiter is typically more understanding and will not count this toward you. We are referring to someone who has held, say, 6 jobs in the last 3 years. If you fall under this category, know that when you are submitting your resume to open jobs you may not even be considered. Managing Director for Singapore and Malaysia, Jaya Dass stated that she would, “take the achievements on a job-hopper’s resume with a pinch of salt.” Rightfully so, hiring managers or recruiters are less inclined to take action on a candidate whose resume directly reflects non-commitment. Why would such candidates’ approach to their open roles be any different? They would rather assume that this candidate will not last in the role than spend the thousands of dollars it costs to onboard and train a new employee just to potentially lose it. Would you go out with a person who has an extensive history of cheating on their significant others? No, because you can probably assume that if they did it to them, they will do it to you. There comes a point when your jumping from position to position can either be explained as your inability to define what exactly you want in a job or that you are continually being terminated from the roles, which is also not a good sign.

Prior to accepting a new role, try to determine exactly what it is that you are looking for. Are you just in it for the money? If that’s the case there are plenty of businesses with help wanted signs in their windows, but you can’t complain if you are dissatisfied with management or hours because ultimately you are getting what you wanted out of it and that’s a paycheck. It is up to you to determine what you want out of a job, and though sometimes it may be hard to define, hopping from role to role is only going to hurt you in the long run. As tough as it sounds, you may have to pick something and stick with it regardless of the satisfaction that it gives you. There are pros and cons to every position out there and I’ll bet if you asked anybody, they could tell you that there may be one thing about their job that they would change if they could. However, if the pros outweigh the cons, then you know you’ve found a sweet spot that isn’t worth just throwing away. Maybe you really enjoy your coworkers and the relationships you’ve established. Maybe you really enjoy the hours you work as it allows you to have a better work-life balance.

For assistance in your job search or your search for qualified candidates, please call (518) 275-4816 or email jobs@walrathrecruiting.com

 

 

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