Gone are the days of staying with a company for 30-40 years. In fact, many would say staying with a company for life is a sign of lethargy, rather than a sign of loyalty. But is the constant hop a better career builder? Many potential employers consider too many hops on your resume a red flag. So where is the line? When does moving around help your career to move forward? How do you know it’s time to hop? When should you ride the wave?
For clarity, let’s begin with the pros and cons of job-hopping
Pros
Self-discovery: Walking away from college with a degree in hand is rarely an indication that you know exactly what you want to do. There are usually multiple directions to take said degree. Working in various positions not only gains skills and experience, but it also helps you decipher what defines the best job for you.
Experience Builder: Job-hopping can often be a surefire route to expand your repertoire of experience.
Increased Responsibility/Authority: Job-hopping often results in increased responsibilities and positions of authority.
Financial gain: Most job-hopping includes a higher salary and who can complain about that.
Variety: The spice of life. Not only in responsibilities but your understanding of industries/businesses.
Wider Networking: The truth is, you meet more people, and increase your connections – which could be very beneficial in the future.
Cons
Self- discovery: Sometimes job-hopping hinders your opportunity to fully experience and position and learn what makes you tick, leaving you in that situation where you know what you want – after you left it behind.
Shallow Experience: A wide variety of experience can be beneficial, but when you hop too much, your experience is shallow. Face it; some skills take time to master. In those cases, less is more and employers know that.
Lack of Promotion: Promotions are awarded to people who have earned them. Hopping may give you an increase of responsibility, but a climb to the next level usually requires being there long enough to earn it.
Loss of long-term financial advantage: While hopping may result in a pay raise, it takes staying with a company to build a 401K. When employers are adding to employee funds, it usually takes several years to become vested. Hence, a hop before then means losing out on what the employer gave to your 401K.
Losing Opportunities: Employers seek commitment in upper-level positions. If you have too many hops on your resume, you may get passed over for an opportunity for which you are well-qualified. The potential employer may recognize your qualifications, but they don’t want to invest in hiring someone who will move on in a couple of years, leaving them needing to begin the extensive and expensive hiring process all over again.
Lack of relationships: A variety of jobs can widen your network, but leave little opportunity to deepen it. Building relationships within your network is an essential. Often it’s not the number of people you know, but rather how well you know them, that makes a difference.
Balancing the pros and cons begins with understanding and evaluating them regarding your career climb. Once you have a clear understanding, you are ready to make a wiser decision on leaving or staying. You are ready to ask all the right questions.
What are those questions? Check in with us next week for part II.
Springborn Staffing is here to help you make those important career decisions. We’ll help you discover when it’s time to move on and what position is ideal for your skills, experience, lifestyle, interests, etc. We specialize in making those perfect matches between talent and companies in Bangor and Portland, Maine. Contact us today.
