Job-hopping & Your Career

Changing jobs frequently or ‘job-hopping’ as it is commonly known by employers is something that candidates should be aware with their career.

Changing jobs frequently or ‘job-hopping’ as it is commonly known by employers is something that is typically looked down upon. Although it can be hard to establish how long you should stay at a company, there is often the view that you should be willing to stay at a company for two years or more.

Those that are job hoppers may have a variety of reasons, more often than not it is related to the job hopper not being aware of ‘what they are getting into’ and as a result they aren’t prepared for the challenges that they potentially face. Job hopping will usually affect someone’s career success in a negative manner as job-hopping to often can give a negative image to potential employers.

Many employers will take into consideration ‘the two-year rule’ which is where you must be willing to commit mentally to spend two years or more at a company before you leave, this more often than not relates to the learning curve involved with the job as if you job-hop too often you are unlikely to learn anything substantial. This two year period will often break down into one year before you know the ‘ins and outs’ of the company that you are working for and the second year is when you become productive in adding value to the company.

If you are a stable person and your CV doesn’t make you come across as being a job-hopper, you are more likely to receive investment in terms of training from the company that provide you with employment as they are more likely to view you as stable and as a result someone that is able to contribute back to the company. Job-hopping will send a signal that you are not ready to commit.

The view that many take as being a solution to ending job-hopping is to ‘know what you want’ in terms of establishing what you would like to get out of your career and where you want to go so that you can find a job that you have a genuine interest in staying at.