I recently saw a post on LinkedIn where the author was a proponent of active job hopping. It really bothered me because I think it’s dangerous advice. As someone who has hired a lot of people over my career, I’d like to give some reasons why you may want to stay in that job a bit longer before jumping to the next great opportunity.
The first thing I would do when a resume hits my inbox was to check the person’s job history. I will typically look at the last 2-3 positions. How long were they employed? Am I seeing any trends in job tenure? I want to see that they have not made a career of jumping from one role to another.
Here’s why is job hopping can be an issue for a manager:
- It might be an indicator of poor performance or impatience. I’ll be given different reasons for the short tenures in prior roles – bad company, bad manager, lack of growth opportunities – and some of those might be true. But when I see a string of 3 or more in a row of similar length, I’m guessing there might be other reasons in play.
- It takes a new hire several months to hit stride. Regardless of the role, it takes several months for a new hire to get ramped up in the company and be able to execute at a high level. Until then, the returns on the individual for the manager and the company will be low.
- Hiring new people is hard, especially in tough markets. If someone leaves the company quickly after they are hired, I will need to invest significant time and money to replace that person. I’d rather hire a person upfront that I’m confident will stick around (as long as I do my job and help them be successful).
- When a person departs, there is a risk of intellectual property or confidential information leaving the company. Resignations create risk for the business. I want to take the steps upfront to minimize potential for information to walk out the door with the employee.
I get it. Not all new jobs turn out to be a great fit.Also realize it’s true that changing jobs can lead to pay increases, especially in tight labor markets. On the surface, it can look like a “no brainer” to leave your current position for an easy pay bump.
But I can point to a large number of people that have stuck it out in companies and built very successful, lucrative careers. It is possible to have 10+ year runs at tech companies and still be financially happy.
If you’re in a dead-end job, by all means look for something new. But when you repeatedly job hop in your career, you need to understand this be seen as a red flag to some hiring managers and will close the door to some future opportunities. Make sure that next position is the right one.
