How often is too often, when it comes to changing jobs? If you’re in your mid-twenties and your career history is as chequered as a chess board, how likely is it that potential employers will be chucking your CV straight in the bin?
Job-hopping is getting a lot more frequent. Particularly with Gen’s Y & Z, who are used to everything in their life being as disposable as an iPhone. With the temptation of higher salaries and better perks around every corner (and the growing expectation that ‘work’ should be almost as much fun as a day on the beach) it’s unsurprising that some of us are throwing in the towel as soon as the working week starts to become a drag.
But, will job-hopping make you happy in the long-run? Or can it actually damage your career prospects? We look at some reasons for job-hopping, to understand whether they are valid or not:
The economy
If you worked for a residential house builder or high street bank circa 2007, chances are your job was in the firing line at the time. In these circumstances, it’s very unlikely any potential new employer would be put off if you jumped ship before it was too late.
Bad career choices
You decided that you wanted a job where you were selling on the telephone for most of the day, because a) you like to talk and b) those sales bonuses look amazing.
In reality, you realise that a) those sales targets are so unachievable they make you want to hide in the toilet, b) it’s tiring and c) you actually don’t like to talk that much.
Again, don’t worry – if this sounds familiar, it’s not going to be healthy for you to stay.
Bad bosses
If your boss is any of the following:
- Chauvinist
- Micro-manager
- Degrading
- Bullying
- Lazy
- A gossip
- The type that wants ‘everything’ in an email, so he / she can blame you if you didn’t do something properly
- Incompetent
It’s quite fair that leaving your job is the right thing to do. Get out whilst you can!
It’s absolutely fine to admit you’ve made mistakes. Nobody is perfect. But, if it looks like you’re going from industry to industry for no reason other than boredom, chances are that it won’t look good on paper.
If you do need to job-hop; try and steer your career in a direction where others can see the reasoning behind it, particularly if you are side-stepping or even taking a step back. Plus, if you are making a change, it may be wise to stick at it for at least a year or two. If you’ve got a CV where you’re moving around every six months, hiring managers will just assume you’ll continue that pattern - so you may find that those job offers will be difficult to come by.