Last week I wrote an article called busting the top five myths about job searching. Another myth has come to mind since, and this one deserves its own article. It’s the misconception that people who have numerous jobs on their resumes (job hoppers) have limited career potential and make for bad hires.

I was speaking with a recruiter last week, and she told me that the number one red flag she watches out for on a resume is job hopping. She immediately screens out people who have held four or five jobs in a relatively short period of time.

Her assumption is that these candidates may look good on paper but actually be poor workers. This would explain why they could keep getting hired, but never last long in one spot. Or perhaps they have personality issues that lead to conflicts at work, also causing them to move on frequently. Even if neither of these are true, and the job hopper is merely restless in their career, their habit of changing jobs still makes the costs involved in recruiting, training and then eventually replacing them a poor investment.

I nodded in agreement, as all of this made sense to me at first hearing. But new research shows that the world of work has changed – and the whole notion of job hopping may be outdated. Now the majority of Canadians stay in any one job for less than two years. [See Thinkopolis research: Job hopping is the new normal]

More and more people chose to reinvent themselves and change career paths several times over the course of a career.  Many industries have been drastically affected by sweeping market changes over the past few years, and numerous talented, hard-working people have lost their jobs through no fault of their own. Sometimes more than once. When faced with economic upheaval few companies have the luxury of showing loyalty to their people. This turmoil could leave a completely loyal employee who craves stability being screened out for having a resume that implies job hopping.

But that’s not all. I actually think even intentional job hoppers can make better employees.

At this point, I should make a slight confession: my own resume may give some potential employers the impression that I am a bit of a job hopper myself. I’ve worked for four different companies over the past ten years (three of them in the past six).

At each of these companies, I have joined a team that had its own way of doing things. In each case, I have looked at the process and the goals with a fresh perspective and changed those ways of doing things. Each of those organizations broke new records of editorial success during my tenure.

Why hiring job hoppers is good for employers:

  • Changing jobs frequently gives workers a broader perspective of their industry, because they become familiar with the inner workings, challenges and strategies of numerous companies.

  • Job hoppers are perpetually the ‘new guy’ on the team and so work extra hard with no sense of complacency, because they are in the honeymoon, make a powerful first-impression phase.

  • Job hoppers tend to have valuable networks of contacts across the industry because they connect with new teams, clients and partners at each job along their journey. Hiring a job hopper gives your whole team access to this network of resources.

Why job hopping is good for candidates:

  • First off, you tend to make more money faster by jumping jobs. The amount a new company will pay an employee they are trying to woo is higher than the average annual raise most companies pay their employees.

  • You will likely have less periods of unemployment. As a person who changes jobs frequently, you learn to see the writing on the wall early when departments are in trouble and cutbacks are coming. Choosing to make a move before the axe falls puts you ahead of the competition that will soon be following after.

  • Job hopping allows you to make valuable connections and build up a powerful personal network. Of course in order to do this, you have to be very professional about each job move you make and not burn any of your bridges along the way. (I’ve known job hoppers who ended up black-listed for years because they had too many contacts – none of whom wanted to work with them ever again.)

  • You can work your way up to your dream job at your dream company. If you plot your job hops strategically, you can work at the jobs that will give you the skills and experiences you need to achieve your ultimate goal. (Which is of course when you can hopefully stop hopping.)

By making strategic moves, negotiating your salaries and nurturing your network, you can job hop your way to the top. That’s what a modern career is: a trajectory, a series of jobs that add up to the whole of your career journey. Not necessarily any one of those jobs that you held along the way.

Hopefully more recruiters will recognize the valuable skills and experiences these candidates can bring to the table, and let go of outdated biases against career changers.

Read the complete Thinkopolis report @ Workopolis.com/research.

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Peter Harris
– Peter Harris on Twitter

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