Here is a very interesting article about the trend of job-hopping. Sorry that it is in German!
http://www.karriere.at/blog/job-auf-lebenszeit.html?utm_source=mailworx&utm_medium=e-mail&utm_content=2-spaltig_weiterlesen_arbeitgeber&utm_campaign=b2c+dezember+2013+-+20131213&utm_term=n%2fa
Today's generation follows the trend of having multiple employers over a rather short amount of time. Hopping from one company to another, young professionals want to acquire wide-ranging knowledge and build up a large, resourceful network. For companies and HR, this trend is a nightmare - losing employees is very costly for a company (the cost of losing a key talent is equivalent to 6-24 months' salary, PwC 2013).
What's your opinion? Where do you see the advantages and disadvantages of job hopping (from your point of view and from a company's view)? What are the risks of this trend for your CV?
Happy reading! :)
Dear Laura, thank you very much for posting this article! For me it was very interesting to see that people in Vienna have the highest rate of job hopping while people working on the country side are more “faithful” towards their employers. In my opinion, that is because you simply have more job opportunities in a city which make you change more often while good jobs seem to be rare on the country side – once you’ve found a job you are likely to stay with it.
AntwortenLöschenRegarding job hopping in general, I think it’s always a question of how much you like a job and on what position you currently have or can have in the future in the same company. I, for myself, would rather prefer to stay with a company for more than only 2 or 3 years given that I truly like the job. Staying 5 – 10 years in the same job before applying with another company would be a good time frame for me. However, I also have to state, that if I had the “perfect” job, I could imagine staying with the company for the rest of my life or at least for a very long time.
However, a time frame of 5 – 10 years might probably not be true for my first job(s) since it might be very unlikely to find a job that I’d like to do for such a long time right from the beginning as my choice of job is also somehow limited due to limited competitive advantages from my side such as professional experience.
In addition to that, I also see the importance of having had more than only one job in your life as this might make you see things from different perspectives and appreciating benefits that might be taken for granted by others.
To sum up, I do not see myself as a “job hopper” having a new job every two or three years for the rest of my life, but rather prefer to stay longer with a company if satisfied with the job. I also do think that job hopping might not always positively influence one’s CV but rather indicate that a respective employee will be most probably gone again after a limited period of time.
From the company-side, I also very much see the problems concerning job hoppers, as the firm invests into its employees but cannot trust them to stay with the enterprise. Having the same staff for decades might bring disadvantages as does having steadily coming and going employees. Assuring appealing job conditions (such as work-life balance) and giving employees the chance to climb up their career ladder could possibly help to improve the situation in a company.
Anita, I totally agree with your first paragraph. Of course, job opportunities in Vienna are much more numerous and also much more attractive (international organizations etc. are located in the capital). If you are actually able to finally FIND a decent job in Carinthia for instance, you won't give it up (if it is well paid and you are satisfied with your duties and responsibilities), because another job opportunity might either be located another hour's drive away from your current work/home or simply might not exist since - having acquired a certain level of qualifications and knowledge (through university etc.) - you might simply be kind of "overqualified" for the rather small (and nationally oriented) enterprises located in Carinthia.
AntwortenLöschenAdvantages of job hopping are numerous - for both, the employee as well as the company. However, as everything in business: it depends!
Young graduates not having stuck longer than a year or two to a single job on their CV might lead to the impression that they are unstable and unpredictable and therefore less likely to stay with the company for which they are now applying. Therefore, the responsible HR manager/recruiter might restrain from offering a vacant position to an "obvious job hopper" since constantly having to hire new employees due to other young and unstable employees leaving is simply too cost-intensive.
On the other hand, having collected experience in different companies (longer than 3 to 5 years) - maybe even across various industries - might make an applicant's CV really attractive and therefore attract recruiters' intention. Besides being able to hire an individual having lots of experience, a company is also able to gain knowledge and know-how of competitive enterprises through hiring such a job hopper - at least if he/she is hopping between jobs within the same industry.
The reasons for "job hopping" are stated quite clearly in the article.
What I also can retrace is, that university graduates are much more likely to alter their jobs more frequently than individuals who graduated from a vocational school (Berufsschule + Lehre). Just imagine: if you have started to work with 15 or 16 you are still young and changeable. You grow and evolve but you do that within the context of a job or profession you have already chosen. Thus, you are less likely to switch because that is what you learnt as a profession, what you are used to (and also kind of what you “grew up” with).
If you have graduated from university however, you are older and I would suggest that your "horizon" is a little wider already. Thus you know that there are lots of opportunities out there which you would like to seize. And since you have not yet specialized in a very specific field/job and have not yet “bonded” with a certain employer, you are more prone to changing your future jobs.
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LöschenI think job-hopping is very common also because young people still try to find the job that works best for them, a job which they are willing to do "for the rest of their lives" - or just for some years. Therefore, I think it is essential for young people to look at different jobs. This will help them get experience and also show them which jobs sound good and look good in your CV - but actually they are not what you want in the long run. Companies will have to deal with this trend. However, I believe that they have found ways to profit from flexible, young people, as for example by offering internship possibilities. They provide a good way for young people to get an insight into the company and its industry without committing to a long-term contract. Companies profit from the young peoples' willingness to work for very low or no remuneration, and then they have to put up with the fact that they will leave after some months.
AntwortenLöschenI agree with Verena.
AntwortenLöschenWhen you are a young, highly-motivated person, fresh out of university, you have a lot of energy to put into a job. However, the first job you enter may not satisfy your need to be challenged (as would be the case in the scenario described by Ulli). The second one may give you the feeling of purpose, however, the long distance between home and the premise is not as easy to handle as you assumed when you first started. The third company lies close and is interesting, yet you do not get along with your team. The fourth has a perfect crew, perfect tasks and is easily accessible, but payment unfortunately does not suffice to pay your bills...
There are many factors that may lead to job-hopping and I think its main purpose should be building up your mind on what you expect in a workplace. Some factors become prominent fairly quickly, however, I personally think that you should take your time (1-3 years) to really get to the depths of a business, basically "give it time to shine".
If you leave a job after a few months, you might just leave before it turned out to be the perfect fit.
Therefore I must say, that Anita's approach of preventing job-hopping by great HR practices would be enourmously sensefull, because it allows both the employer and the employee to get to know each other, compare expectations and withdraw the best benefit of the cooperation.