Is Job Hopping Really That Bad?

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average time a worker stayed at a job in January 2014 was 4.6 years, a figure that has not changed from 2012. Yet, a 2014 survey by Market Watch revealed that 62 percent of the more than 2,000 working adults and 230 human resource managers polled believe that job hopping hurts an applicant’s career.

For years, experts have cautioned against job hopping, urging hiring managers to disregard applicants who stayed with a job only one to two years. They considered career longevity to be an indication of job seekers’ loyalty and reliability.

Workplace consultant Jeanne Meister says that this standard has changed, at least for millenials. In her Forbes article “Job Hopping is the ‘New Normal’ for Millenials: Three Ways to Prevent a Human Resource Nightmare,” Meister says that economic instability has made it more acceptable for people to switch jobs, as doing so is a necessity due to the number of people being laid off.

A 2014 Harris Poll conducted on behalf of Careebuilder indicates a newfound acceptance for job switchers. It polled 2,138 hiring managers, a much greater sampling than the Market Watch survey, as well as 3,022 full-time workers. Fifty-five percent of employers said they have hired job switchers, and 32 percent said they expect job hopping for those of a specific age group. The survey found that 42 percent of employers frown on job hopping for those between the ages of 30 and 35. Although this is good news for those who frequently switch jobs, it does not mean that they are out of the woods. After all, almost half of the employers in this survey said that they had not hired job hoppers.

Overcoming Employer Bias

To overcome remaining employer bias against your varied job history, Nexxt offers these tips for you to use when crafting your resume:

1. Minimize gaps in work history by listing only years of employment, not months and days. This is particularly helpful if you worked just a few months in one year for two or more different jobs.

2. Emphasize the benefit of having many employers by highlighting the skills you have gained and the responsibilities you have had in your previous positions.

3. Detail the contributions you have made to your employers. If you saved your employer money, developed a unique process that made the company run more efficiently, or spearheaded a key initiative, be sure to add this information to your resume.

4. Craft a brief statement that explains employment gaps on your resume. For example, explain that you left a corporation because your department was eliminated or the company went out of business.

Although some employers still discriminate against job hoppers, that trend is decreasing. As long as job seekers put a positive spin on their employment history, they have a good chance of being hired.

Photo courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net