Is Job Hopping a Real Issue?

For decades, career experts have warned that job hopping could hurt your chances of getting the job you want. Their reasoning is that rapidly moving from one role to another suggests that you have no staying power or can't hold onto a job. However, other experts argue that the way hiring managers see job hopping has changed over the last few years.

Job hopping is a lot more common than it used to be. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that, in 2012, workers stayed at their jobs for 4.4 years on average before moving on. However, the new generation of millennial employees changes jobs much more rapidly, with 91 percent of them expecting to spend less than three years in each job.

Could this job hopping harm young people's career prospects? Career coach Penelope Trunk says that job hoppers should not worry. "Job hopping has gone mainstream," she says confidently. "It's a non-issue." According to this career expert, forward-looking companies no longer see job hopping as a negative thing, but rather a normal part of career development.

Other experts make similar predictions about how today's hiring managers are likely to view job hopping, but many qualify their statements. Andrea Kay, author of a career handbook for young people, describes job hopping as "understandable, but it still brings up a red flag."

Among employers, opinions on job hopping are divided. A survey conducted by Harris Poll in 2014 revealed that just over half of employers have hired frequent job hoppers, while almost a third said they expect job seekers from a certain age group to have an employment history that involves job hopping.

With this range of opinions in the job market, how should job seekers deal with a colorful employment history? The best solution is to present the variety of experiences in a positive light. The benefit of job hopping is that it exposes workers to a wide variety of working environments and can teach them many new skills. When crafting a resume, always focus on the variety of skills you can offer a new employer.

Gaps in employment history are more harmful than job switches. If you have gaps between your many past roles, then you might choose to structure your resume to draw attention away from these periods of unemployment. You can do this by listing only your years of employment at each company, without including the exact dates. However, be prepared to clarify the details at an interview.

Although frequently switching jobs is not an issue at all in the eyes of many hiring managers, others still look down on job hopping. The key to landing an interview with a hiring manager from either group is to present your employment history in a positive light, focusing on the skills you can offer.

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