Job-hopping : How It Affects Your Career SuccessPosted by Nick Niesen on October 28th, 2010 Is job-hopping and career success related to each other? What is the effect of one on the other? How long is too long for staying in a company? I must admit, the resumes that pass by my desk makes me conclude that job-hopping is far too common. Job hoppers do it for various reasons. More often than not they may not know what they are getting into. Sometimes, it is because they do not know what they want and hence are not ready for the challenges that lay ahead of them. Job-hopping and career success is related to one another. In my opinion, job-hopping affects career success in a negative manner. Consider this, what signals are you sending to your potential employer if you job-hop too often? The Two-Year Rule For me, it takes you at least a year to know the ins and outs of the company. Then another year before you can eventually be truly productive in adding value to the company. To see the true results of your contribution to the company, for me it takes at least two years. So, if you are prone to job-hopping and career success is on your mind, then it is time to rethink. Training You Companies like to invest in people who see their career goals align with their corporate goals. Job-hoppers usually cannot see their career path beyond the next year. Decreasing the Incidence of Job-Hopping If there are other fields that you are interested in then make a plan to find out about them. Start with the Internet, and then ask friends who may know people in those fields. Speak to them; ask them about the expectations of the company and the role of the position you are interested in. You may not have all the answers but at least you get some idea. That would decrease the chances of you job-hopping. Make Learning a Key Objective Make learning the relevant skills and knowledge in that industry your key objective. The skills and knowledge that you learn will contribute to your career success in the long term. It is something that you can bring with you the rest of your life. Once you see the benefits of committing to a company who is willing to train you for more than two years, hopefully you won?t be job-hopping often anymore. Like it? Share it!More by this author |