Back in the 1950s there was a social contract between an employer and employee. The company would offer lifetime employment in exchange for loyalty. That unspoken agreement has radically changed. Today, we can be let go at a moments notice, and so career self-management has never been more important.

What exactly is job hopping? Loosely defined, it is too frequently changing jobs to the detriment of your career. The phrase “too frequently” is subjective. Someone may say 3 years is too frequent while someone else may say changing jobs once a year is not a problem. Also, job hopping may depend on the field. For start-up companies, the guideline might be 2 to 3 years of loyalty. It also depends on the level of responsibility. For example, a college president that leaves after only a few years might be perceived negatively. Few would argue that less than a year is job hopping.

Disadvantages
Employers do not want a new employee to experiment with their career choices on company time. Corporations don’t appreciate a worker leaving right after they have made an investment in their training. For some jobs, it takes time, perhaps a whole year or more, to get someone up and running from infancy to productivity. When an employee job hops, the company loses the investment they have made in them. The person should assess, what did I really accomplish in the mere 6 to 9 months I was there? It’s hard to explain that to your next employer.

People job hop because they get easily bored and become impulsive. They may panic and just take the next random job that fits their fancy at that moment. Be aware in advance of the warning signs of a necessary move before the job becomes intolerable and you are backed into a corner or feel trapped. You don’t want to get to the boiling point where you simply can’t take it any longer and make an irrational decision.

Gone are the days of lifetime employment with a corporation, but the other extreme of bouncing from job to job has its consequences. Unfortunately, sometimes those consequences set in later in a career, especially in future interviews. You may not think your resume is spotty, but a potential employer may perceive you as someone who is not going to stay and may be unreliable. You will be expected to support your rationale for leaving each job in an interview situation. Ask the interviewer what the expectations are of staying in this position so that you are both on the same page.

In the short-term, you can take any job for the safety and security of benefits and salary, but I assure you in the long-term that alone will not sustain you if it’s not your passion. Job hopping is typically a result of a lack of long-term career goals, and so your career should be purpose driven.

Advantages
Moving from job to job in your 20s is different than when you are more professionally mature. In the early stages of your career, you might stay in jobs 1 to 2 years, then 2 to 3 years, and then you might be off to graduate school. Next, you might progress into jobs where you stay 3 to 5 years then other more seasoned positions for 5 to 7 years. I do not recommend staying in any one position for more than 10 years. Staying in the same job for 30+ years is a no-no in today’s market and may result in career suicide. However, staying with one company for 30 years and having several diverse jobs or even careers which would keep you challenged and your skill set sharpened is positive.

Try to strike a happy medium between job hopping and staying too long. Sometimes job hopping is unavoidable because the situation is intolerable. It’s advisable that a short-term stint be followed by a long-term position to reassure future employers that you are less of a hiring risk.

Strategies
Every time you make a move you need to be thinking, what are the consequences both positive and negative? Before you make a decision consider these questions:

• Am I leaving this job because I’m desperate or I am making a strategic decision?
• Where will this position take me next?
• What doors will be opened and what doors will be closed from making this important choice?
• Will this move help me advance my career or is it a place holder?
• How long will I be in this next job?
• Have I kept my resume and skills sets up to date?
• Am I highly networked or do I need to improve in that area this year?

Most people don’t think this way, but in today’s competitive economy you need to take ownership of your career development. You want to stay with an employer to show your commitment, gain experience and build your resume. You don’t want to stay too long that you are not challenged and your skills and experience become stale. To stay ahead of the game you want to have a strategy and a timetable.

With proper self-assessment you can develop a set of short-term and long-term goals to guide your decision-making. I recommend that you remain conscious and deliberate in each job move. I suggest that you think in terms of short-term, intermediate term, and long-term goals. Be sure your goals and job choices are aligned with your core skills, values, interests and personality. By committing your goals to writing you are more likely to stay on track and achieve them.

Even if you love your job today, start looking for your next one right now. I recommend you stay organized by keeping a folder of “opportunities” that you come across. No employer expects you to be with them for a lifetime, because they themselves have changed jobs too. Sometimes you have to reinvent yourself.

Some people don’t even know that they are job hopping because they have not taken stock of their past experience as well as how long they have been in each job. Updating your resume on a regular or annual basis can help you realize the need to build your education, training, skills and experience. Meeting with a career counselor for an annual “career check-up” can be motivating and improve the direction of your career. It’s never too late to explore your options.

If you are results oriented, you will continue to be marketable. If you have energy and enthusiasm, you increase your chances of being hired. It matters less where you are, than where you want to go, how you will get there and who will help you reach your goals. Ask yourself, what am I going to do to further myself in the next 12 months? You have to be proactive and take care of your career like you would an infant. It’s your responsibility to nurture it and love it.