Do employers consider frequent job-hopping a negative sign for a candidate? What factors should be considered when evaluating a candidate with a history of moving jobs?
Employers’ point of view is considered the cornerstone of understanding the impact of moving between jobs on employment opportunities, as many employers believe that frequent moving between jobs indicates a lack of commitment or stability, which raises doubts about the candidate’s ability to integrate into the company and stay in it in the long term. . Employers also fear that the candidate will repeat the same behavior in their company, resulting in a loss of time and resources.
Todd Graves, the billionaire CEO and co-founder of the Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers restaurant chain, notes that looking at resumes, one trend stands out to him: the prevalence of job-hopping.
Graves, 52, says his first warning sign when hiring new employees at companies is… the biography Which shows frequent job changes every two or three years, according to a report by the American network “CNBC” viewed by the “Eqtisad Sky News Arabia” website.
According to the report, job-hopping can make an applicant look like someone on a “title hunt,” Greaves says.
It’s also noted that these people tend to use language during interviews that they think the hiring manager wants to hear, rather than give real answers — which you can detect by looking for inconsistencies in candidates’ responses across multiple interviews. “When they’re more concerned with title and control rather than teamwork, that’s a big red flag for me,” Greaves adds.
When Greaves conducts job interviews, he tries to gauge each candidate’s level of passion for the brand — and he hires people he believes will be “internally driven” to work for the company en masse. He says he’s noticed a “greater connection to success” for employees when they care about what’s going on for their coworkers, the team, and the organization as a whole — rather than focusing solely on growing their own careers.
How to interpret job transitions
Job transitions have become relatively common, especially given the tight labor market in recent years. Some career experts say the institutional stigma against job-hopping is outdated, as long as your resume doesn’t show an excessive record of it.
But Graves isn’t the only one expressing concern about candidates who change jobs frequently; More than a third of hiring managers surveyed by LinkedIn over the summer said they would be reluctant to pursue a candidate with a pattern of short tenures in different roles.
Career experts usually advise against mentioning your current or previous jobs unless the interviewer specifically asks you to do so. This could be the summary section of your resume or the About section of your profile LinkedIn A good place to explain your professional experiences, said LinkedIn careers expert Drew McCaskill.
According to the report, if the interviewer asks about your career options, you should be prepared with a brief explanation that focuses on the future and the value you can add to a new job. Talk about what you’ve gained through all your past experiences, and how that makes you a good fit for the role you want now, McCaskill said. And don’t give hiring managers a reason to think you’ve done something wrong.
The employee “the joker”
Financial markets expert and economist Dr. Hanan Ramses says to the “Eqtisad Sky News Arabia” website:
- When an employee who possesses diverse skills and competencies and moves between different jobs is evaluated, he or she may be called a “joker.” Because it combines several competencies.
- But it is important to consider the periods he spent in each job, as he may have moved without gaining new experience, or perhaps just took an available position without making any real progress, or moved to a better opportunity in terms of salary and working conditions without adding real skills.
- Specialization is of great value, as it contributes to developing deep experience and a greater ability to deal with variables that may hinder others who lack this experience.
- A career shift may sometimes be necessary, especially when a person reaches the ceiling of available promotions in his current field. In this case, it may be useful to start over in another field to gain new experiences and add value to his CV, thus enhancing the diversity of his skills.
She adds: The concept of job diversity varies from one country to another. In the Middle East, an employee is often required to remain in a field of work close to his previous specialty, and the desire for excellence is a decisive factor. Abroad, training programs and psychological tests are sometimes available to assist employees in career transitions. These programs help the employee move to a job that brings him personal satisfaction and allows him to highlight his competencies.
In some Arab countries, an individual may be forced to work in a field far from his academic degree, just to obtain a job opportunity, and he may move between several jobs until he finds a job suitable for his qualifications. Thus, these diverse experiences allow him to acquire multiple skills, which is to his advantage and makes him more prominent in the labor market and qualifies him for the title “Joker,” according to Ramses.
Cons and pros
Economic researcher, Yassin Ahmed, points out to the “Eqtisad Sky News Arabia” website that career mobility has positives and negatives, but perhaps the negatives may affect the individual’s career path, especially in the event of not continuing in a profession for a period of less than a year, and thus it will have an impact on:
- Raises employers’ suspicions towards the employee; Because some employers may consider rapid job hopping a sign of a lack of stamina or problem-solving, or even rapid job dissatisfaction, which may affect future employment opportunities.
- Constant job hopping makes it difficult for a person to build a strong and sustainable reputation in a specific workplace. Some employers may be reluctant to hire someone who is used to moving around a lot, because they may see this as a sign of lack of commitment.
- Difficulty obtaining long-term promotions: Many promotions and training opportunities require long-term commitment from the employee, and a mobile person may not get such opportunities.
- Financial instability: Job hopping may result in income instability or loss of certain financial benefits, such as annual bonuses or salary increases based on length of service.
- Frequently moving to new work environments requires the employee to constantly adapt to new cultures and different systems, which can cause psychological exhaustion and stress.
- Longer loss of work experience: Constantly moving between jobs means that a person may gain superficial knowledge in several areas without going deeper into a particular field, which may affect his overall professional development.
But at the same time, he points out some positives. Such as gaining new skills and diverse experiences, but it is important to achieve a balance between professional mobility and stability in a way that suits the person’s professional goals.
It can be said that the impact of moving between jobs on employment opportunities depends on many factors, including the reasons for the move, the skills and experiences acquired by the candidate, as well as the company’s point of view. Although frequent job-hopping may raise some doubts, a candidate should not be judged on this factor alone. Employers should evaluate each case individually and focus on determining whether the candidate possesses the skills, experience, and competencies necessary to succeed on the job. As for candidates, they should be prepared to explain the reasons for their previous moves and show how they can benefit from these experiences in their new job.
