Learn about the good and the bad directly from a former “Job Hopper.”
I have been called a “job hopper” by everyone from my friends to my own mother. In truth, I was probably a “job hopper” before I had multiple careers, but the reality was I wasn’t actually a “job hopper.” I was a career shifter.
Some might say this is just semantics, my friends and mom included, but there is actually a distinct difference in how I view the two.
A “job hopper” is someone who moves from one job to another in an unplanned and haphazard way. Their career ends up looking like a jumble of unrelated jobs with no common thread.
A career shifter, on the other hand, is someone who makes strategic shifts in their career to
always get them closer to their goal.
I started off at Goldman Sachs and then moved on to non-profit fundraising. Then I shifted again, getting my Master’s in social work, where I worked in mental health and therapy before moving on to career strategy.
While this might have looked like “job hopping” to an outsider, I knew all along that each move I made was taking me one step closer to what I was meant to be doing.
I took the best of what each opportunity had to teach me and then made an educated decision about where to shift next. While I wasn’t always 100% sure where the final destination would be, I always knew that each step took me one step closer.
Having always been labeled as a “job hopper,” I want to share what I see as the good and the bad of job hopping.
Let’s talk about the bad:
- You can look flaky.
Shoot, I am anything but flaky, yet some of my friends might have thought otherwise in those years where I was doing a lot of shifting in my career.
Like me, you also might have a cohesive storyline that ties everything together, but sometimes you don’t get the opportunity to tell that story. That’s why you have to be thoughtful about how it might look to an outsider.
- Sometimes your skill set won’t transfer over to your new opportunity which can mean a loss of that skill set.
For example, when I went from working in finance at Goldman Sachs I had a very specific skill set. When I went to work for a non-profit, I stopped using that skill set and had to learn an entirely new one. I’m not saying this is always a bad thing, but it is something you need to consider.
3. If your career moves tend to be more lateral rather than upward you could end up spending a lot of your career at the same level.
It’s important to be thoughtful and clear about why you would be making a lateral move and how many you are willing to make.
4. Finally, you can end up looking like a Jane of All Trades and a Master of None.
Employers want to see candidates that have a honed skill set and set of strengths that will help them overcome challenges in their company. If you’ve done this and that and everything in between, it might not be so clear to employers what sets you apart and what you bring to the table that will allow you to be a difference-maker.
Now…let’s move on to the good parts about being a “job hopper”.
- You can test theories out about what careers you might enjoy so that you can finally find job satisfaction.
I know that was the main motivator in making my career shifts. I knew there was something out there that I was good at and that I enjoyed doing.
Unfortunately, at the time, I hadn’t developed the system that I now use to help my clients through this process much, much faster…so, I had to bumble my way a little bit. I had to do some trial and error to figure out what worked for me and what didn’t.
- You can find true love.
Ultimately, the process led me to something that I LOVE doing, something that fulfills me. And that is what “job hopping” can do…if you take more of the career shifting approach where you’re more thoughtful and strategic about your moves.
- You can make more money.
Another good thing is that people who change jobs frequently can actually make more money! A Wall Street Journal article from July of 2018 noted that more and more people are voluntarily leaving their jobs and in return they are getting bigger paychecks and more satisfying work. There’s a win-win right there!
- You can move up faster.
Similarly, making a career move can help you move up in your career faster (if done strategically). Usually companies only gives raises and promotions once a year so making a move can speed up this timeline.
Clients often come to me saying that they’re in a company where there is limited or no upward growth and making a strategic move can help accelerate this process as well.
While I do NOT recommend jumping from job to job without a plan, I do encourage you to think about the pros and cons of staying where you are vs. making a strategic move elsewhere. Could you make more money, move up in your career or find more satisfying work?
This process is exactly what I do with my clients. We work together to find a way to repackage and repurpose the experience, expertise and skills they have to shift in a new direction; one that will bring them to work they love.
If you’re ready to find work that you love and would like to see if my system might work with you, I encourage you to fill out a Career Snapshot. If it’s appropriate, we can schedule an Idea and Insights session. We’ll talk about where you are, where you want to go, what’s getting in your way of getting there and how to overcome those barriers.
I specifically work with high-achieving corporate professionals who are ready to make a change NOW and start doing work that they love. If that’s you then I encourage you to fill out a Career Snapshot today.
