Being young and a millennial, we have this mindset, that we need to experience and maximize the opportunity that we have. It’s like we are in a hurry for something, that we are like in a race but some of us (including me) does not know yet where exactly we’re going. So, we tend to try and experience everything as much as possible; try and grab all the opportunities.
This is very common to us in our career and how we manage it, according to Robert Walters, a global recruitment consultancy and recruitment outsourcing provider that 91% of millennial professionals top priority is career progression and if they don’t get what they want they jump from one company to another. There’s a risk on that and I posted that one JOB HOPPING, but despite that, there’s an advantage too! That’s what I observed from a close friend and I’m somewhat envious because she had so many experiences. Anyway, below are the advantages of Job Hopping (very contradicting to my other post, I know but I just wanted to be fair that it’s not all bad).
- Experience – obviously, the more you hop the more company names listed in your resume. They’re like badges but beyond that, you experienced so many cultures, policies, and strategies that you can use in the future. As they say, the experience is the best teacher.
- Networking – you immerse yourself as you got the new job so naturally, you get along with new friends, new enemies, and people in general in that company. These people may help you, they may recommend you, suggest you for a job, and these different people also harness your “people person” skill.
- Exposure – it’s not always that you land the same activities as your previous job but more often every company you land requires you a different solution. As you try to solve it you also learn new skills, techniques, approaches, and practices. You acquire and expose to new skills as you hop from one company to another.
- Compensation Increase – Most of the reason that you put to your resignation letter is greener pasture. That’s normal, everyone wants that value that they think they deserve. When you are highly skilled, this is very much possible; your experiences, network, and the new set of skills help increase your competence to the market.
- Opportunity – somewhat related to the above, when you look for a greener pasture you also look for an upgrade. You don’t want to be in the same role as your previous job; you want something new! With the right mixture of the above mentioned, this is not impossible too. Job hopping is what others are doing to move up into the career ladder faster.
There is no right amount of time and the right way to hop jobs since we are all unique and we all have different paths to take. Some people hop faster (gaps like 6 months to a year) while some hop slower (3 to 5 years) but there’s always on it that is inversely proportional. You can hop faster and network and opportunity may go high but skills and credibility go low and vice versa.
At the end of the day, it’s your decision. If you believe that moving to another green field is what benefits you as a person then go ahead! Just be strategic in your decisions because there are times that the green grass you thought was actually plastic and maybe the best strategy is to water the grass that you have now. So, think carefully and always have a back-up plan. Good luck!