Make More Money When You’re Job Hopping

Job hoppers are defined as workers who regularly move from one job to another. They typically don’t hold a job with the same company for more than a year. Job hopping is a common practice with the millennial generation. But no matter what your boss or your parents say, being a job nomad isn’t the worst thing ever. Did you know that being a job hopper can even make you more money than sticking with a job you hate?

In the past, people stayed with the same company for years or even for an entire career. This caused job hopping to have a negative stigma associated with it. Employers often labeled job hoppers as unreliable and disloyal – even if those job hoppers were just trying to discover the perfect job for them.

According to the Muse, it costs an employer roughly 20% of an employee’s annual salary to replace them. As you can imagine, no company wants to invest the time, training, and energy into an employee who may disappear as soon as another opportunity comes up. That’s not very business savvy.

The working world is changing. Companies aren’t as loyal and people are job hopping all of the time. Take a look at your resume. How many employers do you have listed? If you’re like most of today’s workforce or you’re a seasonal worker, you probably have quite a bit of work experience from different employers. Don’t worry it’s not a bad thing.

We read an interesting publication called “Job-Hopping – An Analytical Review” by D. Pranaya that looks at the pros and cons of job hopping. First, let’s look at the pros of job hopping:

• Helps to build your network of professionals
• Gives you the ability to seek jobs that pay more so you can make a high salary (CNN)
• Able to figure out what you really like and what you really don’t like
• Provides you with more experience to pull from
• Helps you develop a unique and diverse skill set
• Provides insights into different work environments and company cultures
• Helps you climb the career ladder more quickly
• Ability to adapt to new situations

But job hopping comes with some cons too:

• Employers may not want to invest in you. This is more common in larger, established corporations than trendy, young businesses.
• It may cause you to always think “the grass is greener on the other side,” which may mean you are constantly dissatisfied.
• It’s common to burn a few bridges.
• Employers may question your reliability and loyalty.
• You may be first up for job cuts if your new employer hits a rough spot.
• It’s to establish your working reputation.

If you’re a job hopper, weigh the pros and cons of job hopping. For most people in today’s job market, job hopping makes sense.  When applying for new jobs, you’ll need to be able to  describe your constantly growing skill set, keep your references in order, and develop the right experience, then job hopping can be the perfect stepping stones to your dream job – or at least it can be a solid strategy to make more money from job hopping.

Often the hardest part of job hopping is the next job application. Keep your job search off the radar and use a strong resume and killer cover letter to convince the recruiter that you’re still job interview material.

When you find a job you love, stick with it. Find your next  job on JobMonkey today.