Rich Hill has worked as a door-to-door salesman, a receptionist, an administrator, a publicist and an account handler. He has moved between industries including shipping, events, architecture, catering and law.
So does this make him a fickle worker best left to temporary assignments? Or an ultra-experienced employee with great prospects?
According to current attitudes it might be the latter — virtually unthinkable only a few years ago.
Some candidates worry that “job-hopping” will look bad on their resume — this is simply not the case any more, says Jo Stuteley, director of office support recruiter La Creme. In sectors where there is virtually nil unemployment, and therefore a large shortage of skills, experience is the deciding factor. Job-hopping is no longer seen as a disadvantage — today’s workforce is becoming much more of a moveable feast. This means that they build up a valuable set of skills — and experience of a range of sectors.
Serial job-hopper Hill says that moving jobs not only keeps him interested, but has even had the effect of making him more employable.
“I think that nowadays the professional employment market is less formal, and employers are more open to the idea that a chequered employment history could bring them benefits,” says Hall — who now, aptly enough, works in recruitment.
“There really is such a thing as a transferable skill, although you need to be prepared to explain to an employer how it could apply to their sector,” he says. “But if you get it right it’s a really valuable asset.”
With high employment rates, there are also sound economic reasons why career changers are more employable than ever before — demand for skilled workers is outstripping supply and many employers are eager to look for the positives in resumes that display a varied career history.
“Money can’t buy the varied experience people with different jobs can bring to a role,” says Russ Badger, business manager for Manpower. “Candidates with several jobs offer an insight into how other companies work and a chance to know exactly how your competitors are behaving. Also, employers know candidates who have had different jobs can work in a variety of environments and cultures so will fit in easily.”
Perhaps this change in attitude also explains why people are now more likely to switch jobs. Research by Lifelong Learning has found that nearly one in six of the UK’s working population (16 percent) have changed career three times already, while more than one in 10 (13 percent) have swapped more than three times. Staying in one profession for the entirety of your working life puts you in a minority: About three-quarters of those questioned (71 percent) had changed career at least once.
In theory at least, finding out what you don’t want to do is a good way to discover the role you are best suited to. And with the current climate of temporary assignments, employees are more able than ever to pick and choose jobs that will teach them key skills without tying them down.
If you know in which direction you’re headed, figure out which skill sets you need and tick them off in the course of dotting around,” says Alistair Leathwood, managing director of FreshMinds recruitment consultancy. “If you don’t know, go for variety. It’s the chance to experiment for free — in fact, you’ll be getting paid for it, so take advantage of the opportunity.”
So should you join the job-hoppers’ ranks? Much as it might be a growing trend, flitting between roles does come with some fairly major caveats. While switching between one professional position and another can give you more skills, constant hopping will begin to ring alarm bells for recruiters.
“The limit is about three jobs in two years,” says recruiter Sarah McParland of Search Consultancy. “After that, employers will want a very good reason why you keep jumping around.”
So one big move to a different sector fits neatly into questions of work-life balance, but several may tar you with the fickle jobster tag.
If you’ve got multiple jobs in short time periods on your resume, it is acceptable to ditch one or two — particularly from the beginning of your career.
“You’re presenting yourself in the best possible light on a CV,” says careers expert John Lees, author of How to Get a Job You Love. “Omitting parts which don’t work in your favor is fine, but you need to be prepared to explain any gaps.”
For those who have worked abroad, however, multiple short assignments and career gaps are not so much of a problem.
“A recruiters we’re looking for some sort of sensible narrative flow,” Leathwood says. “If someone’s moved country or sectors, that’s a credible reason to have had a lot of different jobs.”
But before you hand in your resignation — yet again — take a second to think about practicalities. Short-term roles might be rather better for your employer than they are for you.
Some employee rights only kick in after a year, so switching staff annually is a great way for employers to avoid responsibilities such as maternity pay, and sidestep unfair dismissal claims — and a bad way for employees to accrue benefits such as a pension and redundancy pay.
“It’s a generalization, but a lot of job-hoppers are young people who are not necessarily so aware of their employment rights,” says Sarah Veale of the TUC, the UK’s umbrella trades union organization. “But basic rights like pension benefits can be severely compromised by continually moving jobs.”
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