Job-Hopping: Smart Strategy or Career-Stopper?
We are grateful to have a Guest blog from our good friend and colleague, Bob Waite. Bob is an extraordinary writer and marketing strategist I have worked with over the years. Now that Bob has set up his own firm after years of corporate life our hope is to partner strategically on client engagements.
Although the recent recession and its attendant real estate crisis slowed the pace, frequent job hopping continues to be the strategy of choice among many North American workers, especially those under the age of 35. And why shouldn’t it be? According to Chicago-based outplacement firm Challenger, Grey and Christmas, who survey on the topic annually, fully 94% of individuals changing jobs report receiving an increase in some combination of salary, bonus, benefits and perks.
But is frequent job hopping the right strategy for everyone? Perhaps more importantly, does the instant gratification of a bigger pay packet necessarily lead to a better career path and greater personal satisfaction and well-being?
Is Job Hopping the Right Strategy?
The answer, I would maintain, is similar to that given for many other perplexing questions—“It depends.”
For the purposes of this article, I am going to lay to one side the very folks that began the trend of frequent job-changing more than two decades ago – the programmers, software engineers and other highly-skilled technical workers who made places like San Jose, Research Triangle and the 128 Corridor look and feel like the Sacramento or Yukon gold fields. My focus will be on management, the people who lead groups, functions or whole divisions within organizations. My thinking is very much based on my own experience as a manager at half-dozen large organizations or companies.
How Did My Job Hopping Experiences Begin?
I fell into a pattern of job hopping completely by accident. My initial career right out of university was as a newspaper reporter and editor in New England. One of the things that attracted me to journalism was that it gives you a license to ask questions – to continuously learn. It also makes you curious about who holds and exercises power. It was in that context that I made my first real career jump—to politics. I became a press secretary, first to Senator Edward W. Brooke; then to Senator Bob Dole.
Working in government was fascinating. Among other things, it soon became apparent that the nexus of power was not to be found in the halls, corridors and anterooms of Washington. D.C. Business seemed a more likely answer. Thus, a few years later, when IBM approached, I was very open to making a second leap, this time to the corporate sector.
This was the IBM of the early 1980’s, superbly confident and deeply committed to employee education and promotion from within. The company had an education center in Armonk, New York that rivalled the facilities one might find at a top liberal arts college. I was swiftly put through New Manager’s School, and, a year later, a kind of mini-MBA program called Advanced Management School. I was made head of External Programs, IBM’s version of the State Department. There I came to see that while IBM wasn’t exactly running the world, they had pretty good access to those who did.
When George Bush Calls, Should You Take the Offer?
Life was good. But then, abruptly, I job-hopped again. Why? The long arm of government, in the form of the Reagan Administration, reached out and grabbed me. After initially rebuffing recruitment efforts, one day I was called in by my boss, the CEO of IBM World Trade. “I received a call from Vice-president George Bush today,” he said. “It seems they need you. I think your taking this job offer is an intelligence test.” Not wanting to be revealed as completely stupid, I took the position.
It was a mistake at several levels. First, I was leaving a job I really liked. Second, I was leaving a department—my people—in the lurch. And third, I was leaving a boss, the CEO of World Trade, who, while in some ways a delusional megalomaniac, was at least MY delusional megalomaniac.
I did not know my new boss, who had once been a roommate of George Bush’s at Yale. Getting to know him did not improve the situation. I stayed two years—in that day and age, it was thought ruinous to stay for a lesser period—and got out.
Learning From Job Hopping Mistakes
The experience completely changed my career philosophy. I decided I would no longer entertain frequent and abrupt job changes. On the other hand, I also decided, in line with my desire to experience continuous learning (and avoid boredom), I would swap out not only companies, but also sectors, every five or six years.
My template has been fairly straight-forward. I come in, reorganize and rejuvenate a function; identify and, if necessary, recruit a successor; then after five or six years, move to the next opportunity. My experience taught me that a five- or six-year cycle allowed for an 18-month learning curve; three or more years of peak performance (and mentoring) and a year or so of transition.
I did this at Ford, IBM (yes, I returned for six years), CAE (an aerospace company focused on flight simulation), CIBC and Canada Post Corporation. In most instances I worked for new- to- the-job CEOs, and was able to bring to the task a toolkit based on cumulative, real-world experience.
Why We Job-Hop
There are many reasons senior executives make a career change. Some are passed over for the very top job and want to find another path to the corner office. Some are lured by better compensation packages. Others move—or don’t move– for lifestyle reasons.
I have a brother, Tom, who has worked for several consulting firms, including McKinsey and CSC Index. He always juxtaposed the consulting model, with its simultaneous multiple clients, with my model. “We’re proudly promiscuous,” Tom would say. “You, on the other hand, are serially monogamous.”
So is job hopping a smart thing for management? It depends. In my case, I needed to find a model that not only stimulated me to do my best work, but also satisfied my employers that a five or six year stint was in their best interests, too. It worked well for my needs. And the companies seemed well satisfied. And there is, of course, the additional bonus that you will get a lot of Christmas cards from all of the executive recruiters who have placed you over the years!
What Are Your Job Hopping Experiences? Have They Been a Blessing or a Curse?
Sometimes leaping from one job to another can be the best decision you can make. If you’re in a dead end job, just plain miserable, or burnt out, you need to plan your next move. However, sometimes you don’t find out that a new opportunity wasn’t all it was made out to be, until you’re already 6 months in.
Where do you lean in the debate? Maximize your opportunities by taking higher pay and new positions when the opportunities present themselves? Or secure your career by showing you are loyal, with long specialized experience with several years in a company?
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image courtesy of Chris Bloke
Bob, your stories are fascinating! As an under 35 professional I can completely relate to this topic. I graduated with a degree in Marketing and really enjoyed learning and using those skills. Unfortunately, my first job out of college was very limiting on using said skills.
Needless to say, I hopped out of that job after a year. I now work for your friend Jim, where I get to do Marketing on all it’s levels. I may have to stay a bit longer in this job then my last
Bob, great story and points. I have job hopped a few times, always for better opportunities and money, or at least I have thought. I have come to the same conclusions you did. I now stay at least for five years. Otherwise, the resume shows that you are not loyal and look more like a butterfly, floating here and there and never staying put. Thanks!
Steven
The Leadership Dr.
Thanks for your insight. It’s definitely a careful balance when you consider job-hopping.
Bob: Your are still the brilliant communicator, strategist and master issue manager. I really enjoyed your blog.
As the quintessential “job hopper” myself, I have to chime in with an opinion. As a career HR person, I have had to deal with that issue for many years.
I would first like to propose (As a terminology freak) that we replace the term “job hopper” with “decisive career manager”. The data shows that the average job tenure went from about 15+ years to 2 from the Baby Boomer to the Millennial generation. The issue here is patience and risk tolerance. People now understand that organizations are not guaranteeing life-time employment, and are becoming brutally good at “right sizing”. So from a reciprocity perspective, why should employees commit then?
As the head of HR, I always used to say that our job was not to make people commit to the organisation for 25 years, but rather make them sign up again every 3 year or so when they wondered if continuing to be employed here made sense. Hopefully, they would renew 8 times. The original “deal” when they sign up changes both rapidly and dramatically over time, and for good business reasons, so it has to be understandable that colleagues re-decide on the new deal. What matters is why they leave, not that they do. Organizations should be a lot more introspective on that one.
Looking forward to your next blog Bob.
Cheers!
Mario
Thanks for sharing Mario,
Hearing your view on this from an HR perspective is really helpful. The way you explain the shift makes plenty of sense. I like your term, “decisive career manager.”
Mario, great to hear from you. I like the “decisive career manager” term — but then I wouldn’t have been able to illustrate the blog with a kangaroo!
In many ways you were ahead of your time as a human resources professional in terms of understanding the changing needs of those entering the workforce. You have also always been very decisive in terms of managing your own career. At the end of the day, it is up to each individual to seize control of their own career path — which should include a Plan B if an employer unexpectedly falls on hard times… or doesn’t meet your expectations in terms of corporate culture or ethical conduct.
Wow, cool article. Great writing.
You’ve worked for some really important people! I’ve been quite the job hopper myself. These days I’m trying to generate enough passive income to relax and not have to have a job in the first place.
What do you think of passive vs active income?
Bob is gone for the holiday, but he will get back to your comment when he gets back.
I am a fan of passive income as well. Essentially, retirement is just a long span of building up enough passive income to not have to work. We just put a ton of active income time and resources into it.
Finding opportunities to create passive income streams is rewarding. If you enjoy it and it can help you spend the free time you’ve built with friends and family, why not?
Thank you, Fred, for your kind comments. You bring up a very important point. Individuals who choose to “decisively manage” their career need to also look at the long-term consequences around issues like retirement income. While it is difficult at age 30 or 35 to envision retirement, planning can never begin too early. In my own case, in my last two corporate positions I was able to qualify for very modest defined pension plans. Taken together (and in concert with some other savings), they provide a financial “floor”. But I have also chosen a path, via consulting, designed to generate active income as well. Part of the motivation is monetary — but much of it is that a true “job-hopper” will likely never be content to just sit back on his or her haunches collecting coupons!
Having been an HR leader in several companies, “job hopping “ or the well-phrased “decisive career manager” has provided a conundrum in coaching executives who are looking for other opportunities. As Bob says, it really depends. If someone doesn’t agree with the companies value proposition or isn’t interested in the core product, leaving to become aligned with one more compatible can be very rewarding and i would support them in the “hop”. Conversely if they love the company but feel stifled, I’d work with them to find better internal opportunities I’ve found money is less of an incentive and bigger jobs or at least ones with more challenge provide more of a pull to change. Unfortunately, many companies just put more money, stock, bonus, etc on the plate thinking that’s what will hold their best and then are surprised when they leave anyway because the real desire for challenging work still isn’t met. Often, larger companies, if they’re smart, move executives around within the company with different product lines, different sites or even different countries. It’s probably one of the best retention strategies there is. The challenge is greater for smaller companies as they may not have that ability but recognition of what’s really motivating the executive to want to leave and addressing that can also be a big retention factor and allows them to conintue doing their best work without changing companies. It’s an interesting discussion in light of today’s “job opportunity realties” since most companies are doing everything they can to keep their best executive talent, which makes the “job leap” less compelling. And for those who used to be adventurous “decisive career managers” who left an unfufilling job without having another one lined up, the option isn’t nearly as viable with 9% unemployment and companies now actually writing in their job advertisements “will not consider anyone who has been unemployed for 6 months or more”!!. That said, the recession isnt going to last forever and it will be even more interesting to see executive movement and company retention strategies when the economy improves considerably as one recent study of those overall currently employed suggest as many 80% would consider leaving their current job for another offer. HR’s challenges never end!
Wow, 9% unemployment with another 80% considering leaving their job this year.
Looks like job-hopping will be around for some time this year.
I was always curious what someone can do if they are in an awful job but are afraid of job-hopping because of how it may look on their resume. How can they move on in a way that will make the hiring manager comfortable to employ them?
I am a former colleague of Bob’s and someone who has had a few job changes himself, I find this a very interesting conversation. My career history is different than many, but partly because I worked inside IBM corp for 26 years and was able to get many job experiences from sales to marketing and development to general management before I left to become the CEO of a public company. The point is that if you aspire to a general management role, you must get a diverse set of experiences. If you are lucky enough to work in a company that provides those experiences as part of their management development program, then you should absolutely take advantage. If you don’t, then you need to make your own career plan which will likely involve at least a couple of job changes along the way. I should point out that this will inevitably involve moving work locations, which will need to be balanced against your lifestyle choices. It also is the case that people need to have a financial plan that they execute as they are doing this…because in today’s world, it is very unlikely that you are going to have the kind of annuity pension(s) that people might have had even 10-20 years ago.
John
John, it is great to hear from you. I certainly agree that a company like IBM can provide a wide variety of career choices over an extended time-frame. But I also would concur that this can and often does require relocation. In my own case, to advance within the corporation inevitably meant leaving Toronto and ultimately going to New York. In 1994, with two very young children and a spouse on a strong career trajectory at Otis Canada (she is now CFO), leaving for a position with wider scope with a Canadian-based company made sense. But it was not an easy call, in no small part because of the strength and talent of the IBM team, including people like yourself, John Thompson, Bill Etherington and others. The people element can often be the toughest part of the decision-making process. Fortunately, my IBM colleagues were exceptionally supportive — and, as fate would have it, I even had a chance to work closely once again with Bill (who was CIBC’s Board Chair when I was with the bank.)
The question about how to leave companies that arent good fits and not have it affect your career path is a good one. I’ve found that one way to do this is to stay fairly close to your core skills in new job changes and/or be able to show that it is a career move that increases your experience in your chosen path. I’ve worked in OD, moved to HR jobs and back into OD and into consulting but the jobs were all within the “spectrum” of HR-related. Companies like to see potential employees have continuous improvement of their skill development that has come through increased responsibility or experiences so moving to jobs that do that can be seen as beneficial. If the job changes are serendipitous and dont have any relationship to what you’re saying are your capabilities that could be a reason to be viewed as a “career job hopper” and possibly limit opportuntiies.
i agree that it can be a good idea in some times, it all depends on the situation you are in
While I have only had a few different jobs in my life so far, I can definitely see how switching it up every once in a while is great for people who want to continue learning and trying new things. I’m definitely that kind of person so I can relate. Thanks for sharing your story, Bob! Really enjoyed reading this.
Keep functioning ,impressive job!