Ah, job hoppers. Those lovely folk who could quite easily fill 4 sides of A4 with just their job titles from the last 5 years.
Generally, they’re frowned upon by prospective employers. But should they be?
After all, if a candidate has hit a ceiling at their existing employer, moving jobs can be a great way of accelerating their career. Ultimately, it might be wise to move for a better opportunity, rather than wait around for one that may never arise.
That being said, a job hopper, by broad definition, is someone that has moved role every 6-12 months. Of course, you can understand if it’s a one off; maybe a cultural misfit, or the role was mis-sold. But if a candidate has two, three or more short employment stints on their CV, alarm bells should probably start to ring.
There are, however, benefits to hiring someone who’s been job hopping. For instance they’ll have had great exposure to different businesses, cultures, management styles, and operational processes, so they understand how to navigate the workplace and they’ll be more open to change.
But could it be difficult to gain their loyalty? There’d certainly always be the thought in the back of your mind that once they’ve got everything they want from your organisation, they’ll be off. But gone are the days of lifetime employees, so it’s the job of the employer to create an environment that millennials wouldn’t want to leave.
While the UK suffers a skill shortage, businesses shouldn’t be ruling out candidates without taking their individual situations into consideration. It often comes down to a gut feeling and how comfortable you can get with the reasons for their career movements.
At Hiring Hub we don’t tend to compromise on ‘fit’ though, so it’s unlikely that we would hire a job hopper unless they can convince us they’re genuine, and references can support their justifications for hopping around. We’d suggest that you take a similar stance.
