Job Hopping: Is It Bad to Change Jobs Often?

Recently, I’ve had an opportunity to be talking to Debbie Roche, a professional podcaster at Uncomfortable Blog. One of the topics we went through was about job hopping.

Once the podcast is released, this article will be updated. However, feel free to follow Uncomfortable Blog now, and be the first one to check new podcasts when they come out.

In this article, I’d like to explore further if it is really bad to change jobs often or is it a good thing.

We’ll dig into the two perspectives:

• Job hopping from the point of view of an employer
• Job hopping from the point of view of an employee

I will try to provide reasons for job changing as well as arguments to employer’s complaints. The real cases described in the article are a collective image of many companies.

Let’s get straight into it.

Employer vs Employee: Talking Job Hopping

Employer

We need the “right” candidate to embrace as many tasks as possible. We usually spend a lot of time, effort, and resources on finding the right employee. However, the majority of them leave. What a waste.

Employee

Now, how about employers stopped treating employees like a resource and refer to their work as “human hours” in the process? But that’s not a big deal.

The real problem is that employers should have spent even more resources on making me stay. It was just half of the problem to find me, but what have you got to offer to keep me committed to your company’s growth?

Family values? Cookies? Awesome team? That’s fine, but I have it elsewhere.

I would never have quit my job if my payment was not downgraded at the very start and my progress was encouraged accordingly. Seems like you’ve been looking for the cheapest option, but my work is not cheap.

Conflict overview

In this case, money was the only real driving force on both sides. And it actually always is. However, the employer was focused on finding the right “cost-effective” candidate while the employee was looking for a decent-paying job.

Due to the incomplete understanding of the industry, the real company’s values and culture, an employee agreed to sign the contract. However, as he progressed and figured things out, he realized that the company had never been able to give him what he wanted.

On the other side, the employer knew that the candidate had low negotiation skills, and industry knowledge gaps, so they’ve taken a gambler approach to hiring the candidate. In this case, the luck was not on the employer’s side.

Employer

We gave them everything they needed. We spent several months teaching and training them to become a strong part of our community and team, and now after 6-24 months, they are gone.

Employee

It was a nice experience learning from your company, and I appreciate the opportunity. However, it seems like I’ve learned to provide value to clients, but nobody has ever considered my values.

Stop assuming what I want, just ask me what I want. No, not every 6 months during the performance review. How about every 2 weeks?

I didn’t really feel connected to the company because I didn’t get enough feedback from my manager. Another reason was that I actually found myself overworking and my performance dropped. I’ve just burned out and got sick of repetitive tasks.

Conflict overview

The employer was ready to invest in the employee which is great. However, due to poor further communication and workflow management, the employer had put the employee into the position of quitting the job.

Employer

We actively engage our employees into different social activities and try to maintain the highest standards of the company’s culture, so that our employees can become a part of a team and family.

Employee

Are you mad lads? Who said that I want to be constantly distracted by your stupid events? I don’t want to take part in any of your “must-have” bureaucratic workshops and pointless meetings just as much as your annoying corporate birthday parties and alike.

Wanna do team building? Let’s engage in the actual business. I came here for meaningful work and money.

How about you actually focus on delegating and managing thoroughly explained tasks rather than “Bob, I know you’ve got this. Make it perfect.”

Conflict overview

Establishing corporate culture is a great way to improve relationships between employees. However, it only makes sense when the actual job is done at the highest level and everybody is more or less satisfied. Otherwise, such parties and meetings are not worthy of the time of people who have families, friends, and hobbies.

The “forced corporate culture” has never benefited anybody.

Is it bad to change jobs often?

[image source: GoodCall]

It’s neither good or bad. This is a necessary thing if you’re looking for the right company. Forget about the employment history which might or might not affect your chances in the next company. Forget morale and stop feeling guilty when you are fighting for a better future.

Recommended: “Why You Feel Guilty For Not Doing Anything Productive and How to Overcome It”

For me, a job has always been a tool for achieving short-term goals.

If you’re looking for a source of inspiration and a creative place where you can seamlessly follow your passion – then you should seek elsewhere.

People who say that they don’t make much money and love their job are not liars. Apparently, they make just enough for them to have a comfortable lifestyle and actually enjoy their work.

The “just enough” or “not much” is different for everybody. I have my limit too. It’s probably limited to my current mindset.

Why would you want to change jobs?

There are many reasons why I change jobs often. At the very start of my career, the reasons were bound to simply shooting for a higher salary. However, there are many more reasons to change a job.

Poor task assignment and project management

For example, we need you to write an article about “Cloud computing.” Why? Because it’s trendy now.

Cloud computing is the whole industry. There are millions of titles for an article. You can’t just write about “something” without having a strong “why.” Moreover, it doesn’t matter if the topic is trendy. It should be relevant to your clients and your business.

You should have a clear understanding of why you’re writing this article and what you want to get from it.

*It never mattered what you do and why you do it. It’s just for the sake of doing it.

Unrealistic deadlines or no deadlines at all which makes the task pointless

We need to have the presentation completed in two hours.

Alright. What have you got?

Well, nothing. Just a title.

*Fake rush at the start. The presentation took one week to complete. No complaints.

Lack of purpose, short-term and long-term objectives

We have to start using Pinterest. I heard that this is trendy and works well for B2B.

What do you mean works well? Do you have any data to support your decision? How much time and resources are you willing to invest in running another social media channel?

It’s trendy. It’s all we need to know. Let’s just start it.

*It was abandoned the same day as started.

Poorly structured business operations from top management to regular workers

Miscommunication on all of the levels is the best thing about corporate culture.

Nobody has a clue what they are doing and why they are doing it. Because of that misunderstanding, the cleaning workers clean the whole floor when all others come to work causing even more mess.

The cleaners clean before the business lunch and after it, not during the business lunch while everybody is out.

Managers never heard of tasks that you’re trying to talk about with them. They keep referring you to other managers which causes even more miscommunication.

*The work is always delayed, incomplete. Everybody is either angry or indifferent.

Conclusions

The list might go on and on.

When it comes to job hopping, there is usually so much more than just an employee “trying to find themselves” or “getting a higher salary.” Moreover, usually, it’s the sanity of the corporate culture that can be very close to insanity.

It is not bad to change jobs, and you should not feel guilty about that. You’re responsible for your life, and for your future.

It’s absolutely alright to look for a better option, ‘cuz businesses certainly do. Don’t think they’re driven by morale. Most of the companies out there are driven by profit which is usually self-directed.

A job is just a form of collaboration between you and the employer. And this collaboration is a tool for both of you.

You invest your time and skills, and your employer uses it to trade your efforts for money in the form of services or products they provide to clients.

If you’ve found that the deal is unfair, then seek collaboration elsewhere.

If you enjoyed this article you might as well enjoy reading these ones:

• “Can’t Get A Job Anywhere: How to Get A Job Without Any Knowledge And Experience In That Field”
• “5 Personal Development Tips to Follow in 2019”

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