Jobhopping
oprac. AMI 2008-04-14, ostatnia aktualizacja 2008-04-14 12:01:44.0
Circling the ads again? Catherine Quinn reveals in the Guardian why job-hopping can be a smart career move.
Rich Hill has worked as a door-to-door salesman, a receptionist, an administrator, a PR, 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. 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.
With high employment rates, there are also sound economic reasons why career changers are more employable than ever before - demand for skilled workers is currently outstripping supply and many employers are eager to look for the positives in CVs 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%) have changed career three times already, while more than one in 10 (13%) have swapped more than three
times. Staying in one profession for the entirety of your working life puts you in a minority: nearly three-quarters of those questioned (71%) 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.
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.
Słownik
jobhopping- częste zmienianie pracy
circling the ads - zakreślać ogłoszenia (w gazecie)
fickle worker - pracownik, na którym nie można polegać
chequered - w kratkę
flitting between roles - przerzucanie się z zawodu na zawód (z pracy na pracę)
caveat - zastrzeżenie
fickle jobster tag - etykietka niestałego (kapryśnego) pracownika
oprac. AMI
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