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Hi all, my name is Beth N. Carvin. I am the CEO and President for Nobscot Corporation, the developers of WebExit exit interview management software. I’ve worked in the recruiting and/or human resources field for more than 15 years. When I was involved in recruiting, I didn’t much like job hoppers. Now that I’m involved in employee retention, I still don’t like job hoppers. Today I’d like to share with you why.
Why I STILL Don’t Like Job Hoppers
1) If an applicant worked for less than a year at his last 3 jobs, why should I think he will stay at my company any longer?
2) The cost spent on an employee is considerably higher in the first year then in subsequent years. If the employee leaves in the first year, I have not recouped my investment.
3) It doesn’t matter how great an employee is, even the best ones don’t start truly contributing until they have been with the company for at least 6 months. For most employees it usually takes 18 months.
4) The best employees become heavily involved with important projects and/or have strong client relationships. When they leave it creates a huge crisis. It’s too risky to have a job hopper working on anything important.
5) Job hoppers are generally weak of character. They have little sense of responsibility and commitment. They are more focused on themselves than on the people and things around them. They jump ship at the smallest irritation or when the company across the street offers them a few extra pennies. The best employees are responsible by nature. They are more outwardly focused. They care about the company, their co-workers and clients. A responsible-minded employee will contribute at least 150% more in productivity than an employee who cares only about himself.
6) It’s a pain in the ass to refill positions. If you are an employee, find yourself a good company and stay with them long term. Even if it’s a mediocre company, do the best job you can and show your future employers that you’ll do what it takes to be successful.
If you are an HR guy, it’s your job to carefully weed out job hoppers. When you interview, make sure you understand each applicant’s reasons for leaving for each of his or her positions. If the reasons were not the applicant’s fault or if the applicant happened to work for some unusually horrible companies then take that into consideration. Otherwise, if the applicant is a job hopper in the true sense of the word, stay far away. Your company will thank you.
For more quick tips on hiring, see Carvin’s Rules for Hiring the Best.
Copyright 2006 B. N. Carvin
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Maybe if you were an employee who experienced racial harassment twice, sexual harassment three times, denial of a raise that was already put in writing, verbal insults and harassment from your HR department because your educational level exceeded that of any HR employee, micromanagement, insults, denial of performance reviews and had your job sold off to another company twice, you would consider hopping. Corporate America has no respect for an employee and definitely not a minority one. If you spent the last decade being treated like dirt, you might want to work somewhere else. I find that HR employees are self-aggrandized, arrogant, undereducated and power hungry. Every problem can be seen as a two way street and every coin has two sides. If HR employees spent less time racially screening applicants, insulting people, playing catty games (especially when a female is hiring a female) sending rude emails as a reply to a simple resume and actually achieved something academically, they might have a better attitude and attract better applicants. I don’t believe in sticking to a place that treats you like garbage just to prove you have resume longevity. Funny…people wonder why so many Americans die of stress related illnesses. My health suffered enough at the hands of the incompetent people who are promoted for psuedo-loyalty over intelligence and innovation. Not interested. Sorry, after a decade of war, the plight of the HR worker falls on deaf ears in this case. Also consider that the college educated bunch under 35 is not going to have one job on their resume since age 18. That is really immature to think so. The workforce has changed any true expert in the field would attest to that.
True that. Employees wouldn’t jump ship so easily if they weren’t often treating like disposable units of labor in the first place.
Sorry I’m not grovelling to work my whole life at a company just to make the CEO/investors rich while I try to feed mouths and keep a roof over my head.
I’ve worked for some of the biggest companies out there for longer then 3 years. I’ve witnessed attrition rates in those corporations larger then 100% in 6 months. When that happens there is usually a good reason why people leave. And its nothing to do with the fact that they are job hopping. I’ve witnessed supervisors harass employees after 2 years just because they they want them to leave so that the company can recoup their pension contributions. I’ve witnessed HR managers promote people just because they hang out in the smokers pit. I’ve witnessed supervisors get fired because they had a box fall on them at work and ended up going on workers comp. So I don’t blame the job hoppers because they are looking for the best deal they can get given the really crummy circumstances. Don’t judge people without getting to know them. You may be passing up really good people who will help your company get ahead.
A human beings purpose is not to be a good investment. Nor is it meant to be any investment. I am not here to make any company better, if the company does not offer me something i want then why should i be there? Do you think I dream about the frustrations of working to make others rich in delight?
Praise the job hopper.
Well thought-out points and responses. I’ve found that it’s up to every company to decide what type of employee it is looking for. I’ve worked with successful companies that don’t mind job hoppers because they value the core knowledge of the individual regardless of longevity on the job. Other companies are looking for steady employees.
I’ve noticed that companies that value the core skills and talents of their employees and help them grow and feel valued really don’t need to worry as much about retention. A company dedicated to the growth and support of their employees can even turn a job hopper into a long-termer. Retention is frequently about how fulfilled people feel on the job.
Regards,
Guy
I don’t see the point of having an HR department, seriously, there are companies that outsource their work and do a much better job. I find it so funny when I see an HR Manager or Director with just a person working under them, they are all idiots. Let me tell you something about job hoppers as somebody that has worked in the same company for 5 years, I was patient waiting for a promotion or a good raise, and while I waited without receiving anything, the executives got promoted up to 3 times within 5 months, I know every higher level they were offered came with a good pay increase, yet the little guys get nothing for one or two years and then they get a miserable 3% or a $1/hr increase after all their hard work. I saw over 40% of the company leave, of course they were the people with the lower level jobs, and they lasted maybe 3 months, I am sure they are doing better, sometimes you have to hop a couple times before making it happen, and I know that this HR person that wrote this article recruits plenty of job hoppers because he is an idiot that doesn’t know how to screen a career minded person, he is just looking forward to kissing the CEO’s ass and hire somebody to join them in disgust.
Hey HR Moron, I forgot to mention that if you want to retain an employee then you should offer them what the executives get like a bonus regardless if they quit a few weeks after being hired, or a couple million dollars even if the company stocks go down, that should keep them working don’t you think jackass.
Lance, you are the kind of people who think they are too smart for the rest for us. Some people have slavery in their genes and maybe thats just your kind of people. People who would smile at every abuse, every mundane task, every discrimination. People who would bend over backwards and let you have fun. Stop being a moron and think abotu this .. If an employee is HAPPY.. Why would he leave? or if thats too much for your peanut size brain to grasp.. Why should a person stay at a job thats making him miserable? Why should a person work 65 hours and get paid for 40, and still ramain bent over? Go buy some lube and relieve yourself.
Wow, some great responses on here, I’m quite impressed.
Perhaps someone has been job-hopping because they have not found a position they truly enjoy working at. And you’re going to punish them by not giving them a chance at your company? What a load of BS. I’m 23 and have been through countless jobs since before high school even, none lasting over a year. And why not? I’m young, I’m a smart guy, and I’m willing to work hard, I just haven’t found the right fit for me.
HR people, take heed: Think twice before you toss that resume because the applicant has been “job-hopping” you might be throwing away a winner.
I fit the job hopper profile and I don’t feel good about it. I’ve had 8 jobs in 15 years. I’m not so proud about that but I keep putting my self in positions that aren’t truly suited to me. My consistent mistakes are in taking jobs more the money with little regard for their proximity to the geographic centers of my life, family, friends, and hobbies, and taking positions that don’t truly fit my personality such as outgoing roles in sales. The author of this post is on the mark in his assessment I’d say. However, as some of the comment demonstrate, there are external factors that can force the job hopper profile on you, such as racism. But in general, if you do as good a job of interviewing the company as they do in interviewing you and do critical self assessments about what roles suit you, you might end up with a couple of short tenures at jobs but in general you shouldn’t end up labeled a job hopper. That being said, I look at this as much more of a personal problem than a professional problem because I have never had a problem finding a new job. I have a working theory that if you follow one simple rule, never quit a job before you have formally accepted another job offer, job hopping is a self correcting problem.
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