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Job hoppers are common nowadays. They may stay at a job for 6 months or 4 years but more often than not, many of your employees won’t be the career type. The question is, do you really want to attract or hire these candidate types? While they seem jumpy, fly-by-night workers, there is a rhyme for their reasons to bounce from job to job. Despite their propensity for fickle professional behavior, job hoppers could be the next best talent your company needs. Take a look at some reason you should consider a record job hopper for your next vital role.
1. Flexible
The skills gained from hopping jobs and experience obtained at other jobs is invaluable. Because they have multiple jobs over the course of their professional career, they are able to develop skills such as flexibility which are necessary to organizational success. After all, flexibility is the crux of innovation. Tricia Lucas (@TriciaLucas), Co-Founder of Lucas Select Inc., noted:
“Companies need top talent to solve problems and build new solutions that will give them a competitive advantage. Job hoppers open themselves to opportunities to get that valuable experience. You can’t help but question the motivation and ambition of the employee who stayed in the same cubicle for 10 years and what they can bring to the table from an innovation standpoint.”
2. Adaptive
Job hopping candidates have spent the last several years moving from position to position, and as nerve-racking as that may be for some employers, guess what: they have already been trained. They’ve learned to become adaptive to their environment as they change so frequently. In fact, 51% of employers say that job hoppers adapt quickly.
Never thought you would hire a job hopper? Read these five reasons why you should:
3. Networkers
They are fantastic at creating and maintaining connections with previous employers and other professionals they’ve met in the industry. Working for these companies helps these candidates create a network of contacts within and without their industry beneficial for them and the employers who embrace the job hopping mentality. Andre Lavoie (@aglavoie), our CEO and Co-Founder, said:
“It’s reasonable to believe that job hoppers will have more business contacts than someone who has been with the same company for an extended period of time.”
4. Non-complacent
Job hopping candidates have a deeper sense of self-awareness; they give up career complacency if a position isn’t right for them. The personal dedication to professional growth drives these candidates. They learn what they can and once they don’t have the capability to growth with an organization anymore, they move on. You can keep highly competitive job hoppers by consistently engaging and educating them in their role and in the industry.
Job hoppers can keep you motivated to creating an everlasting engaging environment. Read how:
5. Constant learners
Because "hoppers" are used to going from job to job, they consistently hone their skills. They have to, really, in order to stay competitive in the job market. They take on new responsibilities on a regular basis and have to learn to roll with the punches. Not to mention, as Robin Melhuish, Communications Manager at MedReps.com, said:
“Not only will your job-hopping [employee] adapt to the position, but they will continue to adapt with new challenges, clients, and changes to the marketplace.”
Over the years, candidates who hop jobs have earned a bad rap. In all honesty, however, they could prove to have the skills and abilities you need in order to remain competitive in your particular industry. Look past their tendency to stay at a company for shorter amounts of time (compared to your veteran employees) and focus on the new talents and ideas they bring to the table. Because they are constantly learning and driven by challenges, they are extremely adaptive and flexible employees. Take another look at the apparent job hopping candidate in your talent pool… do they have what it takes?
