Should you even consider hiring a Job-hopper?

Job-hoppers are people too.

But since today's New York Times opened up the can of worms this morning, let’s dish the dirt. And give you everything you need to know about Job-hoppers. The New York Times

There are 3 things that are vital to know upfront.

(1) Job-hoppers are good people. And in fact, often great candidates.

(2) Job-hopping is not always their fault.

(3) This will be one of the longest posts I’ve ever written, because the topic is so important & misunderstood by both candidates & hiring managers. (Most people won’t touch this topic with a 10-foot pole. Fortunately, I don’t know better.)

In 30 years of recruiting, I’ve interviewed countless Job-hoppers & hired -or placed- many.

And it’s becoming more common.

As today's Times article says:

Job-hopping to increase salary & skills early in a career is not new. However, it appears to be increasingly common: 22.3% of workers ages 20+ spent a year or less at their jobs in 2022, the highest percentage with a tenure that short since 2006.

But many Gen Z workers & younger Millennials aren’t worried. 74% percent of 18- to 26-year-olds and 62% of 27- to 42-year-olds were searching for a new job or planned to search in the next 6 months.

You’ve got to be prepared to handle this emerging trend.

Jeff Hyman ⭐ , chief executive of Recruit Rockstars , a recruitment firm in Chicago, described job hopping as a "huge headache" for employers. When promising employees leave prematurely, others may wonder why, or follow suit, he said. "Human resources executives keep hoping it will improve, but it just seems to get worse by the month."

(Feels weird to quote myself from the article, but I couldn’t have said it better myself.)

Let’s look at Job-hopping from the candidate’s side first...

Job-hoppers often have good reasons that explain their otherwise-premature departure.

When my Dad was just a lad, employees stayed with a company for 10+ years if not for life. Corporate loyalty was deeply-entrenched. The company took care of the employee. During good times & bad.

But then, when really bad times hit, things changed. Specifically, 1981, 1991, 2001, 2008. And then of course the really really bad time 2020. (Where were you on Sunday March 15, 2020?)

The employer-employee bond was broken. Never to be mended.

And so now, no surprise, it’s every person for themselves.

When a person joins a company, they’re faster to decide whether they want to stay or go, to see it through, to overcome the pain. And -with a 50 year record low unemployment making it easier than ever to find the next job- sometimes that person gives up prematurely & moves on.

Don’t believe me?

Research shows that 2% of US employees don’t show up for their 2nd day of work.

They move to another company. And sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. When it doesn’t, they move again.

And again.

And so on. And so on.

But just as often, the move wasn't of their making.

The company they joined hits hard times. And parts ways with the new/new-ish employee ("Last in, First out" syndrome.) Who leaves joins a new company. And -if that one doesn’t work out- repeats.

Job-hoppers aren’t born.

Sometimes they’re made by their situation.

Living in Silicon Valley for 15 years, I witnessed this first-hand as the percentage of employees who work for high-risk and/or unprofitable companies is higher than anywhere else in the world.

They "hop" from startup to startup (often in bunches of bunnies they know personally). One startup fails, they hop to the next one. And repeat.

Until one hits, their stock options are worth millions, and they retire at age 29.

(Kidding. That almost never happens. Long story.)

But it’s far more ‘socially acceptable’ by employers in Silicon Valley, then in other parts of the country.

My recommendations for you personally, particularly if you’re in the first half of your career:

Think long & hard before giving up on the role you’re in. Do everything you can to make it work. Try another role in the company. Ask for another hiring manager to take you on. Rewrite your job description.

Once you’re at risk of giving up, you have nothing to lose by trying.

Because the grass isn’t typically greener over there.

And then what? Repeat the process, and risk being labeled a "Job-hopper?"

Which means you’re off-limits to approximately 40% of my clients. That’s the chunk that tell me explicitly to not even bring forward an outstanding candidate who is a Job-hopper.

Of course, when I ask them to define "Job-hopper," it’s -as you’d expect- "I’ll know it when I see it."

There are valid reasons why you don’t want to build the perception of being a job hopper, particularly in the formative first 10-15 years of your career.

Sticking around in a role lets you climb the ladder and gain more responsibilities. Jumping ship too often means you might miss out on those growth opportunities.

Over the long-term, deep skills are key. Mastering a role and really getting those high-level skills needs time and commitment. Too much job-hopping might leave you as a "jack of all trades, master of none."

To be clear, this old guy thinks that Gen Z’s & Millennials aren’t wrong. I don’t blame them.

Their new employer probably underinvests in onboarding or training. They simply throw them into the pool & tell them to swim.

So many outstanding new hires just need a few weeks or months to adjust to the water temperature.

And post-Covid, it’s even worse. Because how is it possible to onboard & socialize (not drink beers together, but the complete "socialization" process) new hires over Zoom , Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams?

It’s nearly impossible.

(Which is why I advise people in their 20’s to do everything possible to work from an office, even though -yes- working from home is far easier & more liberating.)

All that said, life is short.

Working for a micromanager, tyrant, or narcissist isn’t worth it (Unless those stock options are 1 month away from a cliff-vest.)

Commuting 2 hours each day isn’t sustainable.

Sticking with an unprofitable company, led by a flavor-of-the-day Founder, that’s circling the drain isn’t a great career move.

But think long & hard about leaving your employer.

Because once you become perceived as a Job-hopper, other employers may fear hiring you, investing in you, only to have you leave months or quarters later.

Put on their shoes: would you entrust your company’s key initiative to someone who may not be fully committed? This explains the downward spiral that so many Job-hoppers become sucked into.

And be sure it’s not you who is difficult to work with.

There, I said it.

I’ve interviewed countless candidates who blame everyone but themselves. There’s always a person, a co-worker, an investor, a boss who was unreasonable. But it’s never their fault.

As a young employee, it’s vital to learn the gift of getting along with all types, finding areas of compromise, and co-existing with a team (without losing your identity.) Sounds a bit like marriage. It can’t always be the other person’s fault.

Remember the employers & recruiters like me -sad but true- form their first impression before even meeting you. It’s from a LinkedIn profile or resume. Which means -even when your reasons are good- you may not have a chance to provide them if you don’t get that initial 20-min phone screen. The deck is stacked against you, by candidates who (right or wrong) were able to stay, contribute, learn, grow, and be promoted.

(Now, if you do decide to leave, do everything you can to line up your next role before giving notice. My experience shows that you lose all compensation negotiation leverage once you’re on the street.)

Now, if you’re hiring, don’t ignore the Job-hoppers.

If you do, you’ll miss out on soon-to-be-half of the candidate population. And in many cases, it’s not their fault.

However, use extreme caution.

Not because the candidate is a bad person.

Perhaps they may be a poor decision-maker (in selecting their employers.) Do they do their due diligence?

Use caution because -if the candidate is a persistent Job-hopper- it becomes very difficult to assess their performance in previous roles…

…which is the #2 best predictor of candidate success (following their personal DNA.)

If the candidate has held 3 jobs in the past 2 years - an average of 8 months each - how are you supposed to accurately vet them & assess the impact they made on their employers’ business?

You typically can’t.

Because to assess performance in a given role, you want to dive deep into what was the situation they inherited, what data did they use, what decisions did they make, what were the results, how did they course-correct & iterate, and what were the results then. And so on.

In most roles, 8 months just isn’t enough to make the food & live with your own cooking.

Which means -when you choose to overlook their Job-hopping ways (and sometimes you should)- you’re taking an above-average risk.

And hiring done well is all about de-risking the hire.

Remember: this is the single-most-important decision you make in business. Who to invite onto your team.

The hidden costs of hiring & then swiftly losing Job-hoppers is higher than you think:

Training costs: If someone leaves soon after you've spent time and money training them, that's resources down the drain.

Team disruption: Constantly integrating a new person into the team can disrupt the workflow and lower overall productivity. Especially to your top-performers (the ones you can't afford to lose.) They find the revolving door truly annoying & disruptive to their work. So they'll blame you (and potentially leave you.)

Knowledge drain: When an employee leaves, they take their knowledge with them, which can hurt ongoing projects.

Hiring fatigue: Constantly recruiting, interviewing, and onboarding can exhaust your HR team and lead to bad hiring decisions down the line.

There are always exceptions.

Everyone deserves a second chance. And a few jobs that didn’t pan out. (I’ve had my fair share!)

But -While the days of lifetime employment are over, the winnowing must start somewhere- the winnowing has to start somewhere.

In our book, I propose my 3:10 Rule which I’ve used for years.

I generally look for people who have worked for three or fewer companies in the past ten years. Commonly, I’ll see candidates who spent two years at each employer over the course of ten years. That’s five employers, and in my view, that’s too many. It tells me that the candidate either made bad choices about where to work or the company didn’t see them as having enough value to retain their services and advance them through the organization.

Every good Rule needs a good Addendum, so when hiring Gen-Z’s with less than 10 years experience, I look for candidates who have spent less than ⅓ of their total work career in short stints.

The point is, I’ll likely never know. Despite all the reference-checking I can muster.

Which means I’m not de-risking the hire.

And that’s the biggest risk in your business.