Each week in this newsletter I answer a question from a reader. This week's question came from a client of mine who's been wrestling with a dilemma lately. She asked me this question:
"I've been in my current role for 2 years and I'm ready for something new, but I'm worried about looking like a job hopper. Will moving companies so soon damage my career prospects?"
This is a great topic to talk about because the myth of the ‘job hopper’ is so pervasive and it stops people leaving jobs for better opportunities all the time. I don’t know about you, but I’ve always been told throughout my career that if you move roles too often you’ll be seen as unstable and unreliable, and companies won’t want to hire you.
And this keeps lots of us stuck! We don’t want to be labelled negatively so we stick it out with our current companies and pride ourselves on loyalty and resilience instead.
But here’s what I want to talk about in today’s newsletter: job hopping isn't a career liability. It’s not a negative thing, it’s not anything to be scared of. It’s actually a very smart, strategic approach to building wealth in your career. And remember, we all do our jobs because we get paid. We are exchanging our labour for money. So why not maximise the money you can make with your labour?
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- Moved jobs from a salary of 85k to 130k
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- Got awarded "a big fat raise" (her exact words!)
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Alright let’s go back a bit. Let's talk about loyalty.
I was told early and often in my career that loyalty was extremely important. I was expected to be loyal to my boss, to the company, to the contract I had signed. But over time I began to wonder what this loyalty is costing me. Because I certainly never felt that any employer was particularly loyal to me and shouldn’t loyalty be a two-way street?
I’m reminded of this on the daily now when I see news bulletins about layoffs and redundancies and companies having zero loyalty to employees.
So let’s bust the myth of ‘job hopping is bad’ by looking at some data. Let’s pull up some real numbers to expose just what company loyalty could be costing you.
Picture two people at similar stages of their internal comms careers. They both take up internal comms manager jobs on a starting salary of 50k.
The first, let’s call him David, is a very loyal employee. He stays with the company for 10 years. He’s a great performer and always gets a great rating in his annual review. Every year he gets a solid 3% raise for his good work. And after 10 years of dedication and hard work, David is earning a salary of 65k.
The second, let’s call her Lisa, doesn’t particularly value loyalty to any particular employer. Her loyalty instead is to herself and her career. She moves companies 3 times over those same 10 years, and with every move she negotiates a 20k salary increase. After 10 years, Lisa is earning a tidy 110k salary.
The difference is very stark, isn’t it? Lisa is earning nearly twice as much as David, despite starting on the same salary 10 years ago. David’s loyalty has cost him a lot of money.
And before you think these numbers are unrealistic, let me tell you they're actually quite reasonable, maybe even on the conservative side. I’ve been a job hopper for my whole career (have a look at my LinkedIn profile you want the evidence) and in one job move I got a 40k increase, in another I got a 25k increase. I've just seen another client of mine go from a role paying 85k to a role paying 130k. These salary jumps are not unrealistic, they are attainable and very real.
So here’s what I want you to think about: if you are staying put out of loyalty or out of a fear of being labelled a ‘job hopper’ then you are costing yourself a heck of a lot of money.
Unfortunately, the truth is that companies pay external hires more than they pay their loyal employees. It's backwards and frustrating but it's true. Annual raises rarely keep pace with market rates let alone with inflation. So maybe your 3% pay raise sounds nice until you realise that the market rate for your role has jumped 15-20% over the past year and your company is saving a fortune by keeping you at your current salary.
The best way to increase your salary significantly is to get a new job offer. I'm not saying you should job hop for the sake of it. If you're somewhere you genuinely love, where you're growing and learning, where you feel valued and you're paid fairly? Stay as long as you want. Absolutely.
But if you're financially ambitious and you’d love to pay off your mortgage before your hair turns grey, then you might want to think about job-hopping as a smart strategy that you can use to maximise your salary over the coming years.
Now for me, my tendency to move jobs has always come after 2-3 years in a role. By this stage I have usually mastered the role, things are working well, there are workflows and processes in place and I’m driving results and everything is good. And I tend to get a bit of an itch for a new challenge because maybe I’m starting to get bored. If I’ve stopped learning and growing in a job then that’s time for me to go.
Other things you could ask yourself to figure out if it’s time for you to look for a new job are:
- Am I being paid fairly for my skills and experience? Do a bit of research on market rates for your role. Look at job ads, talk to recruiters, check salary surveys. If you're significantly underpaid, that's a red flag and it’s time to start looking.
- Am I still learning and growing? If you feel like you've plateaued and there's no room for development, that's a sign it might be time to explore other options. If you’re an intellectually curious person and your job has gone a bit stale, then it might time to freshen up your CV.
- Do I feel valued and appreciated? If you're constantly overlooked for promotions or your contributions aren't recognised, why stay? If your boss never says thank you or never recognises your contribution then maybe that’s an issue for you.
- Is there a clear path forward for me here? If you can't see how you'll progress in the next few years or if you’ve never had any discussion with your boss about promotion, it might be time to find that promotion somewhere else.
If you DO decide it’s time for you to look for a new role, here’s some practical advice to get you started.
Firstly, update your LinkedIn profile. LinkedIn is totally free and is an incredible way to build your reputation in our industry. Check to get the basics right – have you got a clear, up to date profile picture? Have you got a concise headline that tells people about you? Does your “about” section tell your story well? Does the “experience” section highlight your achievements with specific results and metrics?
Start collecting job ads that interest you. Identify your next strategic step and assess if you’ve any gaps in your knowledge and experience. For example, if you’re at manager level and you want to move up to Head of Dept level, get some job specs for Head of Dept and go through them with a forensic eye. What does that role demand that you aren’t good at yet? What experience is required that you don’t have yet? Make an action plan based on this to fill in those gaps, either by getting direct experience in your current role or undergoing some training.
And finally, I’d advise you to be strategic about timing. Job hunting while employed is always easier than job hunting while unemployed. You’ve got nothing to lose, you’re not desperate and you can be fussy until you find the right fit. You're negotiating from a position of strength when you already have a job. Take your time, be selective, find the right fit.
So there you go, I am a lifelong job hopper and I reckon my life (and my career) are the better for it. I’ve never been turned down for a job for moving around, in fact I use the moves to my advantage to talk about how much diverse experience I have and how my experience can help this role succeed.
That’s it for now, keep the questions coming in and I’ll keep writing!
Thanks for reading and stay curious,
Joanna
Find me on YouTube, TikTok, LinkedIn and check out my book
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