Revisiting Job Hopping
I am going to play Devil’s advocate here for a second.
What if we considered job hopping to be not a negative thing (generally) but a positive thing and an indicator of the type of economy we are going to be seeing for the next decade? The world around us is changing and companies are starting to value those who change. Change is everywhere and to err on the side of ridiculousness, change is being taught in the change education, change economy, change employers, change employees, change leaders, change evangelists, change … well, you get the point.
So if we are going to start emphasizing change and flexibility, why wouldn’t we expect a more fluid workforce? More importantly, what happens if those people that are so well adept to change and are your typical job hoppers? What happens if they are actually better employees? They become productive quickly and stay incredibly productive throughout their term and instead of spending the next five years doing mediocre work, they went on to the next exciting project. What happens if the best and brightest aren’t the guys that are going to be in your office in five years? And what happens if these people are bright and have adapted to learn more quickly, their cost of hire goes down and therefore the cost of turnover goes down because you know you could hire on another person who is going to be hungry for something new in two years? What happens if realize an ROI on a new employee in the first MONTH instead of the first year?
Would all that change our perception of turnover, job hoppers and that flaky Gen Y I keep hearing rumors about?
Would your company be ready for such a change in ideals? Could they ever be?
JobCentral.com provides jobs online across the U.S.
Entertainment from employees
This post by Beth Carvin on my blog as part of the blogswap has generated quite a few comments. Most of them seem to be from disgruntled employees or those who feel less optimistic about corporate America in general.
Just a few comments regarding some of the responses:
- Wow. I wasn’t aware that HR types had it so easy that they could (and would) so casually discount an otherwise worthwhile potential hire, purely because they thought that person might be a “job hopper”. I think that’s a bit of a misnomer there. We don’t have it easy which is why we must seriously evaluate whether or not a person is going to stay with a company to recoup our investment. Hiring isn’t an incredibly easy thing to do right so you don’t want to be rehiring after a few months. I would say that it is probably easy to hire people, but it is not easy to hire the right people.
- I don’t like HR people who think I must join a cult they call a “team” to be a successful employee. Who said that? You have to be able to work as a team in many positions. I don’t think that’s demanding you join a cult.
- Anyone who cares what anyone in the field of HR thinks of them is wasting valuable thoughts. In some companies, that’s probably true. Anybody who thinks that as a rule should really re-evaluate how they intend to make a living because it probably won’t be working for a company. As an HR person, I have come to the realization that some people aren’t made for working for someone else or working in their particular job. And while you may be just biding time until that next opportunity comes up, it does you no good to start burning your bridges before you’re off them.
- Absolutely never indulge in thoughts of *loyalty* — companies have zero loyalty to you, and will drop you without hesitation as soon as it is convenient for them. I’ll agree with you to a point. You should never exert loyalty beyond what you are willing to sacrifice. We live in a choice society and you are able to make a lot of choices. You should make choices that best suit you and best meet your goals. I would NEVER encourage anyone to not do that. What I am trying to do with this blog is make people aware that some of the decisions they make can effect them and here’s why.
- Look out for better offers, and take them when they show up. Companies (and hence HR) don’t want that because they want to keep your wages low. Don’t let them. Actually, a good HR department doesn’t mind that too much because they are often the one’s putting up the better offers. I would say that with the exception of a few fields, staying in jobs for several years at a time will allow HR to offer a better compensation package at your next jumping off point. You’re artificially keeping your wages low (with some exception) by jumping around a lot.
I’m not a full out company man by any stretch of the imagination but I realize that working for my company and doing a good job is in my best interest and I have been rewarded accordingly. Do I see myself doing this forever? I sure hope not. I’ve got the “be your own boss” jive in my blood. But being a good employee and helping the people I work with be better employees is a choice I have made. I love what I do and if you can’t do what you love, you shouldn’t make yourself more miserable by putting whatever you have currently in jeopardy.
Networking must be done for recruiting purposes
Ragan at recruiting.com gets a really surprising reaction from some of the commenters to a post about networking and the rude responses received. To be honest, I can’t in a million years think of a better way to connect with other professionals in my area than by networking.
Networking as a job or candidate searching tool is crap. Not only is it ineffective, it is dishonest. But I thought that Ragan had made it pretty clear that she wasn’t doing it for that. I do cold e-mails and cold calls all the time with professionals in my area or in my industry. Here’s a hint though, I am usually doing networking during times when we have lulls in hiring. If we are doing a bunch of hiring, I don’t have time to network because networking takes a ton of time. It is building a relationship. I rarely use my networks to poach from (like some seem to assume). In fact, I’ve only hired a couple from my cold called/e-mailed/introduced network of people. But guess what, those network of people know other people and I get a ton of referrals from them. And whenever I have a candidate that doesn’t fit with what our company does but does fit with another company, I hook them up. I also give advice to these networked contacts and have developed friendships from it.
I use e-mail because I am on the phone all day and the people that I want to talk to are busy as well. I feel that e-mail is a courtesy and as long as it isn’t spam, I haven’t had any ill reaction to using it. Calling can interupt a person’s day and if they are busy, they might be more turned off by the fact that you called and interupted them.
The rude response is never okay though and it is irritating to me that some would justify such rudeness. Even if it was a straight recruiting e-mail, wouldn’t a simple “I’m not interested” work? Why be a jerk about it?
I’ll never get how people can be such jagoffs on the internet or over the phone yet be so normal if you ever meet them in person.
Why I STILL Don’t Like Job Hoppers
This post is part of the BlogSwap.
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
What does “you’re over qualified” mean?
You go through sending your resume, following up and being a good overall job seeker. And then you get to the part where the hiring manager or the recruiter gives you feedback regarding why you weren’t considered for a job. As Dano writes:
“can you tell me what does the phrase “you are over qualified” mean? i have been trying to find employment through a staffing co and after three interviews. this is what the staffing co. told me. i did not get the job. is this a red flag for future interviews??? “
I can tell you what I mean when I say that. Pats got it mostly right: it is an issue of fit. I wouldn’t hire a VP of Sales to mop the floors (however much I would enjoy the sight). You want someone who will like the job, who will do well, and who will stay (i.e. not turnover). People within the range of experience (and not above or below) do the best. That’s why we develop, test and use job descriptions. But there is a dirty side to this comment as well.
Some HR people, in a moment of sympathy for a job seeker they have to reject, will use it as a compliment or a “poo poo” phrase. It’s to make you leave without them feeling guilty or you feeling angry. You can tell this is the case if the jobs you are applying to seem to be well within the range of your experience. If that is the case, try to think of other things that might have happened throughout the process that could have influenced the decision.
To give you a real life example, my father applied for a job after many years of owning his own business. He was staying in the same industry but it was a demotion of sorts from a business owner. He was told the overqualified bit several times before he finally got a job. And guess what? Those people that said he was overqualified (i.e. not a good fit) were right. He didn’t last more than a couple years before he started his own business again.
As a side note, welcome to all the new visitors to this website. I have received a bit of an influx this week and while I am not sure where it is coming from, I am hoping that this site is useful for you. Please contact me if you have any questions.
You think you have a bad job?
A list of the worst jobs ever in the UK.
Some of the more entertaining jobs:
- Guillemot-egg collector
- Leech collector
- Bath attendant
- Steeple jack
Read the rest at the website.
Mailbag: Thank you letters
CJ writes:
“I’m interested in the subject of thank you letters. Didn’t see anything posted regarding them. Any thoughts?”
Thanks for the question CJ. Thank you letters are still under-used and are incredibly easy to send now with e-mail. Anybody who uses it still differentiates themselves from the norm (my experience has been 1 in 8 send thank you letters and that number gets less frequent for entry level jobs). Keep the letter short and relevant regardless of method (e-mail or snail mail). Something along the lines of:
Dear [Interviewer First Name],
Thank you for interviewing me for [Whatever] position. [Insert personal note to help them remind them of yor hopefully great interview]
Thanks again and if you have any questions, please give me a call at [Phone number] or reply to this e-mail.
Thanks,
[Your name]
That’s it. And it is never a waste of time to spend the minute to compose this letter to tell the recruiter and hiring manager that you appreciated their time.
Search internships and entry level jobs at College Recruiter.com.
All things being equal…doesn’t happen revisited
Todays blogswap post is brought to you Alise Cortez, co-writer of the Improved Experience blog. She writes much more intelligently in regards to why “all things being equal” is bad, bad, bad! This is a take off of my post on the same subject. Thanks Alise.
Yes, indeed, our tendency to rely on colloquial phrases like “all things being equal,” or any slang, is quite remarkable (and deserving of the suggested tongue-lashing). While phrases like this are likely intended to fortify a sentence or mindlessly regurgitate common but senseless speech, they are really just useless utterances.
As someone who has studied French, Spanish, and Portuguese and now speaks Spanish daily in addition to my native English, I make a point not to use these kinds of phrases…precisely because I know how poorly they actually translate. And (having lived internationally) I’m acutely aware of the struggle to make myself understood while desperately straining to understand someone else as we spoke a language that wasn’t native to me.
Those lessons remain with me now that I’m living back here in the good ole’ USA. And when I speak with someone for whom I know English is a second language, I’m even more wary, as that person hasn’t had a lifetime of exposure to the cultural idiosyncrasies associated with the nuances of a phrase’s meaning. I might argue that it’s debatable that any of us who did grow up with the phrase really understand it, either.
In that context, a periodic check of colloquial phrases or slang isn’t a bad thing. One hallmark of adulthood is learning how NOT to say every thought that goes through your head; what we say and how we say it is a process of selective choice. Monitoring your speech may result in a more “basic” form of messaging - however the alternative is still somewhat entertaining. I can just see myself trying to explain to my Brazilian friends in Portuguese, “There’s more than one way to skin a cat.” And no doubt leaving them wondering, “Now, why would I want to do something like that???”
Resume Distribution and How to Fire
Two great things that caught my eye this morning.
Secrets of the Job Hunt reveals that SimplyHired just launched a free resume distribution service. This will distribute your resume to all of the major job boards so that recruiters can search for you instead of the other way around. There are some cautionary tales to go along with resume distribution services. The top one is:
Don’t post your resume if your current employer doesn’t know you’re looking.
They can (and will) find it and then you’ll have some explaining to do. Be prepared for all of the usual scams to be sent to you via e-mail disguised as legitimate job opportunities.
Guy Kawasaki writes about how to fire someone. Number 11 is the key for most organizations: Look in the mirror. If you hired someone and it didn’t work out, why didn’t it work out and what signs could you have caught during the evaluation? It is a question most HR departments fail to ask really well. I would also add that when you’ve decided to fire someone, you bring them into the meeting and tell them the reason for this meeting in the first sentence (i.e. they’re getting fired). Beating around the bush and talking about reasons before they know the action you’re going to take is pointless.
Body language and the interview
I write a bit about body language over at Dennis Smith’s Career Builders blog as part of the blogswap. Hopefully you’ll all check it out!
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About
Your HR Guy is a Human Resources Generalist practicing in the field. But don't let that fool you, this isn't a boring blog. I seek relevance and humor in a place we will spend much of our lives. Everything from workplace issues, job seeking and terrible bosses. Read more...
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