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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.
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