Is job hopping more acceptable in today's job market?

I recently was asked to give a presentation to a group of business people. One of the things they asked me to do was tell a little about myself. This forced me to sit down and to think about who I was and how my career had evolved over the last few decades.

Before going into public relations, I spent my formative years as a journalist learning and honing my craft. But I rarely let grass grow under my feet. Some might say I job jumped too much and sometimes I even worried that perhaps I should have stayed in some jobs longer than I did.

Back in my parents’ day companies instilled in their workers a sense of loyalty. As a result, you took a job and tried to hold onto it until you retired. But that is changing. I recently read an article that said U.S. workers have an average job tenure of only 4.6 years.

A Careerbuilder study published in May found more than half (55 percent) of employers surveyed said they hired a job-hopper and nearly one-third (32 percent) of all employers said they have come to expect workers to job-hop.

The next time you are considering a new hire consider this: Job jumpers bring with them a sense of excitement and desire to learn and share their knowledge. They are more adaptable and can get up to speed more quickly than those who have grown stagnant in their jobs. Many jump because they are recruited and are desirable to have as employees.

That’s not to say there aren’t negatives to hiring job jumpers, but the onus is on the company to make them want to stay.

As for me, I think my job jumping days are over. I like it where I am in life.

Susan R. Miller is founder of Garton-Miller Media, a full-service, South Florida based public relations firm. Susan is a former journalist with more than 30 years of experience.

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