Job hopping, or frequent changes of employers may hurt your employment prospects when seeking that special job you are after. Recruiters are usually negatively perceive a resume of an applicant that looks like a "job hopper"; it portrays in their mind a number of negative traits of the concerned person: immature, unstable, under performer, have personality problems etc… These are all terms you do not want associated with your job application. Most likely such a "job hopper" perception, even if not "the truth" diminishes the applicant's chances to proceed to the next important step of the recruitment process: The Interview.

You may want to think of it like engagements and marriages. It is normal for people to break engagements or get divorced. The problem occurs when this becomes a frequent thing. A family does not usually look favorably at their son or daughter considering marrying a spouse with two divorces and three broken engagements behind them.

Statistically, there is no accurate figure to determine how long should one stay with an employer, and how many employers can one afford to work for before being labeled as a "job hopper". The figures differ from one recruiter to the other, and in many instances is guided by the country's norms and the sector / industry the job seeker is working in. For instance, it is well known that in the USA job changes are more frequent than France. Japan would have on average an even lower rate.

Regardless of where, even in our region, a 30 year old professional (with probably 6 to 8 years of work experience), will definitely be a "job hopper" if he/she has 4 or more employers on his / her resume at that age.

In skill-link.com's opinion, after 10 years of work, you are OK with 3 or less employers on your CV. If the number is higher, you should at least have 4 years or more with your latest employer, since it is the one the counts the most.

Justified changes
Of course not all employer changes are the same, there are justified employment terminations/ends, that a accepted, these include:

• Interrupting employment to enroll in a graduate degree, specially when attending a university in another country.
• A female leaving work to deliver a baby and care for it for a year or two.
• Those who work for donor programs that are temporary by nature, such as a USAID funded project or a European Union program. Once the project is over, all staff are normally released.
• In some industries, jobs are also not permanent. A notable field is construction, engineers and other project site staff are employed for the duration of a particular project, which could last for a few years. Once completed, they may or may not be rehired for another project by the same company / employer.
• Business closure, where in some cases a company decided to close one or more of its divisions. More often it is a multinational company that decides to withdraw from a certain country or shift its operations else where (for example in Egypt, SONY Music and ABC Securities decided to close down).

The above are "justifiable" or "safe" reasons for employer changes, and hence the justification should be clearly reflected in your CV. This is to avoid alarming a potential recruiter. The concern remains, for those "other" frequent employer changes.

It is very natural for an individual not to be fully satisfied where he / she is working; this could be due to a number of reasons: not liking the working environment, low pay or just receiving a much more attractive job offer. However too much of these changes could work against you, as previously discussed.

So, what can be done to minimize "job hopping" ?
Obviously there is no fool proof way to increase anyone's employment stability. However the following guidelines could be useful:

1. Do your homework before accepting a job offer. In other words before you commit, you must have gathered enough information about the business, your job, the working conditions etc.. The more you know, the less negative surprises there should be for you (relatively speaking). Therefore go out of your way to talk to more than just a single interviewer, also do some research of your own.

2. Remember what they always say "The Grass Is Always Greener On The Other Side"; in other words it very often happens that we think that another job with another employer will be more attractive than our current position. The true fact is that since we have not lived in that new job, we cannot tell what problems, challenges are associated with it. However it is human nature that drives us to think that things, jobs, etc.. we do not have are: better or nicer. So the advice here to those currently employed is not to jump at the first job offer they get and quit. Lots of careful thinking and consideration is required before reaching a decision.

3. Do your best not to let differences of opinion or arguments with your boss or a colleague escalate to serious confrontations or irreconcilable hate. Once you have reached a point of no return, you are only left with one way to go: Out! The advice here is to be diplomatic and not act irrationally.