3 reasons why it’s okay to job-hop

This article was first published in Rappler.

We’ve been told the same thing: companies don’t like job-hoppers because they don’t add as much value as the tenured ones. They’re employees who stick around for a year or two, get bored or feel underappreciated, and move on to the next convenient nest. More often than not, job hoppers are stigmatized for their lack of commitment and vision for their careers. Should they really be? (READ: Job-hopping: 10 Possible risks and potential rewards)

Yes, it’s ok to job-hop. From my experience, job-hopping may work to your advantage as long as you execute it with the right intentions and timing. While most companies will treat you with the best warm welcome, remember that your value to the company is tied to how long your talents and skills remain relevant.

“Welcome to our family!” you remember the chirpy person who successfully recruited you 5 years ago. You’ve been in the company for many years, happily sitting in your cube every day. But you worry about these questions lately: “Is this really all that I’m going get until the end of the line?” or “Am I missing something that I don’t know?”

You wonder if there is another world outside the walls that may present a better career, a more fulfilling work-life balance, and probably even better friends. Perhaps, there is. In defense of job-hopping, here are 3 ideas as to why seeking greener pastures may be good for you.

1. Collect the best practices, deepen your expertise

Each company or industry is unique – rich with energy and people that form its DNA. Every organization you join, you pick up some of that DNA, and with more skills, the more valuable you become as a talent wherever you go.

Job hopping every 3-5 years will keep your skills updated and current, especially when technologies in industries like IT, manufacturing, and finance change too quickly. This is very critical when you’ve finally chosen a company to climb in the long run because you’ve gathered a deeper set of skills needed for a leadership position. While it’s great to groom leaders from within, a trend these days is to mix management with executives who can bring fresh perspectives and can challenge their old-fashioned thinkers.

I can attest so much on this: I feel grateful that my training in the telco industry (my first job) helped me launch innovative ideas in the restricted pharmaceutical industry (my second job), which in turn honed my customer service skills needed in the aviation industry (my third job). This is just the tip of the iceberg; I know that there’s so much more to learn.

Job hopping can also future-proof your career. In times of economic recession or industry automation, your gained versatility allows you to adjust to any environment or culture. And this is what employers are looking for today: employees who can swim in any ocean of ambiguity.

2. Get ‘promoted’ in a new company or industry

There are times when no matter how brilliant you are, your career progression is trapped by structural limits you can’t control: the company is too lean to move people upwards, or it’s financially struggling to increase salaries. This is where I disagree when people say that the grass is not always greener on the other side, and it may be because you probably haven’t watered the grass on your side properly. Not always true. The grass may never be greener because the soil was never good in the first place – and there’s nothing you can do about it.

Have you been stuck for a decade as a senior engineer in the same cubicle? Perhaps it’s time to consider that bigger desk offered by a headhunter (yes, she’s offering you an IT director position—and the company thinks you’re ready). Companies come in small and big sizes. When you know you deserve better, you have all the rights to look for a company that has more resources and wider space to nurture your career aspirations.

This is the best part about job hopping: your career path has earned you skills and best practices from various companies which you can convert into selling points for your next job application, even if you’re just aiming for a lateral move. “Look, he’s that guy who launched these products from a successful startup,”a colleague whispers about you in the cafeteria as she waits for you to positively shake the boardroom.

Are you a rock star employee coming from a reputable company? Then your new tag price should include a 15 to 30% salary increase in your next job venture. You’ve got world-class skills to boot and an incredible set of contacts that this prospect company needs now. They want your DNA and they want you to spread it around to their employees who need it. You’re simply worth it.

3. Discover what you really want in your career

Finding the right career is like finding the right partner in life. Many of us will be lucky to discover the one at first sight while the rest will keep on pushing with the trial-and-error method. By exposing yourself to many bosses, companies, and mistakes, you equip yourself with enough information to decide on the right career you want to choose.

After all, you only realize the things that you like, when you experience the things that you don’t like. Careers are part of your personal journey, and each milestone makes you wiser and more self-aware of how you want to spend the rest of your life.

There's nothing wrong with settling down earlier, of course – it is your choice. I do think it breeds complacency and eventual stagnation, however, in exchange for the convenience of the familiar. Besides, you're reading this last part now because you're not one of them, right?

When you think you've learned what you ought to learn, and you think you're hungry for something else, contemplate hard on the value of seeking new adventures. Will you be that 60-year-old retiree who will regret the what ifs in his career? I’d rather regret something I’ve done and learned from it, than wonder forever what could have been.

Take this with a grain of salt

Like all types of corporate advice, one must always keep a healthy balance of thoughts, of course. There’s job hopping, and there’s also too-frequent-job hopping. Changing companies too frequently may give you premature experience to the point that you become a jack of all trades and yet master of none. You want to climb the corporate ladder upwards, not rotate as an intern forever, right?

Finally, note that changing lanes every year can be very disruptive for your career. You’ll be tied up adjusting to new environments and new bosses when you should be focusing your efforts on hitting your sales targets or sharpening your leadership skills which take years to master.

But if you think your stars are aligning – and you think this article may be that sign, then go move out and accept that new position, that new role, and that new company with a new set of people waiting to challenge you. Leave if you need to leave. Move if you need to move. Change if you need to change. The successful ones always win because they risked what they thought was worth fighting for.

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JONATHAN YABUT is the winner of the hit Asian reality TV show, The Apprentice Asia, and directly reported to Tony Fernandes as Chief of Staff of AirAsia.

He is based today in Kuala Lumpur as the Managing Director of his management consultancy firm, The JY Consultancy & Ventures, which offers digital marketing and talent optimization services to Asia's startups and corporations. Jonathan is Asia’s leading motivational speaker on topics involving leadership, talent development of Gen Y workers, and career management for Fortune 500 companies. In 2015, he debuted his best-selling motivational book in Asia, "From Grit to Great", and recently launched his second book, "Fast Forward", which is available in all bookstores in Asia. For speakership and media inquiries, contact [email protected] or visit his website www.jonathanyabut.com.