Hiring is a costly task that involves the time of everyone involved, so hiring managers and recruiters are looking for people with whom the company can have a long-term relationship.
You may have seen this before, whether you were looking at someone’s profile on LinkedIn or receiving a resume to evaluate. The person has exactly the same duration in every company, and typically the next position is a higher-level role than the previous one. For many recruiters and managers, this is a big red flag.
With the proliferation of jobs in the technology field and the use of positions as bargaining chips during hiring (I discuss this a bit here), it is increasingly common to see job hoppers—people who, when not promoted or given salary increases, change jobs in search of a higher position. These individuals still associate career progression with vertical growth. Of course, each situation must be evaluated individually, but the problem with trying to grow in this way is that in the long run, these people will have missed countless opportunities for horizontal development, which would give them even greater bargaining power when changing jobs.
Imagine the example of an engineer who changes jobs annually. This person has never had to deal with the consequences of their own implementations since they have never seen their code become legacy or have to be refactored.
Again, please don’t misunderstand me. Money is important, but if someone thinks about the longevity of their career, there will be moments when they should ask themselves:
“How does this fit into my career plan? Have I already learned everything I could here?”
Every change comes with a cost, changing context, investing time during the selection process. Could that time be better spent on personal development?
Thoughts from Phil 