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SALT LAKE CITY -- With unemployment in Utah holding steady at 7.5 percent, thousands of people are looking for work. But even if you have a job, should you be searching for a different one? Some employment counselors say staying at one company can hurt you.
It used to be that staying with one company for your entire career was looked upon as a sign of strength and loyalty. These days, most companies look at it as a bad thing.
OCM-Lee Hecht Harrison is a company that helps other companies transition their employees to new jobs if the business is considering downsizing. President of Utah operations Dave Hilbig says it's getting harder to find new jobs for the workers who have been with just one company for a few decades. The workers who have been with a few different employers are more marketable.
Someone who has spent nothing but their career in one organization, I think, is going to be perceived as too narrow [work experience] and has not had exposure to other ways of doing things or other operating systems.
–Dave Hilbig
"Someone who has spent nothing but their career in one organization, I think, is going to be perceived as too narrow [work experience] and has not had exposure to other ways of doing things or other operating systems," he said.
Why the change? Don't companies respect a worker's loyalty anymore? Yes, they do.
But, Hilbig says time on the job does not necessarily equal good experience on the job. In some cases, a worker with 20 years in one place really only has one year of experience repeated 19 times.
Hilbig says what employers are really looking for now is an employee with more exposure to different ways of working along with increased responsibility with every change in jobs.
He said, "They want people to have experience, in a 20-year or 30-year time span, with at least, I would say, two to three different organizations."
But there are ways to properly go about job hopping.
Don't overdo it
Hopping from one job to another too frequently doesn't look good. Hilbig says it's fine to be a job hopper, but you probably don't want to be known as one by a potential boss.
"The term ‘job hopping,' I think is still perceived negatively," he said. "If somebody has moved every two years and has been hopping around in a 20-year career [it is] simply because they're seeing they're very unstable."
He says a period of five to seven years is the best time frame to move from one company to another.
You have to socialize
"Getting involved with professional associations and networks is a great way to get known by peers in your industry," Hilbig said.
For many fields of work, there are professional groups that meet and discuss the latest trends and topics of the industry. Hilbig says not only are the contacts you can make very valuable, but it gives other people in your business a chance to see how you operate, especially if you volunteer your services for the group.
Don't burn a bridge
Most companies expect to see plenty of turnover among their workers. Hilbig says the average tenure for CEOs is between two to three years.
But, there are still some bosses that will take it personally if you leave their company. Those few will likely never consider hiring you back. Hilbig says you will have to judge for yourself what kind of temperament your current boss has. Talk to other employees and find out what they've seen when an employee leaves.
Hopping to another job may still be the best decision, but you will have to decide on your own.
E-mail: pnelson@ksl.com
