Most of us have changed jobs at some time or the other during the course of our careers. While the shift is enforced on us at times, there are others when we have deliberately chosen to move to greener shores or better prospects of our own volition. But there are some people who follow the path of butterflies flitting from one flower to another and move from company to company, never staying long enough to really make an impression or achieve new heights. Job hopping is seen as a necessity by such people, either because they are bored after a while and need something more challenging or because they are always looking for a higher pay packet. While employers view job hopping as adverse to their interests, this process has both pros and cons for the employee.

Among the advantages are…

• Job hopping is beneficial when you’re hoping to the job that best suits your skill set and temperament. If you stay on at a job that you do not like simply because you’re scared to test the waters at other companies, you’ll soon be a washed out, jaded caricature of your former self.
• Changing jobs often helps to retain that air of newness in whatever you do. Staying on at one job for a long time becomes monotonous and routine after a while, especially if you’re not offered anything in the way of new challenges and achievements.
• You learn more as you move from one job to another; even if you’re in the same industry, you amass knowledge about new ways to do old things and you build a network of relationships with the different people you come across.
• Job hopping works when the talent is rare in the market and you’re in possession of a good education with a skill set to match.
• Job hopping is a good way to beat salary compression, the phenomenon where new hires are offered a higher pay packet than their more experienced colleagues simply because of higher market salary rates.

The disadvantages include…

• Employees who job hop on a regular basis do not find favor with new employers after a while as they are seen as liabilities rather than assets. Organizations spend a large amount of money on training new personnel and are not too pleased when they up and leave just as they are beginning to settle in. If you’ve been through five jobs in as many years, you will be going into a new job interview with five biases against you.
• Job hopping is difficult when you have a retirement plan. You have to either leave your 401(k) behind or roll it over into a new plan at your new job. If you decide to neither and withdraw the money, there’s the temptation to blow it all away on frivolous expenses. If you’re steady and disciplined, you have 60 days to invest it in a new savings plan that qualifies for tax benefits.

The key to making job hopping work for you positively is to update your resume in such a way that you manage to highlight your achievements in each company you’ve been with. Win over your new employers with the fact that you’re not moving because of issues with colleagues and superiors or any other negative experience but because you feel the need to prove yourself beyond the level you’ve achieved so far. It’s easier to find new jobs if you’re a high flyer who manages to make a mark in a short time.

By-line:

This post was contributed by Heather Johnson, who writes on the subject of pediatric nursing. She invites your feedback at heatherjohnson2323 at gmail dot com.

It’s been said that, successful people aren’t free from problems, successful people solve problems.

To be successful in your job search, you must solve problems — lots of them — between now and the day you get hired.

The faster and more creatively you do so, the shorter your search for work will be.

Here’s the story of how one woman ran into a roadblock in her job search, with suggestions that can help her — and you — solve problems and get hired faster.

To read the rest of this article, please go to: Job-Search Problems, Keys and Solutions

- Bank of America and Countrywide announced a merger and 7,500 jobs will be lost!
- United and Continental airlines are cutting routes and personnel due to rising jet fuel costs!
- UBS, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs distribute pink slips on Wall Street following the meltdown of Bear Stearns and growing problems in the financial sector.

When we speak at the organizational level like this, we sometimes forget that there are people working with these companies whose lives and careers are changing as the company changes. New college graduates from the Class of 2008 may feel particularly vulnerable, worried about being last in and first out.

A recent college graduate with a MS in Human Resources shared that the call center where she was HR Director was experiencing financial challenges due to the economic downturn. Many facing similar career decisions consider job hunting for more secure jobs. Once we discarded the myth of “secure” jobs in today’s business environment, staying with an organization in crisis might offer advantages to learn new job skills. Having maneuvered through industry downturns before, I shared some career advice about some of the HR competencies she could develop through the transition.

- Managing internal communications by staying on top of the rumor mill. Sharing relevant information with staff as needed in a positive way.
- Helping people transition out of the organization by working with headhunters and out placement firms.
- Learning how to lead through change.

It is hard to see the bright side of being downsized, but it is possible. Think it through and look for opportunities. Before making life changing career decisions, ask for career advice from someone who could help and offer some perspective.

Marcia Robinson writes and trains on career, workplace and employment issues for BullsEyeResumes.com. She has more than 9 years experience in higher education and 14 years of business experience in the Hospitality and Technology sectors. Robinson holds a BS in Business Management and a MBA with emphasis in Human Resources.

Every time the economy expands or dips, executives who are tired, bored, displaced, or in search of above-market earnings come out of the barn in droves looking for “greener pastures”.  They frequently assume that their experiences running a “real” company qualify them to provide insight and expertise as a consultant to other companies.

Meanwhile, consultants looking for financial stability have thoughts of going corporate. Consultants are often confident of their abilities to lead organizations. Who could be better qualified than them to run a company from the inside?  After all, they have been the guiding hand for many companies strategic, financial and technology direction. They have been trusted counsel for their top executives.

Unfortunately, grazing in the other “greener” pasture is more complicated that it seems on the surface.

To read the rest of this article, please go to:  Changing Careers: Which Career Path Should You Take — Consultant or Corporate Executive?

Every job search is a sales campaign.

You knew that, right?

Before getting hired for any job — from accountant to zoologist — you must first sell an employer on the idea of “buying” the services you offer as an employee.

So, the more sales tricks you know, the shorter your next job search is likely to be.

With that in mind, I interviewed sales expert Jeffrey Gitomer, author of several best-sellers, including the “Little Red Book of Selling” and “Little Black Book of Connections.”

He shared practical tips, based on his 30+ years of sales experience, that can help you find work faster in today’s competitive job market.

To read the rest of this article, please go to:  Two Job-Search Tips from a Sales Pro

Yesterday, I was reading the book, “Make Success Measurable,” by Douglas K. Smith, and it reminded me of a management mantra they have at FedEx (and other innovative companies): You can’t improve what you don’t measure.

Which got me thinking about job hunting …

Here’s the thought: What parts of your job search do you measure?

If you’re thinking, “Huh?” or “I don’t measure anything,” you are like a dieter who doesn’t own a scale — how can you know if you’re succeeding?

The answer lies in questions. Specifically, if you ask the right questions, you’ll get the right answers needed to measure — and improve — your job search.

So, to get you started, here are three questions to ask yourself at the end of each day …

To read the rest of this article, please go to: How to Measure Job-Search Success

I was in one of my favorite stores, TJ MAXX, yesterday and overheard a woman on her cell phone who was having a meltdown. She was with her daughter doing, what we later learned was, last minute shopping for a cruise she was leaving on today.

She was yelling into the cell phone that she could not come back to the office, she had too much to do and she had to go. Her daughter, clearly upset, took the mother’s cell phone, told whoever was on the phone that her mother was not going to be able to come back to the facility now and that someone else will have to do it. We weren’t privileged to what “it” was. The daughter put away the phone and helped her mother calm down.

The meltdown was loud enough to draw an audience in the store. General consensus of the crowd? Let it go.

I thought about the situation on my way home and continued to think about that this morning. I wondered how many people experience trauma at work before going away on vacation. How many of us have bosses who call us all the time and want to know every detail of where we will go and when we will be back?

I did a little bit of online research and sure enough CareerBuilder.com had recently published a survey on just that issue.

With cell phones, voicemail, email and mobile computing, going on vacation, for some people, does not really mean going on vacation. Since everyone knows that time away from work can be energizing. What happens when you can’t get away from the office?

Based on the survey results, it appears that vacation might actually be adding stress to some people’s lives when they feel guilty about being away. In fact, the survey shows that “the stress of taking vacations may lead some to lie about ease of access at their vacation destinations. Seven percent workers said they have lied to their employers, claiming they couldn’t be reached on vacation.”

Here are some highlights from this Career Builder survey:

- 25% of respondents said they plan to stay in contact with work while on vacation.
- Industries made a difference. 50% of sales professionals work on vacation followed by 37% of both financial workers and IT workers.
- 15 % of employees gave up vacation time in 2007.
- 12% of workers said they feel guilty when they are on vacation.
- 6% felt that it could lead to them losing their jobs.

To reduce your stress at vacation time, set the tone about your availability before you go. Less surprises, less workplace stress.

Marcia Robinson writes and trains on career, workplace and employment issues for BullsEyeResumes.com. She has more than 9 years experience in higher education and 14 years of business experience in the Hospitality and Technology sectors. Robinson holds a BS in Business Management and a MBA with emphasis in Human Resources.

A recent post at HR Daily Advisor offered suggestions for employers on how to engage young workers and prepare the 20-something employee for career success.

The basic list of suggestions in the HR Daily Advisor included:

1. Teaching young employees the role of mature professionals.
2. Helping these employees to establish profitable relationships.
3. Encouraging them to show controlled initiative.
4. Help them to master career skills that will take them anywhere.
5. Showing them how to be proactive and manage their own career growth.

Although these things are important to employers, there are not many opportunities in college for students to really develop some of these behaviors while in school. Employers who are looking to keep new college grads or young employees engaged, realize there is more to learn than just the technical pieces of their new jobs.

Here are a few other tips for new college graduates and young workers to help them focus on long term career success:

1. Bookmark a few writing resources that are easily accessible e.g. Online Writing Lab at Purdue University.
2. Join a professional association. Many employers will actually pay for this and it is an amazing way to build a network of mentors.
3. Take advantage of all the training opportunities both internal or external to the company.
4. Pay close attention to all the politics in the office, while staying out of it.
5. Ask for feedback on work and projects and be open to new ideas.
6. Exercise people skills and find a career mentor or coach who can be a trusted advisor. A career coach does not need to be someone inside the company.
7. Understand different management styles and know how to work well with different groups.

Marcia Robinson writes and trains on career, workplace and employment issues for BullsEyeResumes.com. She has more than 9 years experience in higher education and 14 years of business experience in the Hospitality and Technology sectors. Robinson holds a BS in Business Management and a MBA with emphasis in Human Resources.

Leadership? You? Isn’t that just for the top of the ‘food chain’? You just want an entry-level job, a promotion to the next rung, or to simply keep your job in tight times, right?   In today’s corporate world, you think to yourself, you’ll be lucky to get to a leadership position in the next five years. Wrong! If leadership is not the most overused and misunderstood word, then it certainly ranks in the top ten in today’s corporate corridors. It’s time to set the record straight.

To read the rest of this article, please click here: Leadership

Most people looking for a job will tell you they are networking.

And most people are wrong.

All you have to do is carry a small notebook around, log how you spend your time during the day, and you’ll likely discover you weren’t networking as much as you thought. Probably not even 25%.

Networking is like dieting. Most people on a diet will tell you they don’t snack between meals. And most people are wrong.

Just tape a piece of paper to the fridge, write down every morsel you stick in your mouth during the day, and you’ll likely discover you were eating more than you thought.

All of which means what, exactly?

To read the rest of this article, please click here: Networking, Dieting and Back Doors