I used to be considered a “Job Hopper”. Within the first 10 years of my career after graduating from college, I held 7 different positions with 6 different companies in 5 different industries. When I was asked… “Jeff, aren’t you concerned that employers will think you’re a job hopper, not stable, etc.”, my response was always… when they stop asking me to interview, and making me offers for career advancing opportunities, I’ll stay where I’m at until they do start asking. I wasn’t that smart earlier in my career to understand, let alone explain, what I was really thinking… basically, I have a product (my career)… and I should be marketing myself all the time. Not because I NEED to find another job, but because I have something of value (my career)… that others (employers), are likely trying to find. How do I possibly know the value of my product if I’m not continually measuring what people think of it? If I
manufactured a product…. that no one knew about, and only brought it to market every 3-5 years for a limited time, do you think I have any idea what that product is really worth, or that I’m getting full value for it? Of course not! As an alternative…. if I marketed the heck out of a product that everyone realizes they can’t live without, but can’t have it because it’s not available (I love my current job), what do you think they will pay for it when it does become available?
Hopefully, this is simple way of understanding that we have entered a Free Agency Employment Market.
To make it even a little more scary… a GLOBAL Free Agency Employment Market. If you’re not starting to think about better ways to “market the heck” out of your product (your career), your product is not going to have the value it deserves. Social media and the internet have provided incredible ways for individuals to promote themselves. With tools like CareerScribe, you can tell a more complete
professional story about the product that others (employers) can see they can’t live without. By leveraging “promotional” sites liked Facebook and LinkedIn, you can market the heck out of your product, and measure who’s looking… at what, how long, etc.
I wish I had better news for many of you that are waiting for things to return back to the days when it seemed so much easier… go to school, get offered a job, trust my employer to care about my career, and only change jobs a few times. Sorry… those days are gone, and if you think it’s going to get easier, it’s going to get more complicated. Technology is advancing steadily… actually exponentially, and your competition is becoming global. Don’t despair… more and more tools like CareerScribe will be coming to make this task easier and easier. Your personal professional assistant…. your career Siri is only years away, but start now!
Good luck Job Hoppers!
Jeff Bockelman
