Thanks for giving the other side of the street. I've been with my firm for a combined 8 years (since high school), and I've found that the stability, and potential for growth within the company has been the same (if not better) than those who hop.

I think it's more of the "one size fits all" mentality that gets attached to too many ideas. For some people or careers, job-hopping is understood or even encouraged. But that isn't the case for everything.

I found the most compelling part of this post to be part 4 because at that point you're 'unpacking' the notion that different people fit with different jobs, and that there are nearly always an entirely different set of circumstances.

I think Andrew said it best, there's not a one-size fits all. I think this Brazen community, myself included is guilty of that line of thinking in a lot of the content we publish.

You shouldn't stay at your current job for the sake of it, if you're not happy and satisfied just so you can have a more stable resume. Great companies will find a way to satisfy their employers, and as a result their employers will work harder and stay put longer.

In most cases, there's no such thing as a 'stable job' anyway in this economy. Tenure probably works in SOME cases, but there's many others where they'll keep the young, new employee and fire the old guard b/c they can justify paying the newbie less.

Some of my most successful friends have job-hopped, A LOT. I suspect most uber successful people know when the time is right to make the break for the benefit of their career, but most of Gen Y still doesn't know what the hell they want (hence the job-hopping sometimes.)

I think you have good advice to offer on the subject, but may be potentially short-selling yourself with a couple of blanket statements.

Thanks for sharing Liza!

I suppose you could say I job hop. I've been in 3 jobs since graduating in 2005...each time I got a new job though was because I wanted to move to a different area for personal life reasons. In any case, I was about ready to move out of that job anyways, and certainly the jobs weren't holding me back.

In any case, if my current employer took the time to understand what motivates me and what my needs are then I would surely stay with them. Unfortunately, I have yet to work for a company that I feel useful at. Usually there is the 6 month learning curve and then after that you're ready to learn new things, advance your knowledge base and responsibilities, but your employer just wants to keep you doing the same thing.

I think people job hop because they want something better in a job which means their employer isn't doing a good job at developing them and helping them achieve their goals. In addition, many people job hop because the job does not fit them. Not everyone knows what they want to be out of college and spreading experience around by job hopping can help them hone in the right job for them.

PS: I wish I were you and felt content with my current relationship at work!

Thanks for all the comments.

@ Dr. Pepper, this is exactly why I don't think job-hopping for the sake of job-hopping is a good thing. Nothing can come out of a person who talks like he knows something, but really can't grasp the full idea, which can come from someone who doesn't stay to fully understand a company or their job within the company.
@ Rebecca, I knew my one weakness in this post was that I haven't job-hopped. Although I've had several jobs, in terms of my career goals I've only had the one. I wrote this with the thought of someone who has been able to prevent needing to job-hop and from the perception of possibly needing to hire someone and what I would want to see in a resume.

@ Andrew and Ryan, I agree, it isn't a one-size-fits-all. Part of the problem is that currently the 'trend' is to job-hop. When it comes to building a career, it shouldn't depend on the current trend, but really your personal needs and desires for the outcome of your career and current situation.

@ Scott, I certainly hope people do see your reasons for the frequent change, however, its hard to explain that on a resume. :) I love the advice at the end.

I love all the comments, its great to see that people understand when its good to leave a company and it can reflect poorly on yourself.