Stay­ing in your job with the same com­pa­ny for 20 years is not some­thing that is applaud­ed like it used to be, and the ‘great res­ig­na­tion’ saw job-hop­ping hit hyper-speed.

But how often should you switch jobs, and when is the right time to make the move?

In Aus­tralia, the aver­age stay in a job is three years and four months, accord­ing to 2020 data from the Depart­ment of Edu­ca­tion.

How­ev­er, this varies sig­nif­i­cant­ly across age groups. For those under 25 years of age, it’s one year and eight months. For those over 45, it’s six years and eight months.

How to successfully job hop: Give it at least a year

“A good net­work is impor­tant. A strong resume is essen­tial,” Resume.io chief mar­ket­ing offi­cer Rolf Bax said.

“You can nev­er over­state the impor­tance of rec­om­men­da­tions and refer­rals, but your resume is what will get you into the inter­view room and, most like­ly, into that next great job.”

While job-hop­ping might be much more accept­able these days, there are some rules you should abide by.

For exam­ple, job-hop­ping with­in a month would raise a lot of ques­tions, and tak­ing crit­i­cisms of your for­mer work­place into a new job inter­view would like­ly not to serve you well, Bax said.

“If you do decide to leave your job with­in six months, don’t repeat it. Employ­ers and head­hunters will be on alert,” Bax said.

“If you do have a short-term his­to­ry, try to stay put for at least one year or have some com­pelling – and pos­i­tive – rea­sons ready to share in job inter­views.”

How can job-hopping benefit you?

Most hop­pers want more mon­ey. Mov­ing to a job offer­ing a high­er salary, bet­ter ben­e­fits and even equi­ty can be far eas­i­er than ask­ing for any or all of these in your cur­rent job.

The sec­ond ben­e­fit is career advance­ment, which Bax said was lack­ing with­in com­pa­nies at present.

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The third is to gain more flex­i­ble work­ing con­di­tions. Some com­pa­nies are fine with remote work­ing, oth­ers are not. Some will make allowances for things like babies, med­ical and/or men­tal health needs and fur­ther study. Oth­ers are less gen­er­ous.

The fourth is to find a com­pa­ny with a cul­ture that helps you to thrive. But Bax warned this was the trick­i­est one to assess before you signed on the dot­ted line.

“Do your home­work before you accept any job offer. Ask ques­tions, even if they’re dif­fi­cult,”

Bax said.

“Be real­is­tic about your skills and abil­i­ties. Your ego can’t help but be seduced by being offered a huge jump up the lad­der. But can you do the job? Will your work­ing life become a night­mare with you feel­ing over­whelmed or unable to cope?

“Last­ly, nev­er lose sight of what you real­ly want. More mon­ey in a job that demands 15-hour work days? A job or an organ­i­sa­tion the same as the ones you’ve been leav­ing?”

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