Is career mobility a good option for professional development?
20-Feb-2017
Career mobility:
Career mobility refers to the term used to describe people who move between more than one job in a short period of time. During the current economic situation and increased prices, career mobility phenomenon became more common than before, as people are accustomed to changing their jobs to get better positions and salaries or either of them. It became difficult for business owners to maintain the good staff which gives mobile and good employees better jobs. However, career mobility phenomenon remains an indicator of the person’s career instability and an annoying issue for employers.
Common reasons for career mobility:
Most often, people who keep on changing their career in a short time gave the same reasons, which include:
- Better salaries:
One of the most important reasons for career mobility is the better salary. A higher salary than the current salary is always welcomed. Few people refuse higher salaries to stay with their current employers. However, when people accept higher-salary jobs, they do not consider all the pros and cons related to their decisions in this regard.
- Personal reasons:
Each one of us has personal and professional objectives, which would like to achieve the soonest. Accordingly, once an opportunity arises for a better job that enables the employee to achieve all or one of his personal objectives, the possibility to move will be high. Changing careers for such reasons and motives is more damaging that beneficial to your career on the long run.
- An elite company:
Most often, when we are offered to work at a global elite company in our field, we do not hesitate to move to the new job even if it didn’t offer a better salary or a better position. It would be difficult to explain the reasons behind this transition due to the absence of the motive. Moving to such jobs more than once within a short period might be a disaster for your career.
- Unsuitable current job:
Many people might think that they took a bad decision choosing a career or an unsuitable company contrary to what they were planning. And to correct this bad choice, they change their job from one field to another or from one company to another in the same field. And the result will be a large number of companies with no added value experience in any field.
Dealing with career mobility on your CV:
Career mobility phenomenon will appear on your resume at first sight. Chances of rejection for your resume will increase having this career mobility as the Human Resources manager will not give your resume more than a minute or two of interest. Having said the above, you may follow a few steps to ensure that your CV will not be rejected by the employer:
- Hiding dates:
If you've moved between several careers in a short period of time, make sure not to shade the dates of these jobs on your resume. Separate dates for the main text or make the font size smaller in order not to be noticed by the employer from the first sight. Another trick you may use for this purpose is to display dates mentioning only the year, without specifying the day or month.
- Hiding jobs:
If you worked in a job for a month or less, it’s better not to mentionit in the resume since it’s not important for your career and by that you will avoid giving the impression of a person who regularly changes jobs.
- Improvising in the cover letter:
One of the best ways to attract the attention of the employer or the human resources manager is the use of the cover letter. Explain in the letter the reasons and motives behind moving between jobs in a short period. Make sure the mentioned reasons are logical and professional and don’t give the impression of instability and carelessness. Prove to the employer / human resources manager your value and potentials in a way that will let him offer you the opportunity.
- References and recommendation letter:
If you have left your jobs in good terms, it would be possible to get recommendation letters from former employers which would give you a positive impression.
Is career mobility useful?
Career mobility is a double-edged sword, it might lead to a point that stops your progress and it might be of a great benefit. Some companies / employers may consider your career mobility a positive point in your career due to the diversity of the experience gained in various fields. However, remember that the employer might ask for a personal interview (in these cases) to assess the quality of the experience you gained from these jobs. Therefore, you wouldn’t be called for a second interview if the employer wasn’t sure of the benefits of your career mobility.
Conclusion:
Career mobility may give you some immediate benefits such as higher salary and position yet its benefits are few on the long term. If you aim at professional progress you have to stay in your current job for some time. During your job try to outshine your colleagues. When you gain the maximum possible expertise and knowledge from your current job you may consider moving to a better job.