“Job hopping” has historically been looked at in a negative light. Even in the current business environment, hiring managers tend to automatically view candidates with tenures of less than two years as “high-risk” or “unreliable.”.
Is this fair to candidates? Is it possible this thought process is preventing you from reaching the full potential in your hiring process and getting the best talent?
Let’s explore.
Recently, I’ve spent my time supporting hiring managers within the HealthTech space with their commercial hiring needs.
As I speak with candidates, I make it a priority to fully understand why they left a role for another opportunity. Everyone has a story, and it is important to understand what that story is and why they made certain decisions before writing them off.
What I’ve discovered is candidates typically have a legitimate reason for making a change. Candidates are moving on to new opportunities for a couple of reasons – including:
- Startup Environments:
Startups are hard. The reality is 90% of startups fail. People are hopeful and excited to be involved in something new, but it doesn’t always end up the way they want. This results in extremely talented individuals on the market looking for their next opportunity.
- Mergers and Acquisitions:
Companies are acquired everyday. Employees generally have no input into the decision. It’s a choice they didn’t make themselves. However, they are impacted the most. In the M&A world, there is always a transition plan for the company being acquired. Nearly all transition plans come with some form of restructuring, headcount reduction, and/or layoffs. A lot of times their roles change completely. Is this fair to the employees?
- Technology and Personal Advancement
In a perfect world, every business is making investments into technology to keep their organization at the forefront of innovation. However, that’s not always the case. Failure to adopt and adapt to what’s new and evolving ensures they will be left behind. The same can be said for candidates. A change in roles is often driven by either a company failing to invest into innovation or the pursuit of a role that keeps their skillset and personal brand current. It’s all about marketability.
To be clear, I’m not suggesting that you should completely ignore a candidate’s job history. However, evaluating these details is key to understanding the candidate’s job history and should be a part of your hiring process.
Letting the candidate tell their own story is where we need to improve.
A lot of talented individuals are passed on simply because a sheet of paper or ATS makes it appear they are “high-risk” or “unreliable” – sometimes ending up at your direct competitors. Don’t let this be you.
