It seems that people can always find a "reason" for job hopping -- some more legitimate than others -- so why not just hop away? What's the downside? I'm only looking out for number one, and no one ELSE is going to do that.
Most employers -- and ALL the ones I've worked for -- genuinely want to treat their employees well. Reading some of the posts on AN, you'd think that all employers were out to run employees into the ground with back breaking labor for inadequate compensation and decreasing benefits. Yes, benefits are taking a hit -- as the entire economy did. Employers have to do more with less, and they're passing that on to the employees. It would be nice if the hospital would just take the hit in the profit margin -- or maybe out of the CEO's bonuses -- but business doesn't really work that way. We're all going to feel the pinch. Jumping to a new job because your employer, feeling the pinch, is passing it along to employees just ensures that you're going to wind up in a new place with no seniority. When that new place starts making cuts, you'll be the first to feel them.
Seniority really does protect you from some of the pain when employers feel the squeeze and start squeezing on down the line. They may cut sick leave or vacation days, but if you've already got some of each banked, you're in a better position than someone who just came on board and has neither. You may not get a pay raise, but at least you have a job. With benefits. When one of my employers cut out the pension plan, those of us who were already vested were grandfathered in. Those hired after a certain date weren't eligible. When they started cutting staff and laying folks off, the least senior went first. If you think it's hard finding a job now, just think about trying to find one after the biggest hospital system in town just laid off 10% of their nursing staff!
Job hopping denies you the chance to become competent. The nurse who has four jobs in one year doesn't have a year of experience; she has three months of experience four times. And the nurse who has four jobs in four years has one year of experience four times. If you're always going somewhere new, you have to relearn the same old things: where is the bathroom, where do I hang my coat, how do I get meds from pharmacy, what is the procedure for ordering blood, how does this doctor like his cases done???????? You never get deeper into the nitty gritty and you never build on your knowledge because you're off to start all over again somewhere else. It takes about two years to become competent as a nurse, and in your particular job. There are posters who will flame me and insist that they've been in their job a year, and they're totally competent. Most of the time, they're wrong. And they don't know what they don't know. That's the most frightening thing of all -- a nurse who insists she's competent, but doesn't know what she doesn't know.
Staying in a job makes you senior staff, and senior staff get to participate in hiring/firing decisions, precepting, chairing committees, design planning if a new unit is in the offing, equipment purchase decisions and countless other aspects of unit life. You have the chance to become a real expert in your specialty and to pass that expertise on to others. Working as a under two year employee is a whole lot different than being senior staff. But if you're always job hopping, you will never get the chance to experience that feeling of ownership in your unit.
Retirement planning is boring, and it's way off in the future anyway, so why should I care that I've never stayed anywhere long enough to be vested in a retirement plan? Someone with more financial expertise than me can explain it so much better, but if you're constantly job hopping, you throw away the chance for matching funds (FREE MONEY!) and the chancee to keep what you've saved in the company retirement fund and take it with you when/if you do eventually leave. It's possible to plan around all of this, but most of us don't know how and don't bother to learn. Then suddenly you're five years from retirement and haven't saved any money.
Job hopping gives you a bad reputation and a worse resume. At some point, you're going to start getting turned down for interviews because no one will want to hire someone they'll have to train and then replace a year later. If that hasn't happened to you yet, you still have a chance to turn things around. Choose the best job you can find and then STAY.
