<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Changing jobs - and mindsets
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>How much job-hopping is too much? Grace Ng finds out in the first of our series of new Working Life features every Monday that will explore job and pay trends, as well as the softer aspects of office life. </TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->SERIAL job-hopper Adrian Lee is living the good life.
He zips around in a flashy convertible, buys Ermenegildo Zegna goods for himself and Gucci for his girlfriends - and he just plonked down a sign-on bonus as deposit for a posh, district 10 bachelor pad.
'I got to where I am today by changing five jobs in 12 years,' says the hotshot banker. 'It was at least a 20 per cent pay rise each time,' he adds, twirling his iPhone that, until a few months ago, 'still rang off the hook with calls from headhunters'.
Not any more. With financial markets in turmoil, Mr Lee, 36, knows banks are no longer in a hiring frenzy. He also refuses to name his company and gives only his rarely-used English name, because 'job-hopping...still gets frowned on in Singapore'.
Money-seeking ship-jumpers who rack up costs for companies and raise turnover rates have given job-hoppers a bad name.
'Employers are bound to ask questions when interviewing a candidate who has switched jobs every two to three years', notes Mr Tim Hird, managing director of recruitment firm Robert Half Singapore.
'Still, there is a difference between job-hopping - to get a pay rise or for wrong reasons - and career advancement.'
The belief that there is a malignant form of job-hopping and a healthy form is what prompted Mr Ku Swee Yong, 38, to change eight jobs in 14 years.
The director of property consultancy Savills Residential has moved every one to three years to big-name companies in vastly different sectors such as real estate, airlines and banking.
'I focused on developing my skill set in building businesses, growing revenues from overseas sources, and applied that across different industries.'
He was not doing it just to get rich or promoted: 'For several job changes, I actually took a lower salary, but I became a better-skilled and knowledgable worker at the end of every job.'
The father of two added that shorter economic cycles have made workers realise that the days of 'iron rice bowls' are well over. 'The new school of thought for the next generation should be that workers develop their own areas of expertise and stay true to that expertise,' says Mr Ku.
His view gels with that of human resource experts: While Generation X was all about staying ahead in the rat race, Generation Y workers agonise over self-fulfilment, job mobility, quarter-life crises and other concepts that their parents never heard of.
'Those under 30 are more likely to change jobs more frequently as they seek the best job fit,' notes Mr Tim Nelson, Asia-Pacific president of executive search firm Futurestep.
What's more, the dot.com era and the ever-shrinking product life cycles have spawned a different mindset among some American companies: a 10-year long-service award winner may be viewed as a non-performer.
But while staying 10 years in the same job can be a liability, less than two or three years is not advisable either.
'For some roles, especially middle management, it may be harder to demonstrate that you made an impact unless you stay for three years or more,' says Mr Mark Ellwood, Robert Walters Singapore's managing director.
Job-hopping is also becoming less taboo now that ambitious Gen X and Y talent regularly take on senior positions at younger ages. 'They may be more accepting of their own subordinates who scale the ladder quickly by job-switching,' says one headhunter.
Ms Jacinta Low, OCBC's head of planning and employee communications, says it is also vital to look into the reasons behind a job change. For example, an employee with a young family may change jobs for a better work-life balance and may move again once the family situation improves.
If you want to job-hop - in moderation - make sure you do a proper career plan first, something many don't, says Futurestep's Mr Nelson. 'You need to explain to your prospective employer that your job changes every few years are actually a deliberate move to build up your repertoire and experience.'
Amid the talent crunch in many sectors in Asia, companies are doing more to help staff build their careers and forestall job-hopping for the wrong reasons, such as a lack of new opportunities.
One way is to bring job-hopping 'in house'. HP's strategy is to regularly give staff new roles that develop their skills in different businesses, customer segments, functions and geographic markets. Staff 'job-hop' by posting their preferences on the intranet and applying for new positions.
OCBC, which has a similar internal job-posting scheme, also started a Career Best Programme, which aims to help staff find the best fit between their talents and the bank's needs.
Will the day come when Gen Z workers say: 'I'm a serial job-hopper, and I'm proud of it?'
Mr Ku hopes it will - when healthy job mobility becomes the order of the day.
[email protected] <!-- end of for each --><!-- Current Ratings : start --><!-- Current Ratings : end --><!-- vbbintegration : start -->
http://www.straitstimes.com/Money/Story/STIStory_266683.html
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>How much job-hopping is too much? Grace Ng finds out in the first of our series of new Working Life features every Monday that will explore job and pay trends, as well as the softer aspects of office life. </TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->SERIAL job-hopper Adrian Lee is living the good life.
He zips around in a flashy convertible, buys Ermenegildo Zegna goods for himself and Gucci for his girlfriends - and he just plonked down a sign-on bonus as deposit for a posh, district 10 bachelor pad.
'I got to where I am today by changing five jobs in 12 years,' says the hotshot banker. 'It was at least a 20 per cent pay rise each time,' he adds, twirling his iPhone that, until a few months ago, 'still rang off the hook with calls from headhunters'.
Not any more. With financial markets in turmoil, Mr Lee, 36, knows banks are no longer in a hiring frenzy. He also refuses to name his company and gives only his rarely-used English name, because 'job-hopping...still gets frowned on in Singapore'.
Money-seeking ship-jumpers who rack up costs for companies and raise turnover rates have given job-hoppers a bad name.
'Employers are bound to ask questions when interviewing a candidate who has switched jobs every two to three years', notes Mr Tim Hird, managing director of recruitment firm Robert Half Singapore.
'Still, there is a difference between job-hopping - to get a pay rise or for wrong reasons - and career advancement.'
The belief that there is a malignant form of job-hopping and a healthy form is what prompted Mr Ku Swee Yong, 38, to change eight jobs in 14 years.
The director of property consultancy Savills Residential has moved every one to three years to big-name companies in vastly different sectors such as real estate, airlines and banking.
'I focused on developing my skill set in building businesses, growing revenues from overseas sources, and applied that across different industries.'
He was not doing it just to get rich or promoted: 'For several job changes, I actually took a lower salary, but I became a better-skilled and knowledgable worker at the end of every job.'
The father of two added that shorter economic cycles have made workers realise that the days of 'iron rice bowls' are well over. 'The new school of thought for the next generation should be that workers develop their own areas of expertise and stay true to that expertise,' says Mr Ku.
His view gels with that of human resource experts: While Generation X was all about staying ahead in the rat race, Generation Y workers agonise over self-fulfilment, job mobility, quarter-life crises and other concepts that their parents never heard of.
'Those under 30 are more likely to change jobs more frequently as they seek the best job fit,' notes Mr Tim Nelson, Asia-Pacific president of executive search firm Futurestep.
What's more, the dot.com era and the ever-shrinking product life cycles have spawned a different mindset among some American companies: a 10-year long-service award winner may be viewed as a non-performer.
But while staying 10 years in the same job can be a liability, less than two or three years is not advisable either.
'For some roles, especially middle management, it may be harder to demonstrate that you made an impact unless you stay for three years or more,' says Mr Mark Ellwood, Robert Walters Singapore's managing director.
Job-hopping is also becoming less taboo now that ambitious Gen X and Y talent regularly take on senior positions at younger ages. 'They may be more accepting of their own subordinates who scale the ladder quickly by job-switching,' says one headhunter.
Ms Jacinta Low, OCBC's head of planning and employee communications, says it is also vital to look into the reasons behind a job change. For example, an employee with a young family may change jobs for a better work-life balance and may move again once the family situation improves.
If you want to job-hop - in moderation - make sure you do a proper career plan first, something many don't, says Futurestep's Mr Nelson. 'You need to explain to your prospective employer that your job changes every few years are actually a deliberate move to build up your repertoire and experience.'
Amid the talent crunch in many sectors in Asia, companies are doing more to help staff build their careers and forestall job-hopping for the wrong reasons, such as a lack of new opportunities.
One way is to bring job-hopping 'in house'. HP's strategy is to regularly give staff new roles that develop their skills in different businesses, customer segments, functions and geographic markets. Staff 'job-hop' by posting their preferences on the intranet and applying for new positions.
OCBC, which has a similar internal job-posting scheme, also started a Career Best Programme, which aims to help staff find the best fit between their talents and the bank's needs.
Will the day come when Gen Z workers say: 'I'm a serial job-hopper, and I'm proud of it?'
Mr Ku hopes it will - when healthy job mobility becomes the order of the day.
[email protected] <!-- end of for each --><!-- Current Ratings : start --><!-- Current Ratings : end --><!-- vbbintegration : start -->
http://www.straitstimes.com/Money/Story/STIStory_266683.html
