Job hopping facts for managers

2009 survey by career network ExecuNet found that executives now stay with an organization for only 3.3 years, on average, before moving on. 

Career histories of 1,001 chief executive officers who lead the largest corporations in Europe and the U.S. reveals that CEOs have worked, on average, for just three employers during their careers. And although lifetime employment is increasingly rare, a quarter of the CEOs I looked at spent an entire career with the same firm. Overall, the more years people stayed with a company, the faster they made it to the top.

Job changes of 14,000 non-CEO executives to compare the outcomes of their inside and outside moves. Again, inside moves produced a considerably higher percentage and faster pace of promotions.

A consultant at another firm told me that a short stint—less than three years or so—probably wouldn’t be sufficient to produce any meaningful contribution to a firm and thus wouldn’t do much to demonstrate a candidate’s value. 

A significant proportion of executives succeed by sticking it out with one company, so consider cross-employer moves only if they’ll considerably increase your employability.

Fast, upward leaps may not secure success. Often, a slower ascent of lateral and upward moves is what pays off.

While there is no optimal time to stay in a job, the secret is to show progression. You need to demonstrate on your CV that you have mastered the role, providing value to your employer and earning recognition for your efforts. This can come in the form of promotion and/or additional work responsibility and often takes four or more years to attain, on average.

since 2008, large companies have been more inclined than they were in 2001 to fill vacancies from within.

University hiring boards – possibly spurred on by headhunters – have become fixated on the idea that it is necessary to hire a vice-chancellor from an external institution. The same is happening for appointments at the level of pro vice-chancellor and deputy vice-chancellor. While evidence about the effect of this is unclear, work by Sue Shepherd at the University of Kent shows that external hires are more likely to be male. Women stand a greater chance of being promoted from within an institution.

UK further and higher education

Level	Degree	Year	Credits
Level 1	GCSE (grades D-G)
Level 2	GCSE (grades A*-C)
Level 3	AS, A level
Level 4	HNC, Certificate of Higher Education	Undergraduate Year 1	120
Level 5	FdA, FdSc, HND, Diplomas of Higher Education	Undergraduate Year 2	240
Level 6	BA, BSc Ordinary degree	Undergraduate Year 3	300
	BA (Hons), BSc (Hons)	Undergraduate Year 3	360
Level 7	Postgraduate Certificate	PGT term 1	60
	Postgraduate Diploma, Integrated Masters (4-year MEng or MSci)	PGT term 2	120
	MA, MSc, MPhil, MRes	PGT term 3	180
Level 8	PhD	Doctorate

FdA: Foundation of Art

FdSc: Foundation of Science

FdEng: Foundation of Engineering