Sales Recruiting Blog

Job Hopping

Having recruited sales professionals for 10 years I have seen how the best have gotten ahead and raised their income levels.  With few exceptions, it wasn’t from changing jobs every 1-2 years.  In fact, with too many jobs on your resume the best and most sought after positions will be closed to you.  As the difficulty and selling cycle (and earnings ability) increases the time it takes an employer to break even on you also increases.  With some of our clients, it takes 18 months for them to break even.  They simply cannot take a chance on hiring someone who has shown a pattern of leaving after 2 years. 

My advice is to work at companies that provide opportunity and learn the nuances of your profession.  Most likely, you will probably will make a move every 3-5 years unless you come across a company that can continue to challenge you after that time.  On the flip side, I see reps that have earned a similar amount of money for several years in a row.  That is a sure sign of stagnation.  Hey, if you are super happy with that amount then good for you.

 If you do have an unstable work history then perhaps you may need to learn how to stay at a company for a stretch - say 3 years.  I think it begins with doing your due diligence on the front end to make sure that the company has the ability to challenge you and will continue to grow for that amount of time.