Is Switching Jobs too much really THAT bad?

[jhill7000]

I am currently employed at a business in which I'm only performing half of my job description. I'm technically supposed to be part PBX guy and part Security guy. I specifically asked when I received the promotion that I would rather stay in my current position if there was a chance that I would only be doing PBX. Guess what I am doing. . . PBX. I have repeatedly requested for more work in the Security realm (I took part of the job of a current employee) and have been promised that they would. They give me token assignments to learn with which later is handed back to the admin because it suddenly becomes a priority. Anyhow with that said. I have only been there for one year after graduating college. I have an offer from a previous employer who I greatly enjoyed working at.

The problem is that in a year I will be moving out of state so if I take that job I will only have 1 year at each location. Also the job I would be taking might be viewed as a step down, or at best a lateral move. I know it's never good to move from job to job, but in my case what would you do?

I thank you in advance.

 

[mmorancbt]

2 years, 1 year, no big difference. Particularly at the start of your career.

I would be inclined to move to the new company. The reason is simple and easy to explain to a new company.

"The new position was closer in line with my schooling and professional aspirations. I wanted to make sure that when I moved I could bring as much value to my new organization as possible."

Or something like that.

Really, don't worry about it. Moving jobs frequently is overrated as a point of contention or career concern. That being said, when I was an employee, I remained with a given department for nearly 6 years after moving almost every six months. Pay wasn't the reason - broadly applied technology and project management experience was.

There is a difference between moving jobs as a way to advance skill and gain relevant experience as opposed to moving jobs for a 8% rather than 5% increase.

I hope that makes sense.

Matthew Moran (career blog and podcast below)
Career Advice with Attitude for the IT Pro

http://blogs.ittoolbox.com/pm/career

http://techcareerconsult.blogspot.com

 

[LadySlinger]

I wouldn't sweat the job switches. Like Matt said, you're at the start of your career. In fact in this day and age with the economy, no one really even flinches if you list 2 jobs in the past 2 years.

Heck, most people nowadays try to get in at least a year to show that they have job stability. The job world definitely isn't about staying in 1 place for very long.

Good luck at your new job

 

[jhill7000]

Thanks guys. That makes me feel much better about taking the job. Ironically I spoke with my boss yesterday and infatically described how I distain my job and what we needed to do to make it better. I believe he understood what point I was at (leaving) and again promised to make things better. He has already assigned me things that I didn't think he would before so maybe there is hope. I'm going to give them a month. The other job wouldn't be avaliable until then anyway.

Again thank you for the reassurance.

 

[grande]

Two jobs in two years isn't that bad.
If it was twenty jobs in two years, then you might have something to worry about.

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Call me barely Impressive Captain.