PHOTO: ISTOCK
Good news for job hoppers: A resume with many different skills on it makes you more likely to climb up the ladder.
Career advice writer Sara McCord has moved four times in the last eight years and with each of those moves has come a new job. So, she's always interested in theories on job-hopping.
"I was particularly heartened to come across Neil Irwin’s recent New York Times article How to Become a C.E.O.? The Quickest Path Is a Winding One," she writes for The Muse." It states that having a multitude of roles makes it more likely you’ll move up the ladder."
Irwin says a work history showing many “areas of functional experience" (read: experience in and diverse skills gleaned from as many areas a possible) makes you more likely to become an executive.
He writes:
"A person who burrows down for years in, say, the finance department stands less of a chance of reaching a top executive job than a corporate finance specialist who has also spent time in, say, marketing. Or engineering. Or both of those, plus others."
Unfortunately, he notes it only applies if you're job-hopping in the same field.
To start gaining some job-hopping experience, he suggests staying where you are and taking on different assignments within your company—assignments you might not be qualified on paper for, but know you can do.
The idea is to be as well-rounded, and understand as much about the company you work for, as possible. And the best way to learn is to do.
Your number of previous roles is just one of the factors Irwin says counts in building your viability to move up. Factors like gender (ugh), experience, education and location also make a difference in how likely you are to become an executive.
But the more functional experience you have, the better your chances.
Handy tip: The New York Times piece comes with a chart that lets you put your own stats in, for a more personalized look at your odds of success.
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