The Factor That Drives Job Hopping More Than Any Other Education

The Factor That Drives Job Hopping More Than Any Other Education Few can hope to succeed over the long haul with just a high school education. And while college isnt necessarily the best choice for everyone, many students have internalized the message that its the only option, passing up valuable vocational training opportunities as a result.But no matter what educational path your pursue, youll launch your career at some point. Once youre there, youll be constantly thinking about your next move. And according toLiveCareers 2018 Job Hopping Report, the choices you make during your career journey may be impacted strongly by your initial educational decisions. Setting the Stage for Employees to Leave Before They Even Get HiredFor the report, LiveCareer used natural language processing to analyze several thousand resumes and job ads across 12 separate occupations accounting for a quarter of all US occupational categories.By understanding the actual langu age job seekers and employers use to engage one another in the job market, LiveCareerhoped to determine what these parties say and mean when they discuss suitability for a job and whether this language is generally characterized mora by agreement or disagreement. The greater the disagreement between job seekers and employers, the greater the likelihood of job hopping. This data welches cross-referenced against the entire workforce to determine whetherforces aside from education also contributed to a higher likelihood of job hopping.The report found that education plays a much bigger role in job hopping than age or generation. In particular, the results showed that millennial workers tend to have higher levels of education than other age groups, and this more than any other factor drivestheir inclination to job hop.The report also uncovered an alarmingly high number of workers whose educational qualifications are poorly matched to the occupations in which they currently work. These o ccupations arevariously categorized as professional (e.g., software developer) and nonprofessional (e.g., food server), but what they all have in common are core job skills that transfer easilybetween employers. Consequently, workers hired for roles in these areas are likely to join the staff already overqualified or underpaid. The conditions for leaving areset on day one,and it is only a matter of time until the employee decides to go.How Education Influences Job HoppingJob hopping is more likely to occur in situations where workers are overqualified, underemployed, or underpaid at the time of hire. Lets take a closer look at how education plays into all that and who is most affectedMore Highly Educated Workers Tend to Job HopThe study found that employees whose highest level of education was high school stayed with their employers the longest, an average of 4.4 years. Workers with associates degrees held their jobs for an average of 4.1 years, while those with bachelors degrees st ayed for the least amount of time, only 3.3 years.Beyond that, thetrend starts to reverse, as employees with masters degrees stayed an average of 3.7 years per job.Education Is Overemphasized inNonprofessional OccupationsIn all the occupations studied, there was at least some asymmetry between the importance job seekers placed on degrees/certifications and the amount of emphasis employers placed on these things in their job ads. The gap was the greatest in nonprofessional occupations where core skills are often gained on the job, including caregivers, cashiers, bartenders, and servers. In these occupations, job seekers listed higher education degrees on their resumes36 percent more often than employers did in their job ads.Blue-Collar Roles Are Especially Susceptible to Job HoppingTwenty-fourpercent of job seekers applying for blue-collar jobs included associates degrees on their resumes, and 17.5 percent listed bachelors degrees. However, no blue-collar employers listed an associat es degree as a requirement for employment in their job ads, while only 5 percent listed bachelors degrees. Overall, blue-collar job seekers were eight times more likely to include a higher education degree on their resumes than employers were to list it as a requirement in their job ads.3Tips for Job SeekersBased on the results of the report, we can offer the following pieces of advice to job seekersDownplay higher education achievements and professional credentials when applying for jobs where the required skills listed in the job ad could easily transfer to other employers especially for nonprofessional roles. Doing so will lessen the perception that you are overqualified and therefore more likely to job hop.For job seekers in high-skilled professional roles (particularly registered nurses, accountants, teachers, and software developers), pay extra attention to any professional certifications and licenses included in the job ad. Recruiters and hiring managers often use them as cr iteria to make a first cut, so be sure to highlight exact matches in your resume.Carefully review job ads for any role that would interest you enough to apply. Keep an updated list of the skills and credentials employers absolutely require, and consider what steps you could take to include them on your resume. A degree may not be necessary to certify that you have the skills your next employer values most.LiveCareer develops tools to help job seekers draft cover letters, prepare for interviews, and build targeted resumes via its resume builder and an extensive collection ofresume templates.