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"Stay in a job for at least two years." "Never go out a job until you lot have your next one lined upward." Everyone from your female parent to your mentor has advice almost the best fashion to switch jobs. But how can you know whom to trust? Especially since what was truthful in the job market place 20 years agone — even two years ago — is not necessarily gospel now. And the market is constantly changing.

Consider the power dynamic between candidates and employers, for example. Though it differs across industries and regions, and is dependent on the wellness of the economy, in the past few years, experts have described the current labor market as "candidate-driven." Job seekers concur more than power than employers, a trend that seems to be deepening.

So does this mean when switching jobs, you're in the driver's seat? Non necessarily. Only it does mean that you can't rely on "historic period-erstwhile" guidance. We asked readers (and our own editors) what advice they hear most often about how to switch job and then talked with ii experts to get their perspectives on whether the current wisdom holds up in practice and against inquiry.

1. "Never tell your boss that yous're looking for another position."

It may seem logical that you want to have a job in hand before you reveal to your manager that you're leaving. After all, yous don't want your boss to be mad at you or stop investing in yous. But things have inverse. "It used to be when yous left a job, you lot were seen as a traitor," says John Sullivan, an 60 minutes expert, professor of direction at San Francisco State University, and author of1000 Ways to Recruit Top Talent. Companies have changed their tune and now make efforts to be certain people leave on proficient terms. They recognize that former employees are out in that location on social media, says Sullivan, and they don't want to "risk being disparaged on Glassdoor, Yelp, Facebook, or Twitter."

In fact, many companies now accept programs that keep the door open in case employees want to return. The idea is that if you're a valuable employee, the company wants to get as many years equally they tin can out of your career — and those years may not all be in a row. Companies like Davita Healthcare, Yahoo, and KPMG are hiring big numbers of return employees. About 15% of Davita's hires are people who have worked there before, says Sullivan.

Not simply is there less run a risk in letting your managing director know that you lot're looking than there used to be, but there may be smashing upsides as well, says Claudio Fernández-Aráoz, a senior adviser at global executive search firm Egon Zehnder and writer ofIt's Not the How or the What but the Who: Succeed by Surrounding Yourself with the All-time . First off, your boss may want to figure out how to keep y'all. When Fernández-Aráoz worked for McKinsey in Europe in the 1980s, he wanted to move back to Argentina so he allow the office leader know that he'd be leaving the chore. They offered to allow him piece of work from Argentine republic while he looked and so that they could get as much time out of him as possible. "Existence open actually improved my last twelvemonth enormously, and helped me become a terrific job," he explains. He got a great reference from his erstwhile boss at McKinsey who talked about his openness and loyalty to the firm.

And if staying with the company isn't realistic, y'all may discover means to keep to work with the company. Fernández-Aráoz points to the advice in The Alliance by Reid Hoffman (the cofounder and chairman of LinkedIn) and his coauthors that life-long employment is no longer realistic but being a completely free amanuensis isn't perfect either. "The alternative is what they call a 'transformational brotherhood,'" explains Fernández-Aráoz, "where through honest conversations yous explicitly agree on a temporary alliance, clarifying expectations regarding your contribution to the organization and what the organisation will provide you in render, which may well exist the support to continue your career elsewhere." This is popular in Silicon Valley now, and "is probably showing the way to talent and career management over the next decades."

Fifty-fifty if you think your boss or company might be open to the idea of y'all leaving and perhaps maintaining a relationship in some way, the conversation can be uncomfortable. And information technology volition be far worse if you doubtable your manager won't exist understanding. Sullivan says: "If your boss is a wiggle, you may desire to wait."

2. "Stay at a job for at least a twelvemonth or two — moving around likewise much looks bad on a resume."

"This is a popular piece of conventional wisdom," says Sullivan, and it'south simply non truthful anymore. Offset of all, it's not always realistic. "In that location are many times when y'all really need to leave your job without anything else," says Fernández-Aráoz. You lot may need to relocate because of your spouse's job or quit to take care of a family member.

2d, short stints no longer hurt a resume. Sullivan says that employers have get more accepting of brief periods of employment. As many equally 32% of employers expect job-jumping. "It's become role of life," says Sullivan. In fact, people are virtually likely to leave their jobs after their first, 2d, or 3rd piece of work anniversaries. Millennials are peculiarly decumbent to curt stays at jobs. Sullivan'southward research shows that lxx% quit their jobs within two years. So the advice to stick it out at a chore for the sake of your resume is just no longer valid.

Gaps in job history aren't the sticking points they once were either, says Sullivan. "No matter what the reason — you got laid off, y'all took time to write a book, intendance for a family member, travel — it's no longer seen equally problematic." Yous just have to show that your time off wasn't a waste of time. Employers, says Sullivan, just want to know that you lot made employ of the fourth dimension either to gain a new skill, accept a life-irresolute feel, or learn something new.

Withal, says Fernández-Aráoz, you should avert jumping around if you can, not because of any potential damage to your future job prospects, just considering of the emotional drain. "The real problem is starting again to find a new place, a new location, new friends, constantly reproving yourself," he says. You can avoid a lot of switching by thoroughly assessing any potential jobs. Because many interviews are what he calls "a conversation between two liars," it pays to get a sense of what the job will truly be like in other ways. Some companies will offer a realistic job preview that will give you an within view of the company, non the sugarcoated perspective you get in a series of interviews. Ask for ane when considering your adjacent task, suggests Fernández-Aráoz, or do as much research equally you perhaps tin can before accepting the offer.

three. "Don't quit your job earlier allowing your current employer to brand a counter offer."

If you lot're a valuable employee, Sullivan says that smart companies will make an attempt to convince you to stay. "If you're on their priority list, it would exist considered 'regrettable turnover' for them and they'll do what they can to keep you." Counteroffers have become much more than common especially in industries where there'due south talent scarcity or for highly specialized roles, according to Fernández-Aráoz. "They usually come with some grade of flattery, promises, and even better conditions," he says.

But be careful, he warns: "In my three decades of feel, I'm genuinely convinced that most counteroffers are bad for all parties." He gives two reasons yous shouldn't take a counteroffer. First, there was a reason you started to await for another job and that'due south unlikely to alter despite your employer's promises. "The dominion of pollex amidst recruiters used to be that lxxx% of those accepting counteroffers leave, or are terminated, inside six to 12 months, and that half of those who accept them re-initiate their chore searches within 90 days." Even if your manager is able to make good on the promises in a counteroffer, in that location is the effect of cleaved trust. "They may still consider you lot less loyal and therefore offer yous lower chances of futurity development." Second, Fernández-Aráoz says, "you've made a commitment to the new company and you lot should honor it."

Of grade, you lot should make a sound conclusion based on the unique situation yous are in and analyze both alternatives. Fernández-Aráoz suggests looking at the long-term potential rather than the curt-term benefits. Which opportunity will give you what you lot desire in the time to come?

four. "Never brand a lateral move — a new job is your only chance of making a big leap in title and bounty."

"That'southward and then last yr," says Sullivan. "Yes, the old model was that you were Assistant VP, then VP, then Senior VP. But that's GM in the 1980s, not today's organizations." He says given how flat companies are today, there'southward oftentimes nowhere to go in your current job or in another i. You lot should focus on finding interesting work rather than worrying nearly lateral moves.

Fernández-Aráoz agrees: "If you are going for title and compensation, think once again!" More money and a improve title rarely are what brand you lot happy in a job, he says. Instead, expect for autonomy, mastery, and purpose (as Daniel Pink describes).

five. "Yous should always exist looking for your next job."

Y'all want to be happy, not constantly searching, says Fernández-Aráoz. "Ideally, you should never be looking for your next chore, simply considering yous love what you practise." He points to research Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has washed on the state of "flow," describing it as "a neurological condition of our encephalon in which we achieve maximum productivity while our encephalon consumes very niggling energy. We are fully immersed in what nosotros do, fully absorbed, fifty-fifty losing a sense of time, and we're able to office at our best." When you take found this in a job, looking for your next one is unnecessary.

But, even if you lot've plant a role that keeps y'all happy, y'all should still be learning and growing, says Sullivan. He points out that this doesn't have to exist a new office with a new visitor, just can be a unlike role or challenge in your existing job. "The world is changing and then rapidly that you have to be agile or adaptable. Yous should constantly await for projects that give you more than skills, exercise things exterior of your comfort zone, so that yous take another skillset, not just the ane you need for your current job."

Over the form of your career, yous're likely to switch jobs multiple times. In fact, the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics recently issued a written report that the boilerplate person born between 1957-1964 held 11.7 jobs over their working years. And that's Baby Boomers, not chore-hopping Millennials. Ideally those moves will be in search of a more than fulfilling, challenging, and satisfying job.

Editor's note: The original version of this article, published on July 13, 2015, misstated the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics figure in the last paragraph.

A version of this article appeared in the October 2015 result (p.34) of Harvard Business Review.