Is job-hopping a smart career move?

It depends who you ask, according to Robert Half Canada Inc., which polled professional workers and CFOs in separate surveys. The former defined a job hopper as five role changes in 10 years while CFOs said eight. The global staffing firm found that 57 percent of Canadian professionals polled think changing roles every few years can be beneficial, leading to a higher salary, but 59 percent of the CFOs are not at all likely to hire a candidate with a history of job hopping because they want to avoid losing them in the future. The research also found:

• 63% of employees 18-34 view job hopping as beneficial, compared to 54 percent of workers 35- 54 and 52 percent 55 and older.

• Workers with an undergraduate university degree or higher see the most benefit in changing jobs every few years (68 percent).

• Company size matters: 80 percent of CFOs at companies with more than 1,000 employees said they would avoid candidates with a history of frequent job changes.

• 42 percent of workers said the biggest drawback is being perceived as a flight risk.

Robert Half also offered tips for professionals when considering a job change and managers to attract and retain workers.