This view is outdated today. The consensus among many HR practitioners today is on whether a candidate is “desirable” and “ambitious” to meet the minimum performance criteria set by the hiring departments or companies.

Those with more job transitions suggest that the candidate is desirable in the market, is keeping abreast with current developments and demonstrates ambition. The ability to learn fast despite the short timeframe is also highly desirable. All of the qualities above are typically found among high performers.

Furthermore, networking can also be done outside of your workplace and can include industry-linked events, roadshows, award ceremonies, webinars and any thought leadership events. These can be done in parallel with your current role and could lead to more realistic opportunities. Companies, in general, prefer external hires and would usually seek out referrals first from their staff.

There are 2 types of hiring that happen in Malaysia. One is a manpower plug, where a candidate is hired to perform a role with not much of any prospect. These hirings tend to prefer loyal candidates but with lesser emphasis on growth. On the flip side is the performance-based hires. These typically hire from a pool of talented individuals that are highly sought after in the industry for the skills that they possess or the experience unmatched by other candidates. Candidates for the latter also tend to job hop more often when you compared to the candidate pool from the previous category. As they are more desirable, they received far more job offers and have the option to pivot whenever an opportunity aligns to their career objectives