Steve Malone's career has thrived in this environment. Mr. Malone, who trained on weapons-control radar systems in the Navy, joined American Paging in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in 1997. He lost his job in a downsizing in 1998 following a merger with TSR Wireless, a Fort Lee, N.J., wireless messaging firm. But his experience with telecommunications interface and switching soon won him a job as a fixed network engineer at PCS Primeco, a digital wireless service provider in Houston. Such movement is epidemic in telecom.
Many professionals change jobs every other year or sooner.
But employers don't frown on the practice because they're seeking candidates with diverse experience and skills. Mr. Nolan says he was content at his account rep's job at Sprint, but he was interested in career growth. In 1997, GTE recruited him to sell private lines to the financial industry. Then came the offer from IXnet. Mr. Nolan jumped at it.