Most jobseekers are aware that staying in jobs for less than two years can be harmful to your career in the long term – future employers may view you as a job-hopper, who is not loyal and quickly loses passion for a role. But do temporary assignments carry the same risk?

A growing number of Hong Kong professionals are becoming “temps”, who take one assignment after the next. They prefer the varied exposure they gain to different workloads, systems and industries, as well as the flexibility of such assignments over a permanent job.

There are also professionals who might take two or three temporary assignments in between permanent roles. Their reasons can vary, from needing flexibility at that particular point in their lives, to wanting to expand their skills base, quickly grow their network, or to trial a new role or industry before going permanent.

While there are many benefits to temporary assignments, their short tenure can sound alarm bells with a potential employer unless you clearly state in your CV the nature of these roles.

As long as someone reading your CV can clearly see the roles were of a temporary nature, your career prospects will not be affected. In fact, they might be improved since employers value the varied exposure temporary assignments can give candidates.

So clearly state in your CV that the role was a temporary assignment and note for how long. This leads to another benefit of temping: by showing that you remained in the role for the full duration of the assignment, employers will be aware of the loyalty and commitment you have demonstrated by completing the full term.

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