According to Grahame Doyle, director of recruitment consultant Hays, movement between jobs is at record levels in Australia, with younger workers accounting for the bulk of this.

But just how many jobs is too many? And at what point does a desire for frequent new challenges start to look like an inability to stay the course?

"Young professionals now consider two years to be a normal time to change jobs in their first two or three positions," Doyle says. "Employers, though, are still looking for a commitment of three to five years."

This has led to what Doyle calls an "expectation gap" and in the current market it's employers who are obliged to be flexible.
But he advises candidates against a scattergun approach to job application, as it can be disorienting. "Assuming you're qualified and skilled, you have choices in the market. But it is better to receive a few job offers from companies in a discrete part of the market that you've identified rather than random offers from across the market."

Essentially, don't tell a lot of potential employers that you don't want to work for them.

"Look at your career," Doyle says. "What next role for you is going to add fundamental value to your career path?"

Business and executive coach Lesley Schoer says: "It's important to view this process not as the pejorative 'job-hopping' but as a genuine desire for career development. Young people want to try different jobs and positions. They want to develop their skills and if they can do this within a company, then they'll do that."

Schoer has some advice on what might constitute a good or bad resume for a young professional. "Clearly, a different type of work and a different company every year for 10 years will look strange to a future employer."

Two or three years in a job will give the impression of someone who learned the job in year one, then had a year or more to "give something back". These are ballpark figures, however - industries such as sales or IT might expect candidates to change jobs more often, while professionals in accountancy or the law would be expected to take longer to develop a career profile.

"Companies are becoming more embracing of people changing jobs," Schoer says, "but the smaller companies can be harder hit by this."

Katrina Williams, 19, started a new job as an assistant manager of a high-end women's clothing store in April. But her route into this position was far from straightforward.

"During high school, I worked part-time as a sales assistant for Diva, an accessories chain aimed at tweenagers. After my HSC in 2006, I just thought I'd stay in retail."

Williams did a three-month stint as a sales assistant for Bova Living before becoming convinced that she could earn more money by working in an office. She then secured a job as a project team assistant at a property development company.

"At the interview, I was asked, why did I want to work in an office? I said I just wanted to try it out, to see if it was for me." But Williams soon found it wasn't. "I cried after my first day. I was doing data entry and filing all day, with no one to talk to."
She stuck it out for a year before applying for her present position. "The store manager who interviewed me had made the same move from office to retail herself. This was a big help, as she understood my position."

Williams continues with her own sideline business of designing and making gowns for weddings and formals and one day would like to design for her current company.

"Don't go into jobs just because someone else has told you it would suit you," she says. "And in interviews be honest and straightforward about your reasons for wanting to move."

Leslie Alderman, executive consultant with recruitment specialists Chandler Macleod, says: "The issue with gen Ys is that they have different career values from other generations. They will choose roles that fit with those values and are already looking for the work-life balance that older generations are seeking later in life."

Alderman says younger professionals are more open to change and more comfortable with it. She stresses the need for employers to recognise this or suffer the consequences.

"An individual is not always aware of what opportunities are available within an organisation. It's up to the organisation to make people aware of what they are - this is how companies hold on to people. Otherwise, people will go elsewhere to seek out those opportunities."

She says a typical gen Y-er wants work with variety, a challenge, good work-life balance and which teaches them new things.