“Stick it out for a year” is advice often dispensed to those who may feel trapped in a job that they don’t like and want to escape. But this concept is outdated and oversimplified, wrote Phoebe Gavin, a career coach who has supported more than 700 clients across age groups, job functions, and industries, in CNBC Make It.

Many unsatisfied employees have asked Gavin how to “grin and bear it” to avoid looking like a job-hopper. They fear that a short-term job would look bad on their résumé, she wrote.

That fear has been justified in the past, even fairly recently. More than three-quarters of senior managers named “frequent job hopping” as a top factor that gave them pause when evaluating résumés, a 2022 survey by human resources consultancy Robert Half found. Similar percentages of these respondents listed “vague descriptions of past jobs” and “insufficient skills for the position" as factors.

But many job seekers, especially millennials and Gen Zers, see things differently than hose who believe that longevity in a job is an indicator of reliability. As of 2022, the median tenure of workers ages 25 to 34 years was 2.8 years, compared to 9.8 years for workers ages 55 to 64, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Thirty-five percent of turnover takes place within the first year of employment, according to the Work Institute’s 2023 retention report. And 80 percent of respondents said it’s all right to leave a job in under six months if it doesn’t meet their expectations, according to a 2022 Muse survey. 

Gavin agrees with that perspective. While “a pattern of super short employment spells might still raise red flags for some recruiters, one or two shorter jobs won’t scare off a reasonable hiring team, especially if you can explain the circumstances,” she wrote. “And if it does deter them, that’s a good warning for you about the company culture.”

In determining how to decide whether to stay or go if unhappy at work, Gavin suggested several options.One is getting another perspective, from friends, family, industry peers, mentors and, possibly a career coach. Another is for workers to try to resolve pain points within their control by clearly communicating their challenges to colleagues and supervisors,  and attempting to negotiate a change. If  the job doesn't change, than she advises looking for a better fit—even with a choppy job history—rather than enduring a bad one just to avoid looking like a job-hopper.

For workers who want to leave a job with grace and set themselves up for success, Gavin suggests making the most of their current job while planning an exit; documenting their accomplishments; protecting their personal time and energy so that they can conduct an effective and focused job search; and answering interview questions about a short tenure with clarity and confidence.

“Above all else, avoid jumping into a new role out of desperation. Take time to assess what’s working and not working, and what you truly want next,” Gavin wrote in conclusion. “Rushing headlong into the first opportunity that seems promising can land you in an even worse job.”