跳槽 tiàocáo to leave one's job to take up a position elsewhere
How to remember 跳槽: 跳 jump + 槽 trough = to leave one's job to take up a position elsewhere.
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How it is used
- To job-hop - quit one job to take another, usually for better pay - 他跳槽去了大公司 (tā tiàocáo qùle dà gōngsī) he jumped ship to a big company.
- Vivid metaphor from an animal leaving its feed trough (槽); common, slightly informal career vocabulary.
- Implies moving to a different employer, unlike 升职 (promotion) or 辞职 (cízhí, simply resigning). Split-able: 跳了两次槽.