Change vs. shift

[relando]

Synonyms Lesson, Advanced Level

ESL/EFL Test #105 "Synonyms for exchange", question 7

John finds it hard to find a permanent job, he's been ......... from one job to another for as long as I can remember.

(a) changing
(b) deviating
(c) shifting
(d) varying

Synonyms Lesson, Advanced Level

ESL/EFL Test #105 "Synonyms for exchange", answer 7

John finds it hard to find a permanent job, he's been shifting from one job to another for as long as I can remember.

Correct answer: (c) shifting

Your answer was: incorrect
John finds it hard to find a permanent job, he's been changing from one job to another for as long as I can remember.
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What does exactly shifting and changing means where and all can we use the former and latter?

[FangFang]

As I know, "change jobs" is used frequently. We don't say "shift one job to another", "shift" is used for a change from one place to another, for example: Help me shift the sofa away from the fire.

[Yankee]

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The most common usage of the word shift in connection with work or a job would be to talk about things like "the night shift" or "the early shift" or "shift work".
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The word I would have chosen to describe what John has been doing (in the test sentence) is job-hopping. (But that wasn't an option.)
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Amy
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ESL teacher, translator, and a native speaker of American English