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Short info - I'm an IT professional, worked in 7 companies so far, between 1 to 1.5 year each, all finished on good, friendly terms. Recently I started my first senior position, however I resigned after a month (it was long, horrible story of incompetent managers etc, but still, finished on a good terms). Now, I'm in the second company, a bit longer (6 months now), but it I feel another "festival of incompetence", and, more importantly, I feel I'm doing totally useless stuff which not only not pushes my skills and career forward, but effectively reverse them. The kind of a company run by people who worked there always, and despite they are "average employee" - their word is more important that managers. Most of the employees are really graduates who never have worked anywhere else, so whatever happens they don't really have a comparison. You probably know what kind of a feeling it gives - the whole world is wrong and stupid, but us.

Both companies have quite big turnover of employees, probably for the same reason I mentioned here.

And to my question - would leaving another job after a short period will be a problem with my further career? I've spoken with two recruiters so far and they told me that it looks pretty bad, whatever the explanation for leaving a job may be. Especially with the fact that it would be one after another. Would it be much better to "suffer" some more time, lest say another 6 months, simply for the sake of having "properly looking" entry in the resume?

Gunter
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    While it's great goal to find a company that is a perfect fit for you, it's worth asking if you may have set your sights a bit high. You can further your skill set while working a menial job, and indeed you may miss that oppurtunity when you don't have it anymore.

    Instead of thinking of this as a terrible job, consider it an oppurtunity to pursue some certifications, etc. You might even be able to convince the job to reimburse some of it.

     –  Oct 19 '16 at 21:57
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    You're a job hopper, you've barely repaid their investment in any of your jobs, this won't make much difference. – Kilisi Oct 20 '16 at 00:16

4 Answers4

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The explanation won't matter if you can't get to the interview. Staying for another half a year isn't going to change your statistics all that much.

Is it possible to leave off the one month job? This may be the rare case where a minor gap looks better than another job. You can explain the gap during an interview with the absolute truth if anyone asks, but at least you make the interview.

Another approach is to use a skills-based resume rather than a chronological one. This would emphasize experience over employers.

It's important to note that the average millennial in tech switches jobs about every 2.5 years. It's not like it used to be.

jimm101
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  • I would be careful with leaving some employment off - it's typical for some countries to run a background check, where this things like this will be found out anyway, and may have very negative impact. – M4ks Oct 20 '16 at 08:23
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And to my question - would leaving another job after a short period will be a problem with my further career?

If you've never worked at a job more than 1.5 years over 7 different jobs (not even counting the 1 month job), it seems like your pattern of job hopping is already well established. Some managers won't want to hire someone with that history, but others won't care.

Adding yet another short stint to the pile is unlikely to make any difference.

I've spoken with two recruiters so far and they told me that it looks pretty bad, whatever the explanation for leaving a job may be. Especially with the fact that it would be one after another. Would it be much better to "suffer" some more time, lest say another 6 months, simply for the sake of having "properly looking" entry in the resume?

6 months added on to the 6 months you already have in this company isn't going to make any difference.

If it were 5 years, that would help. But making it 8 companies with 1 to 1.5 years each isn't going to help at all.

If this is "suffering" there's no gain after your pain. Just leave.

As you look for your next gig, consider what kind of job it would take for you to be happy for more than a year or so. Then ask the kinds of questions that will tell you if this is that kind of job or not.

Maybe this isn't a big deal for you and you don't care if any job ever lasts for more than a year or so. Some folks are happy that way. Or maybe you would be better off being a contractor and just do 1-year gigs for the rest of your career.

Joe Strazzere
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  • Note jimm101 statement : It's important to note that the average millennial in tech switches jobs about every 2.5 years. But this is really specific to IT Fields. On the general way : if a company is searching just for a specific project it may not care of this, however if they search for something on a long-term, they will see a red flag. – Walfrat Oct 20 '16 at 08:31
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If you work as a consultant, no one cares how much job hopping you do.

If you are a full-timer, an employer may not want to have anything to do with you because they have a pretty good idea that they'll have to hire again a year from now. They'd rather hire someone who feeds them a line of bull about staying than someone like you whose track record of leaving within twelve to eighteen months is plain to see.

Vietnhi Phuvan
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I can tell you, as a fellow IT contract worker, you will never find the perfect job, until you start your own company and write your own ticket.

As the owner of your own software development company, you can charge more. You can take or deny more work. You can take a day off whenever you want.

What you give up is one place security...that is, working for someone else knowing that you have a job tomorrow.

BUT, that security is no longer valid. Our economy sucks, world-wide. Companies expand and contract their workforce at the drop of a hat. It used to be that job security was the attraction to work for the government as a full-time employee, but even that is uncertain with the budget mayhem going on. You might be working for an agency whose budget is eliminated tomorrow.

I agree with jimm101 that a skills-based resume is going to work better.

Sensii Miller
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