Re: How much job hopping is OK and how to explain it?

["Murrell, Thomas" <TMurrell -at- ALLDATA -dot- NET>]

These are always challenging questions in the job search process.  I would
hope, since they deal directly with job search issues, that they would not
be considered off-topic.  Of course, if anyone doesn't want to read about
this topic, I hope they will simply move on in the list.

The first thing to realize is that the workplace has changed.  The economy
may be vastly improved over what it was ten, or even five, years ago, but
the damage of that time lingers on.  People started job hopping or becoming
private contractors or working for contract houses because those were the
only ways to get work.  You now have a workforce that sees a full time job
with an established employer as a temporary thing; they'll let you go as
soon as they think they need to in order to protect their own jobs and their
bottom line.  The "requirement" that used to exist for some sort of employee
loyalty to the organization has been broken by the organization.

With that in mind, in interview situations don't volunteer information,
particularly negative information, about why you left this or that job.
Contractors can say that the contract was completed.  Former employees can
say--probably correctly--that the organization chose a different direction
or out-sourced your job.  Interestingly, many of us have been on both sides
of that situation.

Also, it is useful to remember that so many of the jobs we get are temporary
assignments.  It is a constant battle to cost-justify what we do to managers
who see only "product" delivery as revenue producing and don't realize that
they have only delivered half the product if they don't have documentation.

I could go on and on, but I hope I've conveyed the essentials: that the
market is changed, probably forever, and what were considered negatives are
no longer seen as such.  When you go into any interview situation, whether
as a contractor or for an employee position, you are marketing your skills
and abilities.  Your past merely describes the wealth and breadth of your
experience that any intelligent prospective employer would be nuts not to
want.

Tom Murrell
Senior Technical Writer, Alliance Data Systems, Inc.
CAD4A - (614)729-4364
Fax: (614)729-4499
mailto:tmurrell -at- alldata -dot- net

> ----------
> From:         Anonymous Poster[SMTP:anonfwd -at- RAYCOMM -dot- COM]
> Reply To:     Anonymous Poster
> Sent:         Wednesday, August 25, 1999 12:46 PM
> To:   TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
> Subject:      FWD: How much job hopping is OK and how to explain it?
>
>   I am curious to know what is considered "job hopping" and is it
> acceptable these days because of the nature of technology?
>
>   Also, how do you explain to potential employers, when you have
> taken several jobs that turned out to be REALLY, REALLY bad
> choices and have had the opportunity to leave them after just a
> few months and did?  Or, what if you have a really bad year where
> life occurrences cause you to make bad choices?  I know that you
> are supposed to keep your professional life and personal life
> separate, but sometimes that just isn't possible.  When you are
> interviewing, how do you explain what happened and why?  Or do
> you explain it?  What are employers looking for?
>
>   I know this isn't totally on topic, but we have been talking
> about interviews, etc.  So I just thought I'd put this out there.
> Thanks in advance for your comments.
>
>
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