Job Hopping, bad for CV?

Kai123

Hey forum,
I am on an Irish govt run scheme called Jobbridge. I get paid a bit extra on top of welfare while I take part in volunteer internships. I can leave with 1 weeks’ notice, so its flexible.
I have been at my current internship for 1 month (this will be my 5^th week). Using Active Directory (resetting passwords, creating some users, adding computers to domain) is the limit of what I will be doing here, I’ve learnt a lot but I wont be doing this for 9 months!

Once in a blue moon, a network engineer internship pops up, which is what I’m gunning for. In the meantime there are plenty of better internships on offer (some internships are full on system admin internships, or linux administration with VMware, IAAS environment).

If I left this internship for a sys admin, and then left the sys admin for a network engineer, it would look very blotty on my CV. Would it be a matter of explaining why I left after so little time? (learnt all I could, each new position building on ambition and aspirations).

jamesleecoleman

If they ask why you left, tell them. It's great that you have that program in your country.

Why not do 9 months of Active Directory stuff?

Kai123

jamesleecoleman wrote: »

If they ask why you left, tell them. It's great that you have that program in your country.

Why not do 9 months of Active Directory stuff?

9 months of experience doing very basic helpdesk is nothing when I have realistic chances of getting into a network engineer/system admin internship. I get paid €233 a week (-€25 for transport), I work alongside other technicians earning 4x that.

The scheme is good for IT, but the vast majority of it has displaced low-income, min wage positions with the internship. Plenty of retail, farm-hand jobs on it, as well as positions that need a PhD. Its distorting the jobs market, since the longer this goes on, companies that don’t do this cant compete with those that do. Its been very abused but nothing is doing done to stop it.

Asif Dasl

JobBridge ain't perfect but €50 extra a week is better than no €50 extra a week. I wouldn't job hop too much on internships, you are only 5 weeks in to it, sure you could find a network engineer internship but why didn't you go for that in the beginning?

AFAIK Jobbridge leads to an actual job, so view that as the prize for now. It may not be 1st prize in your eyes now (earning 4 times the salary), but it may make finding a more suitable, better paying job easier.

If Active Directory work is not your cup of tea then don't force yourself to work with it, just be careful with your next move. 1 bad internship can be forgiven, 2 short internships might make you look unreliable...

NinjaBoy

It depends, if I were you, on my CV I would put down eg: Helpdesk (Temp), Helpdesk (internship) or Helpdesk (Contract Position), etc... This is to show why you've moved around jobs within such a short space of time.

You could explain why you've moved around a lot during the interview, but to be honest, you have to get to the interview stage first of all. While not every organisation or company is the same. You want to ensure that you sell yourself

Kai123

Asif Dasl wrote: »

JobBridge ain't perfect but €50 extra a week is better than no €50 extra a week. I wouldn't job hop too much on internships, you are only 5 weeks in to it, sure you could find a network engineer internship but why didn't you go for that in the beginning?

AFAIK Jobbridge leads to an actual job, so view that as the prize for now. It may not be 1st prize in your eyes now (earning 4 times the salary), but it may make finding a more suitable, better paying job easier.

If Active Directory work is not your cup of tea then don't force yourself to work with it, just be careful with your next move. 1 bad internship can be forgiven, 2 short internships might make you look unreliable...

Hey Asif

At the time this seemed like a good internship, but it was grossly overhyped. I mentioned the pay for jamesleecoleman, trying to point out that some people on the same scheme are being shafted.

I was told there would not be an offer at the end of this anyway. Looking at some other jobbridge descriptions, I could be learning a lot more, and in a much faster paced environment.

Network Engineer internships are not common, they pop up maybe once a fortnight in Dublin. When I applied for this internship, there hadn’t of been a Network role for months, and the few before that wanted some kind of IT experience.

I’m taking a CCNA course in September in Blanchardstown (ITB). If I’m able to get a networking role, or system admin role with some emphasis on networking now, I would complete the internship and CCNA at the same time. That would be really ideal.

The risk is leaving this place for another misrepresented internship(its not uncommon for companies to lie on the internship descriptions), and having my CV look very blotty.

Asif Dasl

Hey Kai, I am surprised network engineer positions don't turn up more often TBH I've seen every other type of position on there. I would stay where you are unless you spot the perfect network engineer internship, see if you can take on some more responsibilities in your current position to keep you interested. I think the internships should be for 6 months but JobBridge lasts 9 months - however if it leads to a job it's totally worth the sacrifice and will lead you to bigger and better things. Good luck with the CCNA!

LionelTeo

If your future employer asked, you can also say you are moving into another IT line that you had great interest on, now you had found the career path within IT you wanted, you would want to seek a permanent career with a great company.