Anyone switch jobs often early in their IT career?

This is where I stand currently:

Job 1 - helpdesk/desktop support 36k 1 year, (laid off)
Job 2 - helpdesk/desktop support 39k 1 year (cannot progress)
Job 3 - Lv 1 Noc analyst 40k (expected stay, 8-12months. Its graveyard if that helps my case)
Job 4 - Hoping for network admin/analyst/engineer position (Would stay at this spot 2-3 years)

Currently im on Job 3, is it going to look bad for me when I start applying for Job 4 or even down the road for Job 5? Was anyone else in a similar situation early on their career?

Any input welcomed, thanks in advance.

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Comments

mbarrett

Don't dwell to much on how long you stay at a particular job if you are young, it's almost expected that you will be moving around, learning etc. Get a good idea of what you want to be doing (sounds like you are doing that.) It's more important to be learning & getting focused. If somebody asks about how long you are staying at every job you had, then you can explain about your focus on what you will be doing in the future, why you are able to do it, and how your previous jobs helped you get to this stage.

jcundiff

sidninja wrote: »

@jcundiff - nice picture haha - also 6 figures? wow but you have the years to back that up.

i am only 26 and graduated from uni last year.

Then you are miles ahead of where I was at 26

I was a college dropout that got lucky a couple times... I've got the years (now

) and certs, but I am just now going back to get my degree

I'm sure you'll get to the 6 figures much sooner than I did

And thats my winter look :O thats actually from 2015, beard is about twice as long this year lol

apr911

The issue with your resume at the moment would be your the first 2 jobs were only a year and your positions while title changes, show only minimal advancement. I'd like to see something on your resume that shows you are able to commit and at the moment you just dont have that especially as your 3rd position is currently less than a year and you are already looking.

It sounds like the first position was outside of your control (or at least I will assume it was and not a conduct/performance issue resulting in layoff). The second position you left voluntarily and your current position you accepted voluntarily and are looking to leave voluntarily.

There is nothing in your story that says to me I should look past your job hopping behavior.

I understand you are on graveyards and having worked them myself, I know they are not for everyone. It sounds like you aren't happy on graveyards which is again understandable but it becomes a situation where you voluntarily accepted a position working graveyards, you weren't forced into it and while Im a big proponent of not knocking something until you've tried it, you've now been there too long for me to accept you just dont like graveyards and too short for me to accept you're really ready to move on.

To me your resume is screaming that when you are unhappy you just leave and while there is a certain amount of credit due for doing that, it begs the question what have you done to improve your situation beside quit? Im not a proponent of staying some place you hate but that's a conclusion that is usually made very quickly in a role. If the role is tolerable and you've made it this far, why havent you tried to make the job something more for yourself? Either through external validation (i.e. certificates & degrees) or internal validation (i.e. promotion, internal transfers, etc).

Now, job hopping isn't inherently bad but the narrative matters. There is a large population out there working contract positions which is a perfectly acceptable narrative. If you can show growth through professional certification or job changes, that becomes an acceptable narrative (within reason); job promotions rarely come at the same rate through which one can grow themselves.

Even a "rebound job" is an acceptable narrative, if every other job showed growth form the previous but was a short term stint padded by longer term stints at other companies, I could see the argument that you left the position only to find yourself in a position you werent prepared for or weren't happy in and it took a second position for you to find your home. Though again that is within reason and also assumes the position you are currently looking for doesn't fall within the "rebound" category.

So yeah, job hopping isn't a career killer but you will have to overcome that perception lest you want to end up eternally job hopping and never advancing. As Success101 put it, if you're going to job hop, its best you do so early in your career.

powerfool

Just to add some more context on a previous comment that I made about understanding the perspective of non-IT folks that can be involved in hiring. I just noticed that my cousin has been at her job for 12 years now (thanks for the reminder, LinkedIn); she is an accountant. It is highly relevant specifically to accounting/finance because it has been routinely linked closely to these business units so it is not uncommon to have their leadership involved heavily or even superior to IT within an organization. Their expertise is not nearly as dynamic as IT, so there really isn't much for them to gain by moving jobs with regularity, especially when you look at mid-career and beyond.

While I fully agree that is more likely than not that you will need to move around early in your career to advance in IT, this is just something to keep in mind. There are no hard and fast rules, and anecdotal stories about folks advancing within the same company are far from unlikely... they also aren't the norm in the industry. This can also have a strong relationship to region, as some are more dynamic than others mostly as a function of population density. I live in the midwest, for instance, and in the larger cities it is much more common for folks to routinely move at somewhat shorter intervals than it is when you move out of the larger cities. And then, there always are exceptions to those norms.

EDIT: Just another bit of context into hiring decisions. I was listening to a HBR podcast on Audible and they were focusing on hiring biases with specific attention to the legal industry because of the prestige that is often involved with some firms and universities. Where I think this is relevant to the discussion is the concept of "flight risk." The most prestigious firms tend to do on-site recruiting at the most prestigious universities and that leaves students at second-tier schools with the need to directly apply when pursuing the more prestigious law firms. What they revealed are hiring biases that can be revealed by data in your resume. Let's say you have four applicants that have identical qualifications (GPA, honors, same institution, etc), they would reveal their gender (rather obviously) by their first name and how affluent they are by extra-curricular activities and awards.

Extra-curricular activities are a bit more obvious... do you do track & field or soccer that have rather low barriers of entry? Or, do you do rowing, yachting, classical music, etc?

What I found rather interesting was how they identify affluence by awards, as well. What find of award did you get? Did you get an award that is for those on non-merit scholarships or for tutoring "fellow first-generation college students?" A bit more obvious that you have less affluence when you consider these things.

How does this relate? Well, using the affluence information in addition to gender, they would consider your flight risk to the organization. Here is the flight risk in ascending order:

1. Affluent male
2. Non-affluent male
3. Non-affluent female
4. Affluent female

The rationale is that the affluent female has the greatest flight risk because they are more likely to leave the employ of the organization for more reasons. There is the most general reason that apply to females stereo-typically: leaving to start a family. However, since they are affluent, there is less need for money and they are less tolerant to putting up with office politics and difficult situations. Why this doesn't apply to affluent males equally is because affluent males are regarded as more driven by ambition and having more reason to increase the wealth. Why this doesn't apply more to non-affluent females is because they are more likely to have student loans and something to prove.

How does this apply? Well, the importance of flight risk, in general. And by being perceived as a "job hopper" is more of a perception of being a flight risk. Being perceived as a "job hopper" is a relative thing... which is why considering the perception of non-IT types because their idea of what qualifies as a job hopper is different relative to what an IT type might perceive as a job hopper.

TechGromit

Where I work, a number of younger people were hired, some right out of college for positions in Nuclear Cyber Security Operations. After only 2 or 3 years in the position, more than a few of them indicate that they are ready to more up, they feel they are competent in the position and they think it's time for them to get a promotion. The problem here, it these are not entry level positions, as you get higher up in the job position pyramid in a company, there is fewer positions and fewer openings. These are great jobs, paying 70k to 90k, with great benefits, but it just seems to me generation xyz isn't content, if they are not moving on to the next big thing. They would be fools to leave the company I work for, to chase pipe dream some where else is better. Having working in the IT field for 20+ years, from experience I learned is a lot of companies suck to work for, If not compensation, then the number of hours your expected to work, or no support from management if things go wrong. Let me just tell you the grass is NOT greener on the other side of the fence, if it looks greener, chances are its Crab grass and weeds.

FloOz

I am not saying its the only way to get more cash but if your trying to hit six figs fast then yes it just about is. Obviously some companies are better and will counter offer or match but from the places I worked it hasn't been that way.

Those first four years I spent in IT were spend hardcore studying and getting that next job. There's no way I would have gotten to 120k by staying at one spot for 4 years. Especially since I'm also 26, no chance a current employer would allow that kind of salary boost. Not saying its not possible just very unlikely.

As of right now I'm in a position that I don't plan on leaving anytime soon. Until I stop learning/growing there's no point in leaving.

Trucido

FloOz wrote: »

There's no way I would have gotten to 120k by staying at one spot for 4 years. Especially since I'm also 26, no chance a current employer would allow that kind of salary boost. Not saying its not possible just very unlikely.

Man oh man, if I had a $80,000-100,000+ income the only thing that would get me to leave is a 30-50% increase in pay or less stressful job at the same pay

Congrats on living the dream, hopefully I can make it there in 5 years. Currently 27 and make $16/hr.

rolando3321

As someone who has work in the industry for the same amount of time as yourself; maybe sharing my personal thoughts/experiences will help you.

Currently I'm working as a network technician/field tech. I have been at my position for almost two years now. I felt that within the first 6 months that I was capping out on my learning opportunities. I mainly work at the L1/L2 levels. We don't have any Cisco gear (use a product known as Ruggedcom for our L3 devices) There pretty much set and don't need to be changed, but I can log into them.

I want to get into a NOC or into an environment where my role is more of a network admin.

Having said that.... I know that for my next step I want to enter into a t2 or higher position. Even thou I have felt capped at my job for some time there are learning opportunities, which I have made for myself. I'm working on my CCNA, so that I can ensure that I will get into the level of work that I want to be at the next job.

To tie this altogether, you have your CCNA and are at a NOC. I would just ask yourself is there anything you can learn or gain at your job still? Do you feel like you know and can own the next level? (if not I would study/get more certs as others have suggested) Is there any opportunity for you to get promoted to a T2 position or something else that suits you?

jeremywatts2005

I wouldn't sweat it at all. I started my IT career back in 1998 with visions of working at one company my entire life and drawing a pension. So I took my first job at Rockwell which was just like I always imagined. 3 yrs later I am sitting in front of my manager at a Cracker Barrell getting laid off. The manager even stiffed me and told me to pay for my own breakfast. Rockwell let nearly 10K of us goes over the next few yrs as it spun off divisions and cut staff. Brutal reality that for tech at least no one gives a flying flip. You are on your own to take care of your own. Get the job you want by changing jobs. Most of the folks stay in the same company because they put up with subpar pay for being overworked. Yeah! I will make 20K less in my role and do 4 other roles plus mine just to stay at a company NOT !!!! That is why I changed jobs so much. If a company wants me to stay pay me well and provide me good growth potential with compensation to boot.