How much job hopping do you guys think is acceptable?

First off, a disclaimer: I am completely happy at my current place of employment and have no desire to leave.

With that said, I'm just curious. How much job hopping do you guys think is acceptable?

I am currently at my third job out of college. The first I was at for 6 months...I was doing hotel management with a light spattering of systems administration.

Then I took a job implementing IT systems in hotels. This position I was in for about 15 months, but the travel got to be too much for me after awhile (I was only home 2-3 days a month, and was in 2 different cities every week).

I've been in my current position for 6 months and have no intention of leaving any time soon. However, my boss (the IT Director) said that people kept telling him that his job hopping would hurt him but it never came back to bite him. He has been 3 years, but before that he had something ridiculous like 11 jobs in 10 years...but nobody ever questioned it.

What do you guys think? Is job hopping more acceptable in IT because the nature of our job is that we thrive on problem solving and learning new things?

I figure I need to be at my current job for at least 3 years, but I'm curious what everybody's thoughts are.

Thanks!

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Comments

Hyper-Me

I think it can look bad on a resume, but if you have viable reasons why you left those jobs then its probably ok.

GAngel

Longest I've ever been in a job is 2 years. 4 in the last 6 years I think and moving again at the end of this year. All full time never contract work.

You do what makes you happy. I'm certainly not going to sit around for 3-4 years because i'm not sure how my resume will look I go out and get what I want. I've never gotten less than 20% from job swapping and always more responsibilities and positions. I also have no wife and kids which plays a big role.

It only hurts if you make it hurt. Gen Y is mobile and employers don't expect you to commit 40 years to them when they'll let you go in 40 minutes. My only reason is because I wanted a new challenge. It's far more detrimental to your resume to sit doing jobs you could do in your sleep for 10 years while the industry passes you by.

RouteThisWay

GAngel wrote: »

when they'll let you go in 40 minutes.

or seconds.

Seriously, to companies these days... you are simply a statistic on the bottom of a spreadsheet. And they have no problem pressing the delete key as necessary.

RouteThisWay

JrSysAdmin wrote: »

Then I took a job implementing IT systems in hotels. This position I was in for about 15 months, but the travel got to be too much for me after awhile (I was only home 2-3 days a month, and was in 2 different cities every week).

Sounds like my kinda job

Like HM said, as long as you had a valid reason for leaving.. then so be it.

skrpune

When a potential employer is looking at your resume and they see a lot of short stints, it will definitely give them pause - why would they spent the time and effort and money to train you (even if it's just to acclimate you to the company) if you're going to walk away a few months later?

Personally, I'd say that in order to not look like a job hopper, you want to be in a job for at least a year, if not two. Unless you have really good reasons (i.e., lay off, family relocation, contract work, etc.), then those less than 1-2 year jobs may be preventing you from getting calls/interviews. If you DO have good reasons for your short stints, you can mention them briefly on your cover letter.

SrSysAdmin

RouteThisWay wrote: »

Sounds like my kinda job

Like HM said, as long as you had a valid reason for leaving.. then so be it.

Yeah, I thought it would be amazing when I first took the job. The reality was that spending half the week on flights traveling all across the globe loses its allure pretty quickly.

I knew it was time to find a new job when I was staying at a 5-star Ritz in Hawaii and wanted to be back home.

Once I found a girl I wanted to be with this just accelerated the process of finding a new job for me...everybody is different, but to me I wanted to keep the girl I loved more than I wanted to travel alone all the time.

There will be plenty of time to travel when I'm retired

RouteThisWay

JrSysAdmin wrote: »

Yeah, I thought it would be amazing when I first took the job. The reality was that spending half the week on flights traveling all across the globe loses its allure pretty quickly.

I knew it was time to find a new job when I was staying at a 5-star Ritz in Hawaii and wanted to be back home.

Once I found a girl I wanted to be with this just accelerated the process of finding a new job for me...everybody is different, but to me I wanted to keep the girl I loved more than I wanted to travel alone all the time.

There will be plenty of time to travel when I'm retired

lol good points

Seems like women make us do things we never thought we would.

But hey, at least you are happy now

fieldmonkey

My personal take on it is, show me the money!

Like a couple have already said on here SMB's along with large corporations don't mind one bit-pulling the plug on you SO we as "employees" or "prospective employees" need to protect ourselves and seek out positions that benefit us and protects us the most from those situations. Especially in the turbulent economy that we live in today.

Also most HR managers / recruiters don't mind seeing some job hopping, as long as your are moving up and taking on larger and more significant roles... this show a natural course of progression, along with showing you are not afraid of taking on more responsibility and seek bigger roles.

Just look for what makes you happy and keeps your head above water, as there are some jobs you are better off staying at for a few years or a lifetime.

NightShade03

I agree with the 1-2 year mark. I worked my first job for 1.5 years, then a 6 month job. Currently this job I'm applying for is giving me a hard time about the job hopping, but I work a second job (at the same company for the past 6 years), and I'm young so that seemed to calm them down. I don't think job hopping is as big of a deal as it used to be but some smaller companies will not hire you because of turn over risk.....then again some small companies can't always offer enough for you to hop in their direction to begin with.

cablegod

wow that is surprising in this economy, I guess that I am dedicated to my employer. January made 10 years.

blargoe

I don't think it's as big of a deal as it used to be. Particularly early on. People getting hired into a permanent position right out of college and staying there 10 years isn't really all that common anymore. In IT where a lot of the work tends to be temp/contract anyway, I think it's almost expected these days to have several "hops".

Hyper-Me

There are a lot of Lane Kiffins in here

Sanis4life

I'm a job hopper. I think I am in a different situation though, because I do government contracts. Granted, I am an "employee", but that doesnt matter. I usually try to stick with one company for 2 years, then move on. If you want to be a well versified engineer, you need different projects to work on. I know some people who have only worked on EIGRP their whole career. If you want to move up in the world, sticking with one company will only hold you back.

FYI, i have had 3 different companies in 2 years. I just got picked up for another position with no questions asked. Of course, if asked I have explanations for the hopping, but my experience says it does not hurt.

Besides, if they wanted to invest training with you, smart companies will have you sign a contract that you must stay with them for a year or two after the training.

Hop away!

RouteThisWay

Hyper-Me wrote: »

There are a lot of Lane Kiffins in here

Haha! Nice one!

One thing to keep in mind also, is that it is alot easier to find a job when you are currently employed than when you are unemployed. You are not stressed, not feeling pressured, etc. You can wait for that "right" opportunity.

I don't think anyone is advertising for anyone to quit their job, then hope that "in this economy" they find a job quickly.

forkvoid

Hyper-Me wrote: »

There are a lot of Lane Kiffins in here

And a surprising amount of Vols. Three so far, is it?

In seven years, my resume says I've held four jobs(I don't include the several week temp gigs when I was unemployed. Two years, one year, six months, and this one was three years last week. I always worried that six month job would bite me in the arse, but haven't ever had a question on it.

snokerpoker

I think the bottom line is if you do a good job, are reliable and take pride in your work than "job hopping" doesn't matter. If on the other hand you are lazy and don't want to learn anything new then it does matter. At the last place I worked one of my co-workers showed me her resume. In about 12 years the longest stint she had done was only 14 months or so. I didn't think it was a big deal at first, but then I started to work with her. She was unresponsive most of the time, had a bad attitude about doing any kind of work at all, wasn't very good at troubleshooting and just flat out didn't care about doing a good job. After about 3-4 months I remembered her resume and thought "aaaaahhhh now it all makes sense".

tpatt100

I job "hopped" when I first started out because I was moving up in position and salary back when the economy was good. But hopping for me was every 2-3 years. My last job was about five years. Good thing about staying still for a while though is you have longer standing relationships if your a good employee and decent people person so when your looking for references its easy to get them.

RouteThisWay

I would also like to mention, from a resume stand point, I think it looks better if you "job hop" into vertical positions, taking on more responsibility/advanced tech etc.

It does make you question if someone has moved 4 jobs in the last 5 years, and all were lateral positions.

This: Help Desk -> Desktop Support -> Jr Sys Admin -> Sys Admin

looks a lot better than

This: Help Desk -> Help Desk -> Desktop Support -> Help Desk -> Desktop Support

You want your resume/job experience to reflect a progression in your career, not a plateau or decline.

Obviously there is a lot more leeway if you are in a senior/more technical role .

snokerpoker

RouteThisWay wrote: »

I would also like to mention, from a resume stand point, I think it looks better if you "job hop" into vertical positions, taking on more responsibility/advanced tech etc.

It does make you question if someone has moved 4 jobs in the last 5 years, and all were lateral positions.

This: Help Desk -> Desktop Support -> Jr Sys Admin -> Sys Admin

looks a lot better than

This: Help Desk -> Help Desk -> Desktop Support -> Help Desk -> Desktop Support

You want your resume/job experience to reflect a progression in your career, not a plateau or decline.

Obviously there is a lot more leeway if you are in a senior/more technical role .

I agree with this 100%

dynamik

GAngel wrote: »

You do what makes you happy. I'm certainly not going to sit around for 3-4 years because i'm not sure how my resume will look I go out and get what I want. I've never gotten less than 20% from job swapping and always more responsibilities and positions. I also have no wife and kids which plays a big role.

It only hurts if you make it hurt. Gen Y is mobile and employers don't expect you to commit 40 years to them when they'll let you go in 40 minutes. My only reason is because I wanted a new challenge. It's far more detrimental to your resume to sit doing jobs you could do in your sleep for 10 years while the industry passes you by.

This. I try to do a minimum of two years, but that's not a firm requirement. The last job was only eight months. That place was going downhill, and I had several better opportunities. I wasn't going to stick around just because. I would try to avoid numerous <6 month stints.

veritas_libertas

JrSysAdmin wrote: »

Once I found a girl I wanted to be with this just accelerated the process of finding a new job for me...everybody is different, but to me I wanted to keep the girl I loved more than I wanted to travel alone all the time.

There will be plenty of time to travel when I'm retired

A good woman is worth more than gold. My Wife and I both love traveling, we have decided to visit Ireland as soon as this Bachelor degree is knocked off.

On that note, if anyone has traveled or lived in Ireland please contact me with any advice you have

jeremy8529

forkvoid wrote: »

And a surprising amount of Vols. Three so far, is it?

In seven years, my resume says I've held four jobs(I don't include the several week temp gigs when I was unemployed. Two years, one year, six months, and this one was three years last week. I always worried that six month job would bite me in the arse, but haven't ever had a question on it.

You can count a fourth vol here, Im going to UT next year for computer engineering!!
Go Orange!

SrSysAdmin

Hyper-Me wrote: »

There are a lot of Lane Kiffins in here

Sure am glad I went to a school with a quality football program

I've considered UT for my MBA but I think most likely I will go to some school instate (VA) online.