Do i look like a job hopper

I have being in IT close to 5 years now,

the first year i actually volunteered cause none hired me so worked for free.

the last 4 years was full time work.

on average i stay in a company close to 2 years (1 year and 10 months to be exact)

so close to 5 years and on average i stay close to 2 years

do i look like a hopper

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yzT

job hopper is an old expression. Nowadays if you quickly change job, is because the former employer couldn't match the benefits of the new employer. It's that easy. You want me to stay? Prove it, otherwise there are other people out there who really want to hire me.Anyway, changing job every two years is far from job hopping.

Chitownjedi

katiesss wrote: »

I have being in IT close to 5 years now,

the first year i actually volunteered cause none hired me so worked for free.

the last 4 years was full time work.

on average i stay in a company close to 2 years (1 year and 10 months to be exact)

so close to 5 years and on average i stay close to 2 years

do i look like a hopper

Nope. I don't think that matters anymore. Some people may think so. Just explain your situation.

Danielm7

You should be able to explain it. We just hired someone for a very high level position in security. He had a ton of experience but the last few years showed a jump every 9-12 months. Every person who looked over the resume pointed it out immediately as their biggest concern. The company puts a lot of resources into hiring for that level of job and they don't want to do it again every 10 months. We asked about it during the interview and the candidate was able to easily explain the reasons for leaving each position, we hired him.

I think if he just said, "well, the next company paid me more!" our company likely would have passed as they felt like the guy would be constantly searching for new roles and taking the next decent offer he found quickly. It isn't even a case of not wanting people to look out for themselves, but don't be so obvious about it.

H3||scr3am

I assume that if you don't change jobs every 3 months, then you're likely to be fine, and if you do have some 3 month stints (that were not contracts) then I'd do everything in your power to leave them off of your resume. If you stay at a company for more then a year, I'd say that your loyalty was proven.

Network_Engineer

I job hopped 5 times in 3 years. I went $40,000 to $156,000. I only work contracts now. They pay the most and are plentiful in Atlanta and Tampa. Job hopping might be bad, but companies keep hiring me.

N2IT

Naaaa I don't think so. IMO Ideally you want to stay 2 - 3 years ( this is my opinion ) but with short term contracts and with organizations going heavily into project based work I don't think you can go by the anymore.

aderon

Network_Engineer wrote: »

I job hopped 5 times in 3 years. I went $40,000 to $156,000. I only work contracts now. They pay the most and are plentiful in Atlanta and Tampa. Job hopping might be bad, but companies keep hiring me.

Are you saying you had 5 permanent jobs? Or are you saying you worked 5 contracts?

ssnyderu2

The days of working at a company for 20 years or more is long gone. I think now the average is 2 maybe 3 years.

anhtran35

aderon wrote: »

Are you saying you had 5 permanent jobs? Or are you saying you worked 5 contracts?

Sounds like he is a 1099 contractor. I did this for several months and was compensated pretty well.

NetworkNewb

As long as you explain the reasoning for the moves in a job interview your good. Also, the best thing about moving to different jobs often is you get to learn new things!

RouteMyPacket

I'd day jumping around every year would make me pose the question as to why but it's far from a deal killer. It should be easily explainable, I left a VAR after 11 months due to them not being what they said they were, they didn't know what they were actually but for me they were a staff aug company and that is a no no for me.

mjnk77

If you are at a company for more that a year, you're fine. If you are going from job to job every 6 months, then there could be some backlash. But if your skillset is advancing and you are outgrowing your job duties, then you should be move on. And with you, you can easily explain why you left your previous position.

Archon

I think when you are talking about years and its not regularly you will be fine. Ive been at my current role for just over 2 years and they are not keeping up with my ambitions. Once i have passed the CISSP exam I will be looking elsewhere.

Mooseboost

My rule of thumb would be if the hops occur in spans of years - then there shouldn't be a problem. Only a handful of months between jobs would make me wonder. I think hops are fine, especially if you show that you are moving up and learning new skills at each hop.