idealpeople blog

Recently, we’ve had a fair few candidates asking us about the effects of having had quite a few jobs over a short period of time on a CV.

This is an interesting question.

So here’s the quandry: you’re currently in a job you hate. Getting up in the mornings fills you with dread. You don’t enjoy it, you don’t get on with anyone and you’re desperate to leave. BUT, you’ve only been in the job for 6 months, and your last job only lasted 5 months because you were working for start-up and the money ran out. You don’t want to be labelled a job-hopper, so you stick it out where you are now, even though it’s terrible.

This kind of situation, crazy as it seems written like that, is actually quite common, and it stems from the job-hopping stigma. This is the idea that people who have had a number of different jobs in a short space of time are less employable than people with steady career paths where they’ve spent 2 or more years at each company they’ve worked for. There are people out there who fall into this category who probably deserve to be in it: they genuinely can’t show enough commitment to their employers. More often than not though, people who find themselves concerned about the stigma of job-hopping have found themselves in their situation completely by accident.

The good news is that, as long as you concentrate on a few key points, then so-called “job-hopping” shouldn’t be a problem.

So, if you’re worried abput this, here’s our advice.

1) Get your CV right
Start by reading our CV tips here, here and here. Remember to focus on your achievements and on the impact of your work at each company you’ve worked for. Match features with benefits. Focus on selling your skills and experience, and don’t spend any time dwelling on how or why you ended up leaving jobs. There’s no real need to put “Reason for leaving” on a CV, as long as the features and benefits you’re writing about are strong enough.

2) Be honest(ish) when asked
If you get asked (particularly in an interview) as to why you left each position you’ve had, be honest. If this means breaking from the traditional advice of not bad-mouthing former employers, then so be it - as long as what you’re saying isn’t personal or a dig at particular individuals you’ve worked with or for. If possible, focus on professional reasons - the direction of the company didn’t match up with the direction of the market, the position you ended up doing wasn’t what was sold to you and didn’t meet your carrer aspirations (careful here - make sure the same doesn’t apply to the job you’re being interviewed for), your partner got a new job and you moved…

3) Don’t bring it up
Don’t highlight the fact you’ve moved around. We’ve interviewed many people with long and complex and career histories, and there’s a tendency for candidates to actually bring it up and address their “reasons for leaving”. If you’re not asked, don’t bring it up. Instead, focus on what you’ve achieved. Think benefits, benefits, benefits. If you start focussing on trying to explain why you left a particular job, it starts to sound like an issue. This is a lot about mental approach: remember to sell your experience, skills and achievements confidently rather than focussing on overcoming an objection you haven’t even had yet.

4) Think carefully before saying yes
Don’t jump at the first job you’re offered if you have concerns about anything you’ve seen or heard. This is so easily done, particularly if the mortgage payment is looming and you’re running out of money. However, most people who leave a job after a short period of employment had concerns before starting the job. If it doesn’t look like somewhere you’re going to be happy or you’ve heard bad things then stall the offer and keep looking.

5) Don’t worry if someone thinks it’s a problem
Seriously, if you come across a company who have a blanket “we don’t hire people who didn’t stay in the their last three jobs for at least 2 years” policy, then don’t waste your time worrying about it. If a company isn’t going to take into account any of your skills and experience, then you really don’t want to work for them. It’s a fairly short-sighted recruitment policy that tars everyone with the same brush. If a company judges you like this, then judge them back

There is no reason is the world to stay in a job which makes you miserable because someone’s told you “it looks bad on your CV.” Through a combination of the right approach and a good pitch (which you should be doing anyway, regardless of your situation), the job-hopping stigma can be easily avoided.

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