Job Hopping

Class Location: The Internet.

Description: This course is designed to teach the downside of job hopping.

Objective: Learn how job hopping can hurt your resume.

After I graduated from college and decided to move away from my small town to a big city where I had no professional contacts, I signed a contract for a 12 to 16 week internship in order to get my foot in the door. After about 14 weeks I had landed a job and fulfilled my obligations and embarked on my career. By fulfilling my obligation I gained respect and recommendations from the organization that hired me as an intern. Another intern from my class chose to simply leave within the first month because he found a real job. Nearly a year later, I still have my first job and have contacts and relationships with people within both organizations. He is currently looking for his third position, not counting the internship.

He was job hopping to step up, and in some ways he may have temporarily boosted his career. But now that he is sending resumes out a third time I wonder what prospective employers think about those short stints listed under "professional experience."

Many prospective employers consider a number of short employments on your resume to be a problem because they can indicate several things.

1. That you are always looking for the next best thing 2. That you have trouble getting along with coworkers or cannot get projects finished

Many people say that it takes at least six months to get a handle on a job, and a good year before you are actually contributing to your organization.

This is not to say that changing jobs in a short timeframe is always bad. It isn't, but you should be concerned with the message your resume may send to a prospective employer.

If you are unhappy in your present work, you may have reasons to make a change, but be careful. If you can, determine ahead of time if it is the particular job, or people you work with that is the problem or if you do not enjoy working in your field. That way making a switch will not lead to just a much misery down the line.

A job change is also worth considering if it would put you in a better position to reach your long-term career goals.

Just remember, if you decide it is best to make a change. Don't be hasty. The grass always looks greener, but that just might be the prickers you're seeing.