From the hire side of the ball to many jobs over a long period of time is a red flag. Put simply if you were first out the door for the last round of lay off's you might not be a highest performer in the pool. If you were cut and then jumped from job to job never sticking I have to wonder...... not impressive enough to keep? headache to manage? low performance or just term of a contract? I have 20-30 qualified folks per position with an aggressive scrub I normally get a short list of 4-6 folks that all might be a good match. From there its really a question of going from the general to the specifics in terms of matching a person to the job I have open..... Why would I gamble on someone who by history is going to jump in a year or less? For those who don't know a hire that does not work out is a point against the hiring manager. If you are a job hopper because you have to be to stay employed or even if you are a high performer but are job hoping because you can..... you are likely not leaving a trail of overly happy managers behind. I.T. is a small world and while it may take some time you may find by your mid 30's or early 40's the offers are just not coming in any longer. Not suggesting you stay in a bad situation or dead end but swap jobs every 12-18 months for a decade and people will start to wonder.
In the current climate its not easy to get a head count open....when I am able to get a head count open I know I am going to spend anywhere from 30-90 days in pure ramp up. Learning new process, policy, software and or just how to integrate with the rest of the team takes time. I will have to buy new equipment and or shift around what equipment I have so current staff are not always happy to see a new face. Why does he/she get a new rig? How come the new person gets all the training? Does not matter if its true (we spend on all our folks) what matters is I have to make some investment into a new head count that is usually a bit higher as they ramp into a new role. 6-9 months out you find they just wanted "Health care" experience or "Financial services" experience so they could make their next jump. Great now I have to go back hat in hand and hope I can get a new head count open again. My current staff is scrambling to cover the gap and not real thrilled to have to ramp up yet another new person. Again you may never see me again but you may well run into those folks you left hanging while you were busy padding your resume.
Its a great way to make your way up the ladder and I would be the first to agree it may be required when you are stuck in a go nowhere job, or you make a jump and its not a good fit. I see 2-3 jobs over the last 5 years no big deal and then say 3-4-5 years at one place and I have no issues.... I see 8-10 jobs or more over the last decade and my first thought is why gamble. Rock star or not I have already closed your resume and moved on.
Slashdot Mirror
From the hire side of the ball to many jobs over a long period of time is a red flag. Put simply if you were first out the door for the last round of lay off's you might not be a highest performer in the pool. If you were cut and then jumped from job to job never sticking I have to wonder...... not impressive enough to keep? headache to manage? low performance or just term of a contract? I have 20-30 qualified folks per position with an aggressive scrub I normally get a short list of 4-6 folks that all might be a good match. From there its really a question of going from the general to the specifics in terms of matching a person to the job I have open..... Why would I gamble on someone who by history is going to jump in a year or less? For those who don't know a hire that does not work out is a point against the hiring manager. If you are a job hopper because you have to be to stay employed or even if you are a high performer but are job hoping because you can..... you are likely not leaving a trail of overly happy managers behind. I.T. is a small world and while it may take some time you may find by your mid 30's or early 40's the offers are just not coming in any longer. Not suggesting you stay in a bad situation or dead end but swap jobs every 12-18 months for a decade and people will start to wonder. In the current climate its not easy to get a head count open....when I am able to get a head count open I know I am going to spend anywhere from 30-90 days in pure ramp up. Learning new process, policy, software and or just how to integrate with the rest of the team takes time. I will have to buy new equipment and or shift around what equipment I have so current staff are not always happy to see a new face. Why does he/she get a new rig? How come the new person gets all the training? Does not matter if its true (we spend on all our folks) what matters is I have to make some investment into a new head count that is usually a bit higher as they ramp into a new role. 6-9 months out you find they just wanted "Health care" experience or "Financial services" experience so they could make their next jump. Great now I have to go back hat in hand and hope I can get a new head count open again. My current staff is scrambling to cover the gap and not real thrilled to have to ramp up yet another new person. Again you may never see me again but you may well run into those folks you left hanging while you were busy padding your resume. Its a great way to make your way up the ladder and I would be the first to agree it may be required when you are stuck in a go nowhere job, or you make a jump and its not a good fit. I see 2-3 jobs over the last 5 years no big deal and then say 3-4-5 years at one place and I have no issues.... I see 8-10 jobs or more over the last decade and my first thought is why gamble. Rock star or not I have already closed your resume and moved on.