Does having a lot of jobs on your resume (job-hopping) look good?

Question

I always thought job hopping was a negative, but my husband has a friend who never stays at a job for more than like 3 months. She gets a job and after about 2 months starts looking for a different one. The thing is, new places keep hiring her, so apparently the job hopping is not affecting her negatively. I have jobs I've stayed at for a year and when I have interviews they ask me why I was there such a short time. My husband's friend works places for 3 months at a time and has no trouble moving to something new. Then my husband was like, "her resume must look incredible". But I always thought job hopping was considered a negative thing.

Answer 1

I'm going to post in with a different opinion. I might get shot down for it, but here it goes.

Not sure what qualifies as job hopping, but I've had 5 positions in the past 10 years. This includes a company that I left and then came back to. In that time, my salary has almost tripled. Each jump that I made was for 5-10k more money and a better opportunity at the time. In two instances, I received "performer of the year" bonuses and awards just before I left the companies.

In the first three jobs that I left, co-workers told me I was foolish to be walking away. But they were calling me for job leads later when contracts were cut, or job duties were outsourced.

Companies cannot have loyalty to their employees. Global competition has forced every company to lean up. There are thousands of people in the world who have the skill to do any job, and many of them are willing to do it for less than you are making. All it takes is a consultant who shoves a push pin into a pie chart and people are dismissed in a cost savings move. You've got to be on the lookout all the time. When you see the warning signs, be ready to jump and be ready to jump quickly. The warning signs that I have seen which served me well in the past are:

* When your company is spending too time on trying to document past successes and not trying to create new opportunities.
* When your supervisor creates a 12 month work plan for you, and it gets sparse about 4-6 months out.
* When you see the real high achievers in an area begin to look and jump.
* Note that I don't list long hours or tough work as a sign to jump. As long as a company is achieving results and those results are being shared with you, ride that wave. It doesn’t last forever (and don't think that it will), but get involved in high impact projects and document the results. When things do a downturn, you'll have some great resume lines. Nothing makes a hiring managers eyes light up like having "Increased revenue on project X 300% over 6 months" or "Instituted cost savings that cut item Y by 63%".

One thing to remember is that managers and HR often look for different traits in employees, from my experience. HR wants a long term, stable employee who isn't going to be a problem. Good managers want "fire breathing dragons" - people who will do whatever it takes to get the job done and who will contribute on day one. They want people who aren't afraid to go out on a limb, even if they know that this type of employee will probably jump in a couple years. Keep in mind that most of them are looking for their next career move. They plan on being promoted in the next year themselves.

I hope this helps to give another perspective on the issue. I never wanted to be considered as a job hopper, even though I probably am. I'm not alone in these feelings - check the links below.

Answer 2

first off
who knows what kind of jobs she is hopping from

they must not be that great if she keeps leaving them....no one is going to "HOP" from jobs that pay 65k to one that pays 66k
so consider the source and the kinds of jobs that she is hopping to
then constrast that to the types of jobs that you are trying to go to ....
it might be the case that she is making lateral moves and you are moving up
Everyone is different
but I suggest that you do your best to put some space between your husband and this 'friend'
she sounds like trouble...she uses jobs like toliet paper so it wouldnt be a stretch that she would use people like that too....

for some reason, your husband seems to think she is much more than she is...her resume looks like 'shyt' and we both know it....could it be that he sees something else that he thinks is incredible

At the very least your husband is not very sensitive by telling you about this chick knowing how you are looking to move up the ladder and the challenges YOU have faced during interviews
If she was such a friend, why wont she share some of the secerets that have eluded the rest of the world since time began...this stinks

Answer 3

I used to work in recruitment and job hopping is definitely a negative thing to see on a resume.

Unless she is constantly working on a temporary contract and has it written on her resume that they were temporary contracts, this will look bad.

NO employer wants to go to the trouble of recruiting someone for a position, only to have them leave 3 months later and have to go through the whole process again.

As a former recruitment consultant, we were told that staying in a permanent, full-time job for 12 months or less was suspicious and we had to question them as to why they had left the job so soon.

Answer 4

I consider it a negative thing. It may not seem like it affects her now but down the road when she is older and needing something long-term and secure employers will turn the other way from her.

She needs to learn to be more secure and willing to settling with a particular company instead of jumping ship within three months. To me that looks immature, unprofessional, and ill-educated.

Answer 5

It is a negative thing. I'm sure her jobs are all retail and entry-level, too? She must be hiding a lot on her resume/applications because I wouldn't hire her.