How long to stay
How long does a person need to stay in one position in order to not be considered a job hopper? Right now, my resume looks as follows--1 year at company A, a little over a year at company B, and 2 years at company C. Then, a few months of unemployment, which I was completely fine with--hey, and extended vacation (I was not fired or forced out, I just left). Now, I just accepted another offer. However, knowing myself, I'm going to get bored and want to start looking again in about a year. This is not because the job is boring. No, it's interesting. For now. But I can't do the same thing for too long. Never could. So, considering my previous work history, how long should I stay in this job so my resume doesn't take too much of a hit? I'm just trying to figure out what I'm in for and plan accordingly. I'm thinking 2-3 years. Am I correct?
As a general rule, I tell people to chose and area the like. For example sales. Ask about what is the career ladder for sales is like and how long it will take for you to reach the next step. Here is a typical promotion pattern for someone who wants a sales career.
If you desire to go into manufacturing, from #3 above, you go:
Once you have your plan and you become very knowledgeable in your current capacity, apply for the next higher position. If your company stalls and will not give you a promotion, start looking elsewhere. Many companies look for progressive growth in your career. So if you were promoted or took on better positions and responsibilities with your next company; this will look good on your resume. BUT on the other hand, if you show a lot of lateral moves or a decline in position; that can be bad in terms of job hunting. That's the problem. I don't want to pick a field and stick to it until the day I die. Once I become good at something, it stops being interesting to me. Once I topped my department in sales in one of my former jobs, I never felt the need to make another sale again. Once I helped get a new start up on a path to steady growth and set up their vendor network, I quit that job because it no longer held my interest. It's not a matter of not being able to make up my mind as to what I want to do. It's just that what I want keeps changing as I stop wanting the things I've already achieved. And I'm fine with making lateral moves. I don't intend to ever be CEO of anything--that will just make me overqualified for the next career change I want to make. I just like to have fun with what I do and move on once I no longer enjoy it or once I find a new challenge that appeals to me more. So, I'm not concerned about the history of lateral moves. I've grown quite adept at explaining that the reason for this is my ability to do a lot of things extremely well rather than inability to do anything well. And it's easy to prove too. All potential employers have to do is call my former employers to know that I brought tremendous financial gain to each of these companies and all of my former employers are thrilled that they hired me. This being said, I'm wondering how long each period of employment has to be (on average) to be considered acceptable. Most employer probably don't want to hire someone who will definitely leave in a year, so I know that's too short. How about 2 or 3 then? Is that considered reasonable? Have you considered that it may be the approach you take on your job that leads to your disinterest and not the job itself. For example: you stated that you helped a start up get on their way to steady growth and then lost interest. Perhaps what you needed to do to regain that interest was to find ways to keep the company growing. You also stated that once you topped your department in sales, you didn't want to sell anymore. Maybe it wasn't selling that you lost interest in but the product you were selling or the way you were actually approaching your customers. Marketing is, as far as I am aware, an everchanging field and virtually all industries need people who can come up with innovative and creative ideas to market their product. Since you need change, since change inspires your juices, you need to focus your energy on using change in your career. Change your selling technique, market your changes to your client base. Have you considered the possibility that the standard 9-5 full time jobs are simply not for you? Not everyone can just go to the same office, look at the same people, and do the same thing day in and day out for years on end. Some people's mind is just too active for that and if they try to force themselves into this routine, they'll just be miserable. There is nothing wrong with this. This isn't some sort of an abnormality that needs to be fixed. This is just the way your mind works. It needs a puzzle to solve and it needs change, or it will get bored. So since staying in one permanent job for an extended period of time doesn't work for you, and since most employers don't want to hire people who most likely will not stay long for these types of positions, perhaps, FOR YOU, a full-time permanent job is not the answer. Have you given any thought to doing contract work? As a contractor, you'll get to do exactly what you love--come in, study the problem, collect the information, come up with a solution, implement the solution, collect your paycheck, and leave. I'm in the creative field where freelancing is very commonplace, but there are many other fields that lend themselves to contract work. As a freelancer, you don't get the stability of a steady pay check that you get working full-time, and you have to pay for your own health insurance, but not everyone is equally concerned with stability and many people consider flexible work schedule and freedom to be your own boss which such an arrangement provides, more than a fair tradeoff. Since you left your last job and willingly became unemployed, it doesn't sound like job security is high on your priorities list. You seem to require change and new challenges, and probably a little risk too, to be fully happy. You appear to have just the right personality for this type of an arrangement. I'd at least give it some thought if I were you. Especially since you don't have the type of personality that would allow you to make a long term commitment to any one position or emloyer, a fact you'll only be able to hide from prospective employers for so long before your resume starts speaking for itself. While our culture pushes the idea that you have to specialize, you should know that this isn't your only option. While there is nothing wrong with picking one field and concentrating on growing within this field, there are people for whom this will never work, can't work. I strongly suggest that you read "Refuse to choose!" by Barbara Sher. It's a book for people with multiple talents and often changing interests, like yourself, and it offers some practical suggestions on how to have it all instead of picking just one thing. In your case, it may help put some things in perspective and offer solutions you may not have thought of. Good luck :) You have great ambition! You sound like the type of person who buys a business, improves it then sells it at top price then buys another business not related to the previous business and the cycle begins again. I like that! I am aiming my sight at a National Director position then hopefully onto the Chief Financial Officer and then CEO. But that is still several years away. On the other hand, I also want to open my own business too.
This is another great option. Also discussed in "Refuse to Choose", btw. | |
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Career Tips
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