Job Hopper 13 November 2022 at 12:18PM in Employment, jobseeking & training 13 replies 521 views

enzolondon1

So my niece successfully passed her probation period and has no decided to move on and look for another job. She generally has been in jobs for a long period of time but due to pandemic she has had this one for 6 months then another short stint of 1 month where she left as she decided wfh wasn't for her and she left on good terms.Will this be an issue to her getting alternative employment I.e. two short stints in a short space of time or should she stay in a job she is unhappy with? 

I am sure she will be fine but I only have experience of working in one organisation as such. Any opinions? both short stints can be clearly explained and I feel it shows a clear awareness of what she wants and doesn't want from a role and sometimes we have to try different things to find out. I feel 2 short stints amongst long term ones would be OK. Opinions please if you may!! Cheers

Ath_Wat

Depends on the kind of jobs she is applying for and the number of applicants.  If they get 100s of CVs from qualified people, they might pick that as something to screen her out on - and of course, they might not. If there won't be many qualified applicants as it's a more specialised job that probably won't happen. If she's going to get as far as an interview where she is asked to explain it, it's probably going to be fine.

enzolondon1

Yes. She is a support worker by trade and has lots of experience. I have reassured her I have a colleague who has stints of 7, 5, 6 and 2 years and during the pandemic he changed roles twice in the space of 12 months and it wasn't an issue for him. This was an NHS intermediate management position. It may be the nhs is a different kettle of fish though?! 

Marcon

enzolondon1 said:

So my niece successfully passed her probation period and has no decided to move on and look for another job. She generally has been in jobs for a long period of time but due to pandemic she has had this one for 6 months then another short stint of 1 month where she left as she decided wfh wasn't for her and she left on good terms.Will this be an issue to her getting alternative employment I.e. two short stints in a short space of time or should she stay in a job she is unhappy with? 

Surely the answer is to get another job before she leaves this one? Leaving without a job to go to, if that's her intention, is pretty short-sighted. She may not be happy in the current job, but it is always easier to get a job when you are in a job (not least because there's less of a sense of desperation on the part of the job hunter and she'll be in a better position to negotiate terms, should any negotiation be available) - and knowing you're planning your escape can make life more tolerable while she's job hunting.

enzolondon1

Of course. That was her intention  to find something else first before leaving her current role as she has no gaps in her employment history.

Marcon

enzolondon1 said:

Of course. That was her intention  to find something else first before leaving her current role as she has no gaps in her employment history.

Excellent - and that way she'll find out whether 'job hopping' ('portfolio career' sounds so much better!) is damaging her chances of getting another job. I'm sure you will have advised her to be careful about how she phrases her reasons for wanting to leave the previous and current job.

elsien

So what’s the reason she is moving on from her current role?
 I have employed people moving in to support work who have job hopped previously, because they convinced me that they weren’t clear before on what they wanted to do but now felt that this was the line of work for them.
Moving from one support role to another so quickly might raise a few flags depending on what her reasoning is and how she explains it. Having said that there is a bit of a shortage at the moment so that may stand in her favour.

enzolondon1

Surely though being in roles for such a long time and having only two current potential short stints won't hurt? especially as she has also been using the time to further her skills by upskilling. Sorry this is all a bit new to me and yes I will support her in how she phrases her rationale for the short stints.

MalMonroe

Some organisations appreciate that people don't always want to stay in the same job for year upon year and actually encourage employees to apply for different positions, especially if they feel that their employees are becoming over-qualified, or bored with their jobs. I worked for such organisations but they were big - NHS and Higher Education. People were always moving around, being promoted, applying for different jobs if they weren't happy. When I worked in a private company I found the bosses to have very different attitudes. They just wanted their staff to come and stay until retirement, it wasn't for me. I wanted challenges and found them. There really is no disgrace in moving around. 

Thankfully, some employers feel it's good for their employees to have had a wide range of experiences and encourage moving on  - they are the good employers. 

Any other employer I wouldn't really want to work for since they are close-minded. Even if people do have gaps in their employment it's not detrimental. People may have long-term illnesses, or have children and stay at home for a while, or decide to take time out to travel, anything can and does happen and I don't believe anyone should feel ashamed of that. As long as it's explained properly then employers should not have a problem (and if they do, then they're being discriminatory as well as insensitive and I for one wouldn't want to work for them).

Your niece should apply for any job that she feels will be a good fit for her - sometimes jobs aren't a good fit and then people have to move on. Most of us spend a lot of time at work and if we can be reasonably settled and happy there then that's a bonus. 

There's really no harm in your niece reaching out for any job she thinks she'd like. After all, nobody really knows what it's like until they start doing a job. I think the world's her oyster! Definitely.

enzolondon1

MalMonroe said:

Some organisations appreciate that people don't always want to stay in the same job for year upon year and actually encourage employees to apply for different positions, especially if they feel that their employees are becoming over-qualified, or bored with their jobs. I worked for such organisations but they were big - NHS and Higher Education. People were always moving around, being promoted, applying for different jobs if they weren't happy. When I worked in a private company I found the bosses to have very different attitudes. They just wanted their staff to come and stay until retirement, it wasn't for me. I wanted challenges and found them. There really is no disgrace in moving around. 

Thankfully, some employers feel it's good for their employees to have had a wide range of experiences and encourage moving on  - they are the good employers. 

Any other employer I wouldn't really want to work for since they are close-minded. Even if people do have gaps in their employment it's not detrimental. People may have long-term illnesses, or have children and stay at home for a while, or decide to take time out to travel, anything can and does happen and I don't believe anyone should feel ashamed of that. As long as it's explained properly then employers should not have a problem (and if they do, then they're being discriminatory as well as insensitive and I for one wouldn't want to work for them).

Your niece should apply for any job that she feels will be a good fit for her - sometimes jobs aren't a good fit and then people have to move on. Most of us spend a lot of time at work and if we can be reasonably settled and happy there then that's a bonus. 

There's really no harm in your niece reaching out for any job she thinks she'd like. After all, nobody really knows what it's like until they start doing a job. I think the world's her oyster! Definitely.

Do you know what this is absolutely my take on it and you have so clearly explained it, cheers for that! I have interviewed lots of people in my time who have had gaps in their employment history due to caring responsibilities or health concerns and it has never been an issue. I agree that any employer is so closed to these kind of life experiences really is not an employer worth pursuing. Thank you for your response I can only echo and reinforce to my niece what you have said. God bless 🙌 

JonVarnas

She'll be fine. You'll always have those recruiters who'll reject you for not staying with the same company for umpteen billion years, but then you'll always those who'll look beyond that. You just have to plug away at the applications.