Job Jumping

In the distant past (aka the bad old days), a person landed a job and stuck with it until retirement. A resume showing multiple jobs made an applicant unsuitable because a ‘job jumper’ was regarded as unstable, unreliable and lacking loyalty.

Even today, in some circles, suspicion arises when a candidate has multiple jobs on their resume. The question becomes what is ‘wrong’ with them.

People desire challenges, a sense of belonging, and to make valuable contributions in their job and with their colleagues. People also manage real life events such as changing caregiving responsibilities, moving, school schedules, and lay-offs. A job that may have been a good fit 3 years ago may no longer be satisfactory for infinite reasons, including the events that fall into the ‘life happens’ category.

When recruiting, dig deeper and stay curious about the trajectory of jobs on a resume. Some questions to ask are:

1) have the applicant’s job responsibilities progressively increased?

2) has the applicant moved to other cities or regions; have they worked in more than one field?

3) have the various jobs broadened the applicant’s knowledge base?

4) has the applicant developed new skills and expertise?

Be cautious about putting too much emphasis on ‘job jumping’ as a negative. The very act of starting over and learning new systems demonstrates resiliency. When considering resumes that show a lot jobs avoid negative assumptions. Stay curious. Review closely. Wonder about the context of the job changes.

You could be facilitating a new beginning for someone who brings a broad professional network, knowledge in a variety of sectors, adaptability, or a wide range of skills to your workplace.