Changed job every year

[Whitechocolatemarshmallow]

Since graduating from University 7 years ago, I haven't stayed in a job for more than 1.5 years. I have never been dismissed from any, and the shortest time i've stayed in one is 6 months.

My uni friends have either had the same job since their 2012/2013 graduation or have changed only once, meaning that they have been in the same role for years.

They have had promotions as a result and have moved into managerial positions. I couldn't imagine doing this.

I have lived in a couple of different countries and this has been a reason, but I have also ended up leaving roles due to workplace bullying or a change in hours meaning that I couldn't afford to live on the wage.

I think I have been unlucky, but some of it is my own doing.

I am wanting to leave my current job after one year. However, i'm worried that it's going to look bad now. I do want to have a job I can stay in for at least a few years.

I've already had a friend making digs about me changing again. However I had an old friend who literally had 4 different careers in one year and it didn't stop him getting employment offers.

Do you think I need to stick my job out for longer ? I don't want to be doing this for the rest of my working life.

And just to add, yes the "grass is greener" syndrome isn't a good look but life is too short to spend your life being guided entirely by what other people might think of your decisions.

If you're moving to a better job and have a clearly explainable rationale for doing so, crack on.

It depends. Changing every 1.5 or 2 years can look good, promotion, progression. It can also look flighty.

Staying in a job for 7,10,25 years can look experienced and dependable. Or archaic and uncompromising.

@CremeEggThief

It doesn't look great on a CV.

But what do you do then? Lots of people including me, have never managed to get a permanent job, and probably never will. I'm 42 and a qualified primary school teacher currently working a minimum wage admin job as an agency worker.

I have never seen good advice about what to do for your CV if you're in this situation.

If you've consistently worked temp contracts through the same agency, you can list it as one time period with the agency, and within that list individual contracts/rotations/assignments.

The reason job hopping looks bad on a CV is it makes the new employer think you'll be off in a year too. If it's clear you've stuck with one agency or type of work and all your assignments were set up to be temporary, that worry disappears.

In most fields, jobhopping every single year is too often. There are exceptions where talent is in very high demand (a previous poster mentioned tech), but not many. Moving every two years can indicate an ambitious, proactive individual, but every year says "flaky or not good at playing with others".

I think you need to stick it out for two years where you are, unless your health is at genuine risk.

Respectabitch

It may be sector specific - you mentioned tech -- but I'm not sure I agree with this as a general rule. I think attitudes have massively shifted in the past couple of decades.

Also I'm assuming the OP is still in her 20s. In the field I work in for a person in their 20s to have lasted more than two years in a job would look quite odd. In fact it would be put down to coasting and lack of ambition. It's a different ballgame when you're older but at that age you need to be trying different things out.

In my industry proven sticking power is vital for senior roles. I was headhunted for a role recently that would only see candidates who had worked for the same person for 10 years plus. I've been in my role for 15 years which sounds a lot but it's quite typical in my line of work to stay loyal to the one person you work for, it can take a couple of years to fully settle in and going through all of that again is a ballache! I'm an Exec Assistant. Not all industries are the same though of course.

I would flag this up when I am interviewing- no matter how qualified you are .....unless your Christianity Ronaldo or Lewis Hamilton then I would absolutely hire you, even for a year.

I'm a teacher and whilst I've been in constant employment since I qualified, I haven't been at the same school for more than a year as all my contracts have been fixed term (usually maternity cover). Where I live there are very few vacancies that come up that are permanent, particularly part-time. I can't work full time due to child-care and health issues. I have, however, been back to the same school several times.

I would love to get a permanent position in a school, where I can actually put down some proper roots - get all my teaching stuff in a cupboard and leave it there. Have the same year group for more than 12 months so I can really develop some curriculum ideas. Build up a bit more camaraderie and shared experiences with the school staff and actually get to see my classes for longer than a year!

Have your contracts all been fixed-term/maternity cover too, or are you leaving permanent positions regularly? If it's the latter then that might not be looked on kindly by recruiters. If you can explain that it's all fixed term contracts, then that's better IMO.

SurreyHillsGirl that's really interesting... but then for exec assistants loyalty and longevity of relationships is a really key characteristic I guess because its relationship based and its about supporting an individual. Less so if you're doing something where you're relied upon to be more of a self-starter and less about supporting someone else.

That's a bit of an eye-opener for me!

Nobody, I had a similar work history to you but on supply, which dried up so much I couldn't make a living from it, so that's why I decided to do admin instead.

Thank you for your advice too, Respectabitch .

Can you move roles within the company you work for?

I have been employed by the same company for 5 years, but have moved roles and locations quite frequently, probably works out as a move every year. Planning to change role in the next few months and put it down to developing new skills, gaining new experience...

@CremeEggThief

Thanks for your help, Tararara and Talia. I was REALLY hoping I could have got a good solid 6-12 months in the job the agency placed me in in February, but unfortunately lockdown interfered and ruined that plan. However, I have started another job since at the end of September, so hopefully I'll get at least 6 months experience this time.

Agree with talia - you've had one employer - the agency. That's great! It means they trust you to place you in temp roles regularly, they know you won't stroll in late, leave early, piss around etc.

To the OP - have you been teaching English abroad on short term contracts? Sometimes the sector is like that, and although you'd like a long term job, they don't really exist. So you have to work out what's more important - a long term role (then change sector) or the sector (get used to job hopping).

Is it teaching? Maybe teaching isn’t for you if you keep changing schools but are still not happy. Maybe try something different. It doesn’t look good always changing jobs.

If it's a series of short term contracts for a single agency then that is not the same as repeatedly leaving permanent jobs. Make it explicit on your CV that this is the case.

Surely your friend had 4 jobs in one year, not 4 careers?

Where I work, that level of change wouldn’t be unusual (though not the norm) in the sales team. Other departments it would.

If I saw lots of changes showing progression - promotion or wider experience - I’d be interested in you, but need to be convinced there was a good chance you’d go for promotion within my company. Or add enough value to my team in a year.

If you’d just bounced around doing the same role, I’d be wary that either you didn’t get on with people - or that you were managed out unofficially when it was discovered that you weren’t up to the job.

Why do you want to leave the current job?

I've had 3 different jobs since leaving university and I'm 60!

I’m a recruiter and we’d refer to you as ‘job-hoppy’ and be a bit wary of placing you as a result. It’s better if you’re moving to step up a level, but ideally we prefer to see people promoted within their existing employer. Definitely don’t leave your job before you have a new one lined up.

Thank you, Titchy.

I know this isn't my thread, but can I just say I appreciate the honesty about how it's viewed too. I think it really went against me when I was teaching, but any time I tried to ask someone if they thought my work history went against me, they just said something like "Oh no, it's fine, keep plugging away at it", or other well-meaning platitudes.

Sorry but I'd see that there is something wrong with your work ethic and would hesitate offering you a role in my team. I'd think you might have a difficult personality or are difficult to manage with so much job changing

Why do you want to change your job now? What are your reasons for wanting to leave and are they similar reasons to leaving jobs before?

I think you'd benefit from some counselling and life/career coaching to investigate why you get itchy feet so quickly.

I know someone who moves jobs every 18 months or so and seems to do ok- but she'll stay longer in a job if she's promoted and so has a new role to reset the clock. I personally like to stay a bit longer. I've done 2.5 years in current role and they've suggested I look for promotion, which I might start to do soon. DP reckons he needs 3 years on the clock- ads in his field always want 3 years experience.

I've been offered a job for almost £10k more via a recruitment agency. Not sure what to do ? Seems like too good an opportunity to miss.

Well, why don't you take this new offer and do it for a few years, if you're worried?

Yeah, I would have to at this point. It's agency work so I wouldn't need to commit to one place either. I can't spend the rest of my career in one-year contracts.

I have been talking to recruiters a lot recently and they all say how good it is to have been in a job 5 years and say they often get people who regularly only stick a job out for a year or two on repeat and how it makes them less favourable

You are missing out on potential bonus opportunities and development opportunities

I equally wouldn’t employ someone to our team if they had only held jobs for less than 2 years