Embarrassed about job hopping

[Loustelli10]

I’m 37 and work in admin. In the past 15 -17 years I’ve had 10 jobs, all within the admin field but I feel quite embarrassed to say I’ve moved around a lot, generally never staying more than 1-2 years with a couple of exceptions. I’ve had 1 job where I lasted about 5 months and my current role I’ve only been in a month and I hate it, it’s affecting my mental health and am looking for something else. I’ve also had a couple of fixed term contract roles.

I generally have had legitimate reasons for leaving a job (I’ve moved area a few times or wanted career progression/more money) which isn’t easy in the admin field. I feel like I’ll be really judged and looked at as someone who has no loyalty to companies.

I should add that I’ve never had any trouble in getting new jobs, not because I’m amazing but I think because there are a lot of admin jobs around.

In your opinion how would you feel about hiring someone who’s moved jobs a lot, albeit in the same sector. Is this a “thing” for a lot of people, am I overthinking this? I think I’m also worried about what my husband thinks of me, I’d hate for him to be disappointed or embarrassed of me. He’s been at the same place for about 13 years!!

what’s everyone’s thoughts?

Personally having undertaken recruitment for a number of years I would be wary of someone who job hops so frequently often into similar roles and would be asking a number of questions to really get under the reasons why. One or two moves in short order is understandable but this many at face value suggests difficulty with team dynamics / settling into a role / over selling of CV and skill set and would be a potential red flag that I could be sat in the same position in 10 months or so recruiting for the same role. I know people are more mobile now but usually individuals will be in a permanent role for circa 2 years before looking to move. Be prepared to be questioned and be able to give plausible answers and explanations in specific circumstances not a general “ for more money / promotion” response to every move.

OP ultimately it just sounds like admin is not the right fit for you.

Is there any way you could change careers? retrain?

You might be better off just focusing on taking on temp contracts if you find it hard to settle in one role.

When I was looking at CVs for my assistant I weeded through and immediately removed the job hoppers. Sorry to say, a lot had only lasted 2-4 months in jobs before they moved on and I thought it looked like they’d possibly not passed their probation period or knew they would fail and jumped before they were let go.

Ad it happens we employed someone who potentially is a hopper, but his jobs lasted 6m + before he moved on. Now he’s employed I can see it’s probably his sense of entitlement (he thinks he deserves an extra 10k a year and only has a years experience and is already on£30k). Maybe mention it in your covering letter? I’m not sure how you’d frame it as that is a high number of jobs you’ve had. Maybe a recruiter could assist?

Have you considered contacting an agency that supplies temporary roles?

I've had 5 jobs in about 8 years - a mix of bad luck/decisions and a couple of redundancies. It is what it is. I've never found it a problem getting jobs. Job hopping is a lot more common/acceptable than it used to be.

I'm wondering the reasons why also? If it was for more money then I guess that figures, from your perspective but it seems a strategy that could put you lower on the pile of CVs. If it looks like you feel compelled to leave as soon as you're fully proficient and settled in to a role, which is imagine might take a few months, then they'll be worried about re-hiring once you get itchy feet.

What's done is done but ime past performance is the best indicator of future performance. It costs money and time to recruit, induct and train. I'd be sifting your application towards the bottom.

You really need to stick to the next job fkr a minimum of three years. Your work record is unstable and that raises red flags about why you don't stay in jobs: interpersonal issues, capability, attitude, attendance and punctuality.

Why have you changed jobs so often? How many probation have you not passed?

You must be pretty good - a friend of mine has struggled to find admin jobs.
Do you find admin not challenging enough? Are you techy enough to move into a more techy job?

I’d be really wary about a job hopper. Recruiting is so time consuming, I wouldn’t want to have to start the process again after a few months.

i have a patchy CV because of redundancy and was advised by a recruiter to give a reason for changing jobs. I also dropped a role I had for 3 months because it didn’t really add anything positive to my CV.
if I saw redundancy, contract role, relocation etc I’d be more likely to overlook a busy CV.

My CV has been a bit short jobby for the last 5 yrs but not as short as 5 months then 1 month etc. My shortest was 4 months and I leave it off my CV now (I can get away with this as it was with the same employer as my previous role). My last two roles I have purposely sat there for longer (18 months this time, 2 yrs for the last)

I am wary of someone with lots of very short jobs personally as it usually indicates a problem with the individual. If you can explain them away it’s not so bad though.

Job hopping is not the answer if you want to change career etc, take a step back and really think about it before looking for something else. Recruitment is expensive and none of us want to spend our time on induction training etc only for the new hire to leave in the first 5 mins.

Loyalty to companies isn't a thing anymore really and job hopping is now really the only way to get a decent payrise. A lot of companies don't really care about the cost of living and how it affects their employees and they forget that loyalty works both ways.

For example;
My husband- Started his job in 2020. 5 years later his pay has increased by...5.5k.

Me; Since 2020 i've moved jobs four times and have just given my notice to start my new role in a month. My new job is a salary increase of 30k from where I started 5 years ago. Can't think of many other ways you'll get a 30k increase in 5 years.

My current role i've been there two years but before that it was a year or so with one role I left within 3 months because the role wasn't for me.

I will say though it's not done me any damage, my role that i'm moving to now. I interviewed at 11am, they told me they had another interview at 4pm and I'd hear in a couple of days. It was 8:30 the next morning they offered me the position. As long as you can explain it it's not an issue imo.