Is there a safe period to stay on a position before moving to another without being looked at unfavourably?

Question

I'm starting my career in accounting (with a strong IT side) and I would like to know about what is considered too short before changing jobs - what is considered fair and what is considered too long (nothing more to learn, no challenge, etc). Of course, the latter is a bit more subjective but what about the other two?

I have been at my current work for 6 months now and I have learned a ton and still have a ton to learn but I am not sure if all of it will be helpful to my career (like specific systems or processes). I do want to stay with the same company, however, as I am proud to be working for it.

Would spending just a year on a job be considered too short and hence a red flag by future observers(like a future employer)

Answer 1

Rather than pick a specific time frame, I'd focus more on being able to answer the following questions:

• Why do you want to leave your current position?
• What are you wanting in a new position that you don't have in your current situation?
• What steps did you try to remedy from the previous question?
• What specifically are you wanting in a new position?

While these may seem like simple questions, there is something to be said for having clear confident answers here rather than, "Uh, I want more money!" that may come off as rather shallow.

I've had positions from as short as 3 months to as long as 6 years, to some extent there is something to be said for what causes an exit from an opportunity as well as what are you wanting in a new position as if you just "want something better" that isn't narrowing things down that much since there are more than a few things that could be taken as better: 1) The company's social responsibility score, 2) How the company views the IT department that you'd be working, 3) The pay for developers, 4) Vacation and time off benefits, 5) Challenge in the work being done, 6) Flexibility in the time worked, and 7) Formalization of development methodology.

Answer 2

In my experience, truly good jobs are hard to come by. Ask yourself these questions:

• Do you hate the job? Is this a job where you dread going to work, or one where you generally don't have troubles getting out of bed to go to?
• Will this job make you obsolete? If you stay at this job, doing what you are doing, will you be able to translate the experience you are getting to new jobs.
• Is there a high chance of surprise unemployment that would cause you financial difficulty? Is this a stable company, or is it struggling? If it is struggling, do you have lots of savings, or are you likely to be forced to take anything that comes along if you are unemployed?

If the answer to all of these questions is "no", then you should seriously question giving up the job voluntarily.

In terms of how it will look on a resume, leaving a single job after a short tenure is rarely an issue. It is when you show a pattern of doing so that you'll start to have troubles. So definitely, if your job is damaging to your psyche, or your career, by all means leave, but be careful not to quit a good job only to find yourself sucked into a series of bad ones.

Finally, keep in mind that interviewers will ask why you want to leave a company, or why you left a prior job. Your answer will generally be judged by what it means for your likelihood for sticking around.

Answer 3

The reason for looking for opportunities should not be how long did you stay, but are you advancing in the direction you want. You can advance within the same company, but usually you have to stay at least 2-3 years. Changing jobs often is bad for your resume, since the employers won't hire you if they know you are going to leave after a year. Staying in the wrong job is not helpful either. There's nothing wrong with staying in a company for less then a year once in a while, but if you switch 3 times job for less then 3 years, it becomes a trend.

Stay with your current job as lons as you happy, look for opportunities each year just to know where are you and how's the market, but there's nothing wrong to be with your first company for 2-3 years. I was for 3 years with my first and for 3 more with my second employer, and in this way every potential employer bets it's good decision to hire me since I'd stay long enough he won't lose with this hire.

Answer 4

Most interviewers don't care about one or two short jobs. What they care about is a pattern of being unable to stay long anywhere (unless is it contract work).