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Quick background, I am a software developer with around 5 years of professional experience.

I was updating my resume today and I realized the longest I've ever stayed at a single company was 1 year and 2 months and and the rest being between 11 months to 1 year and 1 month. I have never been fired or let go, I have always resigned on my own terms. Maybe I just get bored of my job too quickly.

How bad does my resume look to recruiters?

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2 Answers 2

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As long as you're employed and then going directly to a new job, it isn't immediately bad. After all, someone was willing to hire you.

However, most employers want someone who will stay at least a couple of years. It takes some time to get a person trained on their specific needs, and there isn't an immediate payoff when hiring someone new. It's also a lot of time and work to hire someone.

So it is going to get harder and harder to find that new job, since you look like someone who is going to leave at the first opportunity. If you are ever laid off, it may be very hard to find another job.

If you can stay 3-5 years for the next couple of jobs, that early flightiness will become less of a problem. (You might also consider being a contractor, where you're not expected to have a long duration at any specific jobs, but you should stay with the same contracting agency for those 3-5 years.)

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  • I just dv because of the advice re contractors staying at the same agency. much better to get better times than that!
    – bharal
    Commented Mar 14, 2018 at 2:30
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When I was involved in hiring for permanent staff, you would be classified as a job hopper and not even get an interview. It tends to take months to get a person up-to-speed, this is a waste if the person is just going to leave.

When looking for contractors, I'd assess you as someone who couldn't get renewed and you wouldn't get an interview. To me, a contract renewal is a vote of confidence from your employer.

In short, I think it's a bad look but others may not care.

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