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I am a full stack developer having around 6 years of experience with web technologies mostly in LAMP and MEAN stack. I recently switched to a product based company. During the interview process and till around 1 week after I joined, the project details shared to me was upgrading the company's site which was developed in 90's with closed system to MEAN stack based open source project with newer design and features. The development pipeline mentioned was to be about 6-8 months to go live with version 1.

But after about 1 week of joining, the product division I joined was spun off to a separate company by itself. The newer management is going with updating their website with new system but because of TSA, they have to move to new system with in 3 months. So the new website is being built by a third party service provider who are using closed source software for development.

I have zero experience with the new as well any of the old system. But my manager somehow expects me to contribute to the project and within strict timelines. I'm not adverse to learning new system, but upon knowing that the new language being used, will see its end of life support at somewhere 2022, I'm not keen on wasting my time to learn something which will be useless after 2 years.Considering their old system is more than two decades old, currently I'm writing APIs somehow to move data from a 20 year old system to a system which will be useless in 2 years.

I'm highly frustrated about this situation and want to leave the company. But am afraid that any other company I'll be applying to will not consider me as I'll be seen as a quicker jumper. Also, because of initial project details shared, I let go of another opportunity with another company which was offering me better compensation as well. My manager is saying they will eventually update to MEAN stack but sometime later which I highly doubt. I don't want to stay with the company but job search is very tiring considering that my last switch took about 4-5 months. Kindly suggest on this also how should I answer questions like why I'm switching again so quickly.

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    What is TSA? I doubt that airport security is causing the switch. – Matthew Gaiser Dec 13 '19 at 6:22
  • And how long have you been at your current job? – Matthew Gaiser Dec 13 '19 at 6:23
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    sorry TSA is agreement the new company has with its old parent company. Dont know the proper name for that. Thats what everyone says it here. I've been in my current job for about 3 months. – Sp0T Dec 13 '19 at 6:32
  • Businesses often need (for good or bad reasons - like what looks to be a counter to ultimate goals contract term) to use aging technologies. While junior staff fear building experience in what is "obsolete" senior staff understand that the actual skill is picking things up quickly - not the subject matter. That doesn't mean you have to like the direction of this project or stick with it once you have another option, but try to outgrow "popularity" thinking. – Chris Stratton Dec 13 '19 at 14:57
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With six years of work experience already, that recent company can easily be explained away (or even left off your resume entirely if the period was very short).

Your company was restructured and your department went through a spin-off and a complete change in mission and technology. Part of this can easily be verified if they just call your employer.

So I really wouldn't worry about it if I were you. Look for a new employer.

Better you start from scratch again with a new employer with your chosen technology, than you start again from scratch with a proprietary technology that you've never touched that is nearing its end of life in 2-3 years.

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  • if i remove the company from my resume how do i explain the gap? gaps in employment are also frowned upon.. – Sp0T Dec 17 '19 at 14:24
  • its mentioned above in comments, but anyway i'm currently in 3rd month. – Sp0T Dec 18 '19 at 6:45
  • 3 months is right at the cusp I think. You could try having one resume with it and one resume without. But personally, I'd keep it and I'd just explain what happened since some of what happened is public information and easily verifiable. – Stephan Branczyk Dec 18 '19 at 8:21
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Sorry to hear that - it's never nice to be "duped" into a role that you weren't expecting, and don't want.

My manager is saying they will eventually update to MEAN stack but sometime later which I highly doubt.

"Eventually" means "maybe, if we have to, in a decade or so, if we're all still around then". For all intents and purposes, it probably means "never", so you're right to be sceptical here.

But am afraid that any other company I'll be applying to will not consider me as I'll be seen as a quicker jumper

So long as this isn't a long standing trend on your CV, that's likely not an issue. It's a pattern of leaving jobs every few months that smells bad, not a one-off. Heck, if you've just been there a week you may not even put it on your CV.

Also, because of initial project details shared, I let go of another opportunity with another company which was offering me better compensation as well.

That's life, unfortunately. You bet on the wrong horse - it happens. However, you could still potentially contact them again, let them know you were misled as to the role in your current company, and ask if they'd be willing to reconsider. Bit of a long shot, but worth it for the sake of a letter if you're looking for an easy way out.

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