Is there a way to enjoy the benefits of job hopping without the resume stigma?

Question

I'm a new dev who has been in my first job out of university for 9 months. Because of family history of unemployment, I always interview at least twice a month to keep my skill at academic CS trivia nobody uses sharp. It also gives me reasons to not go to stupid team lunches.

At the 6 month point, the offers started getting better. I have now earned three offers which have +15K annually on what I currently make.

I turned them down because I am afraid of the resume problem of job hopping. I didn't want to jump after six months and then look to jump again at the 1.8 months of total experience mark (which is when I am told the offers get even better).

Is there a way around this? Can one enjoy the enormous benefits of job hopping in a way without getting the job hopping taint on one's resume?

Answer 1

Believe it or not job hopping is not all bad.

Pros:

• Diversify your background: If you're steadily changing roles you're learning more. You may not be at one place for a long time but you can definitely succeed in multiple organizations. It's vital to keep track of your professional accomplishments if you choose the route of job hopping.
• Exposure: You'll be exposed to different companies, and different projects/work. This gives you a chance to find what you really love about what you do, or even show you that you may want to try something else.
• Networking: if you're a good employee and you can show your worth to each company you work for then job hopping can be a good thing. How good would it look going into an interview in 15 years with letters of recommendations from all of your managers?
• Opportunity: In some organizations promotions can take time. Rather than waiting around, job hopping can get you that title you want quicker. This goes for the pay as well.

Cons:

• Loyalty: it shows a lack of commitment, this can be combated if you're willing to switch it up and stick to a role longer in the future. (i.e. once you get senior dev think "I'm going to stay here for 5 years")
• Job security: in the event of layoffs you may be the first to go, this ties back to the loyalty bullet.
• Limited growth: In job hopping you may move up from one role to another by changing companies, but you are less likely to be promoted within the organization.

IMHO job hopping can be good, but every now and then stick with a role for a little bit and see if you can advance within. Try to make contacts everywhere you go. Prove your worth to each company. Good luck!