Perception of being a "job hopper"?
Hey,
Recently I learned that some interviewers may be biased against candidates who appear as "job hoppers", i.e., have worked for several companies in a "short" period of time (whatever short means is likely subjective).
- Is this perception a real thing?
- If so, does it actually negatively harm you as a candidate?
![Senior Software Engineer [E5] at Meta company logo](/_next/image/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffirebasestorage.googleapis.com%2Fv0%2Fb%2Ftech-career-growth.appspot.com%2Fo%2Fcompany_logos%252Fmeta.jpeg%3Falt%3Dmedia%26token%3Da7a5bcc0-e178-4b5b-b71e-09bf6c6aefae&w=48&q=75){kind=small}
![Entry-Level Software Engineer [L3] at Google company logo](/_next/image/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffirebasestorage.googleapis.com%2Fv0%2Fb%2Ftech-career-growth.appspot.com%2Fo%2Fcompany_logos%252Fgoogle.jpeg%3Falt%3Dmedia%26token%3D780356ef-3efc-4728-9eb4-d909b75bb4a6&w=48&q=75){kind=small}
Discussion
(2 comments)- 52 years agoMeta, Pinterest, Kosei
- Yes, this is a real thing. If you have multiple stints on your resume that are less than 12-14 months, you may get negative judgment from the recruiter or hiring manager.
- In terms of harm to a candidate, it won't often come up on your technical interviews. Most of the "standard" interviews, like DSA and behavioral rounds, are focused on assessing your interview performance, they won't ask too much about your resume.
If you do have multiple short stints, come into the calls with the company with a good explanation of why you left and what your motivations were.
Also note that both extremes are possible: you can be at a company for too short a period, and you can be at a company for too long. I put additional thoughts about how long to stay at a company in this YouTube video.
- 2
2 years agoI think the first thing on interviewers' mind would be why, so you want to be able to clarify why you have so many short tenure at your previous few company. It would seem like you are not able to work well with others if you have been hopping around a lot and not able to convince the interviewer otherwise.
