Link to Wall Street Journal Careers Article
Article Sources:
WSJ Interview with Jessica Ollenburg, HRS President/CEO
Job Hopping Still Hurts Job Seekers (at AskHRS.com Careers!)
Also Please Visit
The Winning Resume: The Rules Have Changed (at AskHRS.com Careers!)
If you've held several jobs over a short
period, and don't explain the changes on your resume, you might look
like a "job hopper" to recruiters and hiring managers.
Although job hopping is
more acceptable than it was a decade ago, it can still raise concerns
with recruiters. Tom Lovett, president and senior partner of Lovett and
Lovett Executive Search in Dayton, Ohio, says job hopping may be a sign
of poor interpersonal skills and lack of performance.
"Companies are not
interested in wasting their time or money professionally developing a
candidate that has not had a successful career track," says Mr. Lovett.
Nancy Vasquez, 49 years
old, has sensed that hiring managers are wary of her job history. Ms.
Vasquez, who lives in New York City, has held five positions in the last
eight years and says that her "jumpy background" may be slowing her
search.
To get into the
interview seat, your resume should convince recruiters that you won't be
a short-term investment. Here are some tips on downplaying your
background.
1. Define yourself in a
summary statement.
Having a tailored
summary statement at the top of your resume is an opportunity to guide
the recruiter through the document and influence how they interpret your
job changes.
First outline the
collective number of years of experience in your field in a sentence
such as, "Eight-plus years marketing experience with expertise in
database, planning and writing."
"The eight years feels
cohesive even though it might have been with five different companies,"
says Karen Schaffer, a career consultant in Halifax, Nova Scotia and
author of "The Complete Book of Resumes: Simple Steps for Writing a
Powerful Resume."
According to a study
done by Human Resource Services Inc., a human-resources
management-consulting firm, candidates who averaged less than three
years per job during their first 10 years were 65% more likely to leave
their next job within three years. Use the summary statement to allay
the concern that you may also leave prematurely by including a phrase
like "seeking a long-term role in," says Mark Bartz, partner of
ExeCareers Inc., a career-advancement company in Tampa, Fla.
2. Include a summary of
previous employment.
Avoid a bullet list of
jobs on your resume by fleshing out your three or four most recent
positions and creating a summary of previous employment section for
prior jobs.
Provide a collective
start and end date for the previous employment section, instead of start
and end dates for each job, says Mr. Bartz. "The eye only sees one date
and it reduces the sense of job hopping," he says. List the company and
title for each position followed by one or two sentences about your
role.
3. Create coherence
between hops.
If you choose to forego
a summary of previous employment, it's important for your job changes to
tell a story.
You may have to leave
out positions that don't relate to the direction you're going in or are
"too distracting," says Marci Alboher, author of "One Person/Multiple
Careers: A New Model for Work/Life Success." If you've had jobs across
different industries, focus on the connections between them, she says.
Try to show progression
and that you've taken on increasing levels of responsibility with each
jump. Mr. Lovett says forward-moving jumps are considered more favorable
than lateral or backward jumps.
4. Indicate involuntary
hops.
Not all job hops are
viewed negatively. If your position changed as a result of a merger or
acquisition or you are a contract worker, explain it on your resume.
"Downsizing, mergers
and acquisitions are so common these days and it may look like people
have job hopped and in many cases it's not their choice," says Taunee
Besson, president of Career Dimensions, a career-planning firm in
Dallas. "They were just in the wrong place at the wrong time."
If your employer
underwent a merger or acquisition, next to the company's current name,
in brackets write "formerly ABC Company" with the company's previous
name, says Ms. Schaffer.
If you were a contract
worker indicate that in your job titles, Ms. Besson says.
5. Use dates to your
advantage.
Removing months when
you date each position can give the illusion that you worked in
positions longer than you have. For instance, if you list that you
worked with a company from December 2005 to February 2006, a recruiter
will know you had a three-month stint. Listing 2005-2006 next to a
position will imply a longer duration, says Mr. Bartz. Using years also
allows you to leave out short stints that may raise eyebrows.
Divert attention to
your skills rather than your tenure by listing dates on the right side
of your resume instead of the left, says Ms. Besson.
6. Use a hybrid resume.
If a traditional
chronological resume doesn't receive positive feedback or looks
cluttered, try a hybrid resume where your work history is secondary to
your skills. The hybrid resume takes the skill set feature from the
functional resume and uses a chronological history toward the end of the
resume, says Ms. Besson.
Under your heading and
summary statement, choose four or five responsibilities that you have
excelled in and list accomplishments from your past positions relating
to those responsibilities. Ms. Shaffer recommends listing the company
where you achieved each accomplishment in brackets at the end of each
bullet point.
Under the list of
responsibilities, create a section listing each employer, title and
start and end dates in reverse chronological order, says Ms. Besson.
By Dana Mattioli
