Posted by: venom

One of the main issues frowned upon by interviewers is job-hopping. Job-hopping gives the prospective employer the impression that you are not loyal or cannot adapt to difficult or new environments. As such, if you have actually been job-hopping, you will need to strategize properly before you go for an interview. The following are a few pointers that will help you prepare yourself.

Go for job opportunities that provide a very good fit. If your skills and personality suit the opportunity well, the interviewer would probably be very much more willing to overlook your previous job-hopping record. As such, present your accomplishments well and prepare yourself extensively with your 'knowledge' of the prospective company. Such preparation will help you impress the interviewer with your potential in their company. As mentioned earlier, this will probably outweigh any negative perceptions regarding your job-hopping record.

Prepare yourself with good reasons for the short tenures in your previous companies. Neutral reasons include extensive restructuring of your previous companies (causing redundancies) or being offered new positions in other companies that are too good to turn down (hey, it isn't your fault that you're good!). Neutral reasons will you're your job-hopping more understandable. Being prepared beforehand with these reasons allows you to explain them to the interviewer in a matter-of-fact manner. If you are asked direct questions regarding job-hopping, provide the prepared answers directly without fidgeting or hesitating. Fidgeting or hesitating would only show the interviewer that you are either ashamed or trying to hide the fact.

Provide letters of recommendations from your previous employers to the interviewer. It would be even better if you have awards to show for your previous accomplishments. This will help show that you have been performing in your previous companies and your reasons for leaving were not due to non-performance. A good string of recommendations will show that even though your previous employers are aware of your job-hopping, you were good enough for them to accept you.

Lastly, structure your resume from a functional instead of a chronological format. A functional format will help impress upon the interviewer your skills and abilities while diverting attention from your job-hopping history. If you structure you resume well enough, the interviewer may not even notice the number of companies you have joined and moved on.

Job-hopping may have been a negative aspect of your previous employment history but if you plan and prepare well for an interview, you can divert attention away from it or explain it to the interviewer in a palatable manner. Good luck!