[ale] [ALE-jobs] Fwd: Urgent Job Opening for LinuxAdministrator in Alpharetta, GA

[Jerald Sheets]

On Mar 26, 2010, at 1:41 PM, Lightner, Jeff wrote:

> 
>  Even in that market whenever we got resumes of people that had more than 2 jobs in the last 2 years we'd pass on them.  It was usually a sign they were job hopping for bigger and bigger payouts.  I had changed jobs once and nearly doubled my salary within a year of changing but that was still only 2 jobs in a span of several years.   It's one thing to take an opportunity when it comes your way but quite another to job hop.  I recall the resume of one person who'd had 6 jobs in the last 2 years - we didn't even bother to interview him.  Once the bust hit, people like that had a very hard time finding permanent gigs anywhere.


Problem with that scenario in a bust-type situation is that you can be thrown around by employers very quickly.

Take my situation, for instance.  I was in Baton Rouge and got laid off the week before Christmas '99.  I grabbed a quick DSL installer gig to make ends meet so my kids could have a Christmas.  By March, I realized this wouldn't work, so I got on with 3Com and moved to DC. By January of the next year I was laid off.  I went to Thompson for a few months, but my wife's medical condition was worsening so I went on back home to a job in a hospital.  2 1/2 years, 5 jobs.  None really my fault, the fault of a worsening economy.  

I don't usually dismiss a resume "out of hand" without looking at it.  When evaluating someone, I take into account their time at a position, what they were doing, the economic climate surrounding the time where they may have changed jobs a bit, etc.

I read a statistic in a paper on HR issues that the average professional today in Tech will hold a position for 1.7 - 2.4 years, and can have as many as 16 professional positions in their lifetime.

Try fitting that all on the "one page resume" your guidance counsellor told you was a must to have.


I'm not really buying it any more.  If the person is a good worker and they have project work to show for their time and have changed jobs a couple times in a period like 2000-2002 or 2008-2010, I'm willing to look at them.

--j