According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average professional switches jobs every three to four years. But what if you’ve changed jobs two, three or four times within this time frame? Does it hurt your chances of receiving a job offer? A recent survey by Nexxt indicates the answer is a definitive YES.
We conducted a survey and asked HR professionals what they thought about ‘job-hopping’ applicants. It turns out that 71% of recruiters aren’t willing to hire people who have switched jobs several times in a short period of time.
Here are three resume tips to decrease your chances of looking like a job hopper:
1. Only Include What Matters
Only list experience on your resume that’s relevant to the position you’re applying for. Having every single internship and part-time job you’ve had can work against you, especially if they were for brief periods of time. If you’re lucky, a recruiter will spend six seconds reviewing your resume. Only include what matters and ditch the rest.
2. Condense Freelance Work
If you’ve done freelance or consulting work for multiple clients and they were all short-term projects, condense them on your resume. Lumping experience together under collective titles like “Freelance Work” or “My Name Consulting” is a great way to highlight what you’ve accomplished without raising any red flags.
3. Use Years Instead of Dates
We’ve all had internships and jobs that lasted a short period of time. If you don’t want to call attention to this on your resume, use years to show the length of employment rather than dates. And don’t bold or highlight these years as that will only increase the chances of a recruiter asking you how long you had a specific position.
Additional survey findings and insights can be found here.
I like the idea of lumping experience under one title. If nothing else, it shows that you are very skilled in that area.