4 ms·

Employers’ bias against “job hoppers”

7 points by mgh2 5y ago

zhte415 5y ago
From one of the comments - > The Library Director seem very interested in me, but when she looked at my résumé little more carefully she said “you appear to be a job hopper.” To which my reply would be, gilded in sarcasm to an appropriate level as I've no time for someone that doesn't take time to at least read and think about a CV, perhaps there was something redeeming earlier, perhaps, "I'm terribly sorry, did you just get my CV? I'd love to work on improving internal communications." Library Director. Technical Assistant. Technical Director. Office Assistant. Any job. Doesn't matter. For as much as Hiring is an unsolved problem, XYZ seeks to solve it that may pop up on Show now and again, once someone's writing a letter of interest, speaking on the telephone, appearing face-to-face, or other mode of interaction, someone's giving you their time, the least one can do is reciprocate that.
- MattGaiser 5y ago
  > To which my reply would be, gilded in sarcasm to an appropriate level as I've no time for someone that doesn't take time to at least read and think about a CV, perhaps there was something redeeming earlier, perhaps, "I'm terribly sorry, did you just get my CV? I'd love to work on improving internal communications." You would rather they toss your resume rather than give you a chance to explain? This seems like a more desirable outcome than then reading your resume and making a decision without further input from you.
  - zhte415 5y ago
    If they toss a CV based on that, then I don't think I'd like being there. If they don't 'looked at my résumé little more carefully' in advance, I don't think I'd like working there. I do appreciate some things do sometimes squeeze time, hence the question and the something redeeming, but that's an exception not a rule, and far too many treat it as a rule. "I'm so busy" is an ego failure; sometimes, often, an applicant feels (or is) subordinated to that - could go so far as to call it passive aggressive fazing - a similar question by the interviewer could be asked in a far different manner.
kingforaday 5y ago
Does anyone know what the average (years) are for someone in the tech industry, say a developer? My thought would be somewhere around 3 years on average.
mgh2 5y ago
This thread is a symptom of a deeper issue in society: the belief in "choice" https://trendguardian.medium.com/free-will-a-rich-fairy-tale-4fecf8095812 https://trendguardian.medium.com/free-will-a-rich-fairy-tale...
mcntsh 5y ago
As a new engineering manager (recently, part-time hiring manager) I'm now spending lots of time looking through resumes and scouting candidates. When someone leaves their company, even after being in their role for many years, the company pays a cost. First in the form of knowledge loss, then they lose money in the time it takes to hire another candidate, and then again when they need to hire/onboard the next new joiner. New-hires multiply this cost because as a new member of the company you are basically an investment... the moment you join the company you are a net financial loss. The expectation is that you pay for yourself after you start being productive in your role, and this takes time. If you leave after 6 months then not only does the company pay the leave cost, but they probably barely covered the "hire" cost too.

7 points by mgh2 5y ago

From one of the comments - > The Library Director seem very interested in me, but when she looked at my résumé little more carefully she said “you appear to be a job hopper.” To which my reply would be, gilded in sarcasm to an appropriate level as I've no time for someone that doesn't take time to at least read and think about a CV, perhaps there was something redeeming earlier, perhaps, "I'm terribly sorry, did you just get my CV? I'd love to work on improving internal communications." Library Director. Technical Assistant. Technical Director. Office Assistant. Any job. Doesn't matter. For as much as Hiring is an unsolved problem, XYZ seeks to solve it that may pop up on Show now and again, once someone's writing a letter of interest, speaking on the telephone, appearing face-to-face, or other mode of interaction, someone's giving you their time, the least one can do is reciprocate that.

MattGaiser 5y ago
> To which my reply would be, gilded in sarcasm to an appropriate level as I've no time for someone that doesn't take time to at least read and think about a CV, perhaps there was something redeeming earlier, perhaps, "I'm terribly sorry, did you just get my CV? I'd love to work on improving internal communications." You would rather they toss your resume rather than give you a chance to explain? This seems like a more desirable outcome than then reading your resume and making a decision without further input from you.
- zhte415 5y ago
  If they toss a CV based on that, then I don't think I'd like being there. If they don't 'looked at my résumé little more carefully' in advance, I don't think I'd like working there. I do appreciate some things do sometimes squeeze time, hence the question and the something redeeming, but that's an exception not a rule, and far too many treat it as a rule. "I'm so busy" is an ego failure; sometimes, often, an applicant feels (or is) subordinated to that - could go so far as to call it passive aggressive fazing - a similar question by the interviewer could be asked in a far different manner.

kingforaday 5y ago

Does anyone know what the average (years) are for someone in the tech industry, say a developer? My thought would be somewhere around 3 years on average.

mgh2 5y ago

This thread is a symptom of a deeper issue in society: the belief in "choice" https://trendguardian.medium.com/free-will-a-rich-fairy-tale-4fecf8095812 https://trendguardian.medium.com/free-will-a-rich-fairy-tale...

mcntsh 5y ago

As a new engineering manager (recently, part-time hiring manager) I'm now spending lots of time looking through resumes and scouting candidates. When someone leaves their company, even after being in their role for many years, the company pays a cost. First in the form of knowledge loss, then they lose money in the time it takes to hire another candidate, and then again when they need to hire/onboard the next new joiner. New-hires multiply this cost because as a new member of the company you are basically an investment... the moment you join the company you are a net financial loss. The expectation is that you pay for yourself after you start being productive in your role, and this takes time. If you leave after 6 months then not only does the company pay the leave cost, but they probably barely covered the "hire" cost too.