4 ms·

I think you read the parent comment uncharitably, and they were referring to job hops, not to layoffs or un-renewed contracts. If I'm looking at your resume I

I think you read the parent comment uncharitably, and they were referring to job hops, not to layoffs or un-renewed contracts. If I'm looking at your resume I see: 2 layoffs (not your fault), 2 temporary contracts. If you message that in your resume the contracts are a yellow flag (did they not get full time employment because they lacked chops?) but nothing here is telling me you're a runner. I'd happily hire someone with this job history if they interviewed well. I'd be much more adverse to hiring you if you had been an employee at each of these places and stayed as long as you had.

FlyingSnake 4y ago
> I see: 2 layoffs (not your fault), 2 temporary contracts. How would you figure out just by looking at a resumé that the 1 year job experience listed is a layoff?
- UncleMeat 4y ago
  You ask. That's what I've done for folks with 4+ consecutive ~1y stints.
- Hermitian909 4y ago
  I've seen many resumes that say things like "company went bankrupt" or "Entire department was laid off"
vsareto 4y ago
>did they not get full time employment because they lacked chops? People can elect not to go full time because they don't feel it's the right fit or it's a bad situation. But they don't get any credit for sticking out a bad contract apparently
Silhouette 4y ago
the contracts are a yellow flag (did they not get full time employment because they lacked chops?) I've seen this idea before but it seems like a very odd prejudice to me. Is it a particularly US-centric thing or something? Here in the UK a lot of good people in tech do independent work at some stage in their careers. Salaries for permanent employees tend to hit a ceiling. Contractors and freelancers can potentially price based on value and charge significantly more if they're worth it.
- Hermitian909 4y ago
  > Here in the UK a lot of good people in tech do independent work at some stage in their careers. Salaries for permanent employees tend to hit a ceiling. I would not view being a contractor in the way you describe as a yellow flag, but that's not OP's situation. OP looks like they were relatively inexperienced, had never held a job for 2 years. Even if OP didn't mention they were trying to convert to FTE in these roles and it didn't happen, the descriptions of them tell me that's probably what's happening.
  - cableshaft 4y ago
    > OP looks like they were relatively inexperienced, had never held a job for 2 years. The software dev job before that I had for 3 years. I just don't include it on my resume anymore, for length/ageism reasons (also it was VBA/original ASP, which I never want to touch again). I'm not sure where you got two temporary contracts, I've only ever had one non-FTE job, and that was the 9 month one, and even then I was an employee for TEKsystems. They would have happily put me somewhere else (hell, they still reach out to me a couple times a year), but I really didn't enjoy my experience, so I didn't continue with them (I was actively interviewing for other jobs near the end of it, the contract ending was a surprise but also a relief). The benefits were the worst I ever had at any company before or since (poor medical insurance, zero PTO/paid holidays or any other benefits), and I got a 25% raise at my next company as a FTE, so it's not because I got better pay than elsewhere. And if we go before that, I had a fast food job, a retail job, a warehouse job, a stocking job, a data entry job (all of these were at least a year, up to 2) hell, I even helped my dad with construction and apartment maintenance when I was as young as 14. But they're not software-related and basically ancient history at this point, so they haven't been on my resume for about fifteen years now.

FlyingSnake 4y ago

> I see: 2 layoffs (not your fault), 2 temporary contracts. How would you figure out just by looking at a resumé that the 1 year job experience listed is a layoff?

UncleMeat 4y ago
You ask. That's what I've done for folks with 4+ consecutive ~1y stints.
Hermitian909 4y ago
I've seen many resumes that say things like "company went bankrupt" or "Entire department was laid off"

vsareto 4y ago

>did they not get full time employment because they lacked chops? People can elect not to go full time because they don't feel it's the right fit or it's a bad situation. But they don't get any credit for sticking out a bad contract apparently

Silhouette 4y ago

the contracts are a yellow flag (did they not get full time employment because they lacked chops?) I've seen this idea before but it seems like a very odd prejudice to me. Is it a particularly US-centric thing or something? Here in the UK a lot of good people in tech do independent work at some stage in their careers. Salaries for permanent employees tend to hit a ceiling. Contractors and freelancers can potentially price based on value and charge significantly more if they're worth it.

Hermitian909 4y ago
> Here in the UK a lot of good people in tech do independent work at some stage in their careers. Salaries for permanent employees tend to hit a ceiling. I would not view being a contractor in the way you describe as a yellow flag, but that's not OP's situation. OP looks like they were relatively inexperienced, had never held a job for 2 years. Even if OP didn't mention they were trying to convert to FTE in these roles and it didn't happen, the descriptions of them tell me that's probably what's happening.
- cableshaft 4y ago
  > OP looks like they were relatively inexperienced, had never held a job for 2 years. The software dev job before that I had for 3 years. I just don't include it on my resume anymore, for length/ageism reasons (also it was VBA/original ASP, which I never want to touch again). I'm not sure where you got two temporary contracts, I've only ever had one non-FTE job, and that was the 9 month one, and even then I was an employee for TEKsystems. They would have happily put me somewhere else (hell, they still reach out to me a couple times a year), but I really didn't enjoy my experience, so I didn't continue with them (I was actively interviewing for other jobs near the end of it, the contract ending was a surprise but also a relief). The benefits were the worst I ever had at any company before or since (poor medical insurance, zero PTO/paid holidays or any other benefits), and I got a 25% raise at my next company as a FTE, so it's not because I got better pay than elsewhere. And if we go before that, I had a fast food job, a retail job, a warehouse job, a stocking job, a data entry job (all of these were at least a year, up to 2) hell, I even helped my dad with construction and apartment maintenance when I was as young as 14. But they're not software-related and basically ancient history at this point, so they haven't been on my resume for about fifteen years now.