Dear Ian: I have been in the same job for two years. I was lied to about my job duties and I am not working at my full potential. I want to leave but I have changed jobs different times and it will look like I jump ship when sometimes it cannot be helped. The company I work for is a good company but I have been stereotyped. What should I say about my reason for leaving?
-- Jill, Victoria BC
Dear Jill,
This is not strictly a resume question, but I wanted to answer you.
If you have a pattern of changing jobs after a short time, then I recommend that you take a hard look at why that is. Your first reaction may be that in each case it was circumstances beyond your control. In this case the reason was that the company misrepresented or changed job duties. Think about it some more. What part of this pattern of moving is due to you?
- You may be making bad decisions about which jobs to pursue and take. Making smart career decisions is a mandatory career management skill. However, it is a very common cause of career management problems.
- Perhaps your decisions are fine but your behavior is bringing about a problem. In other words, something is happening between you and your managers to cause problems.
- Or, perhaps your expectations are too high and some of these jobs were fine and you jumped too early.
It may be none of these. However, when a client shows me a history of jumping around there is usually at least one reason behind it attributable to the individual, rather than the company.
Of course, it does happen that managers or companies redefine roles and leave you feeling underutilized and bored. So, what can you do about it?
Given your frequent movement and the fact that you say that this is a good company, I would recommend trying to salvage the situation, if you can. What have you done to get an internal transfer or reassignment? Have you had the necessary conversations to see if a job re-adjustment or extra responsibilities are possible? It may not work, but in this tight labor market one would hope that the company would recognize underutilized talent.
If you can't save the situation, then the challenge is representing your experience in the best light. You can't change the dates of your professional history, only the way you present it. Given your history, you are going to want to make a very careful move, one where you can be successful.
There are different valid reasons for leaving. You don't want to bash an employer. However, you can say that the job you were hired to do was redefined or the group / team was restructured and the result was that you were left with a job that doesn't challenge you. Employers understand this.
Your bigger task is convincing potential employers that you want to stick somewhere. Once you identify that job that you really want, make sure you project a genuine interest in staying there, settling in, contributing and growing. Good luck!