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How can I be better at my new job?

How soon after starting a new job can I apply for another job?

  • How soon after starting a new job can I apply for other jobs? I live in City A. I am looking to move to faraway City B and applying to jobs there on a regular basis. On a whim, I applied for a job here in City A, and they've called me in for an interview. While I'm dissatisfied in my current position, I'm concerned whether taking a new job now would affect my applications in City B by making me look like a job-hopping flake. If I were to receive an offer from the new City A company, what are my options? 1. Decline the offer and stay in my current job until I find a job in City B, regardless of how long that takes. 2. Take the offer, but omit the new City A job from applications (at least until X amount of time has passed) and say I'm freelancing. I worry this lie of omission would eventually come back to haunt me. And, in this option, what is X? 3. Put new City A job on the resume, but use the cover letter to explain an external circumstance (such as a job offer for my spouse) forcing me to look for work in City B so soon after changing jobs. If it's relevant, I have a mixed record of job longevity--eight years with one employer and then two years with each employer since, including my current company. Assuming that finding work in City B takes precedence over all City A jobs, which course of action would be best? What other options are there? (And I realize an interview != offer, but as I grow more unhappy with my current job, I'd like to consider all the possibilities.) Thanks.

  • Answer:

    HR guy here. I've actually encountered quite a few people whose resume would betray them as "job-hoppers". During the interview though, they have said something along the lines of: "Its not that I'm job-hopping, I just took my current job because I need to pay the bills, and I'm not in a position to turn down a job. But what I really want to do is the position you are currently offering". SOLD!

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Just put New Job on your resume and keep applying if that's what you want to do. Unless you sign an employment contract with defined terms, you don't 'owe' any company any sort of loyalty or explaination whatsoever. Just be prepared to explain your situation to any subsequent interviewers. All it takes is "New Job offered me more money (or more flexibility/control/responsibility, whatever fits), but I still want to move to City B because _____." If someone wants to hire you, they will based on your skills/qualifications, you've already demonstrated longevity in a job. Don't hamstring your goals by forcing yourself to adhere to an arbitrary waiting period.

T.D. Strange

i would say six months or so... as an employer, i look for holes or short jobs on a resume, so if you do have a short stay, just be ready to explain it to your future employer... i know its often the case in DC area, people take a job while going through their security clearance, and when they get their clearance, they give their 2 weeks and go to new job... so, regardless of time length, just be able to explain it to future employer.

fozzie33

Option 3 is honest, and given your history, changing quickly in order to move is normal. Other options have the danger of making you look like a liar or flake, option 3 just makes you look like someone who got a new job and then ended up moving soon thereafter.

ldthomps

How long were you at your last job? If it was for a few years, a short stop at one employer just says it was a bad fit, but if you quit a job six months ago too, that's a pattern.

dflemingecon

When you apply to job in City B you can say in the cover letter or interview. "I normally wouldn't be looking for a new job so soon after starting at my current workplace, but your job was so great/exactly what I've always wanted/just too good to pass up." It explains why your leaving the newly started job in a way which seems reasonable (and uncommon enough that they don't need to worry about flakiness) and makes the employer in City B feel like you really want to work for them (after all, you're leaving a new job and moving cities just for them!).

oddman

So yeah...what I meant was...apply asap for jobs you want. If you really are worried about being seen as a job-hopper...don't list your current job and say you are unemployed.

hal_c_on

Remember, as said above, you can leave things off your resume if they are difficult to explain.

josher71

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