Question - Why have you had so many jobs ?
Answer -
First, before you even get to the interview stage, you should try to minimize your image as job hopper. If there are several
entries on your resume of less than one year, consider eliminating the less important ones. Perhaps you can specify the time
you spent at previous positions in rounded years not in months and years.
Example: Instead of showing three positions this way:
6/1982 – 3/1983, Position A;
4/1983 – 12/1983, Position B;
1/1984 – 8/1987, Position C;
…it would be better to show simply:
1982 – 1983, Position A;
1984 – 1987 Position C.
In other words, you would drop Position B altogether. Notice what a difference this makes in reducing your image as a job
hopper.
Once in front of the interviewer and this question comes up, you must try to reassure him. Describe each position as part of
an overall pattern of growth and career destination.
Be careful not to blame other people for your frequent changes. But you can and should attribute certain changes to
conditions beyond your control.
Example: Thanks to an upcoming merger, you wanted to avoid an ensuing bloodbath, so you made a good, upward career move
before your department came under the axe of the new owners.
If possible, also show that your job changes were more frequent in your younger days, while you were establishing yourself,
rounding out your skills and looking for the right career path. At this stage in your career, you’re certainly much more
interested in the best long-term opportunity.
You might also cite the job where you stayed the longest and describe that this type of situation is what you’re looking for
now.
What do you see as the proper role/mission of…
…a good (job title you’re seeking);
…a good manager;
…an executive in serving the community;
…a leading company in our industry; etc.
Think of the most essential ingredients of success for each category above – your job title, your role as manager, your
firm’s role, etc.
Identify at least three but no more than six qualities you feel are most important to success in each role. Then commit your
response to memory.
Here, again, the more information you’ve already drawn out about the greatest wants and needs of the interviewer, and the
more homework you’ve done to identify the culture of the firm, the more on-target your answer will be.