20 jobs in 20 years? Impressive or red flag?

[Anonymous]

Red alert or smart moves?

If you got a resume from someone in their 40s/50s and they had 20 different jobs at 20 companies in about 25 years. The longest tenure was 18 months, most were under a year.

Would you think they were smart for job hopping frequently or red flag at short tenures?

If candidate was in their 20s I wouldn’t think twice - job hopping is normal.

But close to 50?

[Anonymous]

Gigantic red flag. Met one of these people recently and the person is highly unstable, egotistical and impossible to work with.

[Anonymous]

Probably not great! But how bad depends on the field.

[Anonymous]

Enormous red flag.

But maybe worth interviewing them to find out why!

[Anonymous]

Unlikely to stick around. Is your need short-term?

[Anonymous]

20 red flags

[Anonymous]

Red flag, they don't seem to get how to edit their resume.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't consider them if I was looking for someone to remain long term. I'm assuming they have severe ADHD or autism or something else that prevents them from working well with others. They're intelligent and look good on paper, which is why they're hired... but then it doesn't work out.

My husband has ADHD/ASD and has trouble staying long-term in jobs. But even he has been able to find employers that value his expertise and want him to stick around for longer than a year.

[Anonymous]

Giant red flag. Mental health issues or addiction.

[Anonymous]

How is this even a question?

[Anonymous]

Red flag. Either they're getting fired or they're a hustler who constantly is looking for more money.

[Anonymous]

No one is going to think that is "impressive." I would assume they have a personality problem of some kind and put their resume in the trash. I can understand people changing jobs, even somewhat frequently, but that is extreme.

[Anonymous]

Were they all short-term contracts? I don't know if there is a field in which that's more common than full-time work? Can't think of any other positive explanation. Military spouse? But I think they move around less frequently.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn’t expect them to stay more than 6 months.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Were they all short-term contracts? I don't know if there is a field in which that's more common than full-time work? Can't think of any other positive explanation. Military spouse? But I think they move around less frequently.

Military spouse was my thought, too, and even that's more like every 2-3 years.