"Jack of all trades but master of none" - Geffray Minshul
You would be viewed in the same light by any recruiter if you have the tendency of job-hopping. It may be deliberate or unintended. At times, it becomes very difficult to reason out job-hopping within a resume or during interviews. An employer would view a candidate with frequent job changes as someone who lacks seriousness towards work, gets bored quickly or cannot adapt to work environment. With this impression in mind, no recruiter will employ such candidate. Hence, to prevent being ignored by the recruiters in selection process, follow the given ways to prepare yourself to write a resume to impress the employer in spite of job-hopping.
Adopt Functional Resume Format
The functional resume format is ideal for those who wish to hide employment gaps and job-hopping. Functional resume format allows applicants to present their work history without dates, durations or specific chronology. Applicants have a choice of grouping their responsibilities together and noting them under appropriate sub headings like administration or customer care etc. This format helps you distract the recruiter from noticing job hopping in your resume as there are no dates. In addition, the summary of your strengths and capacities at the beginning of the resume puts a positive impression even before the recruiter reads your experience section.
No Reasons or Explanations
A resume should not include any reasons or explanations for frequent job changes. A resume is a way of presenting the qualifications and work history of an applicant and portraying him as a suitable and worthy candidate. Hence, reading stories of what made the applicant change his jobs frequently is certainly going to put off the employer from reading further. Prepare yourself with answer before facing the recruiter during the interview. Use the resume to prove yourself as worthy enough to go and sit in front of the recruiter. That is the sole purpose of the resume.
Short Listing
Jot down all your jobs done till date. It is not required to mention all of the jobs within the resume in detail. Understand the profile of the job you wish to apply. Relate the prospective job demands with the responsibilities handled by you previously. Shortlist and include only those job experiences that are relevant and important to the prospective job. Put forth only those details that an employer expects to see. This will help you target the resume towards a particular job and let you reduce the number of jobs on your resume.
Career Growth
Job-hopping in early stages of career is justified as long as it shows a growth in career graph. Early starters looking out for job opportunities tend to accept the first opportunity that comes their way, irrespective of the job profile. They experiment with their job profile until they are sure of the field they want to work in. Hence, if the recruiter can see an upward growth in the profile and designation if the candidate, he may consider neglecting the job-hopping.
Up-to-date Knowledge
Draft the resume as per the current industry standards and procedures. An employer would ignore a resume that speaks a language from different era. Update your resume with the format, considered the most ideal and professional in your industry. Use appropriate jargons. Display your knowledge of the recent developments of your field and your ability to incorporate them within your work to be in sync with the time. His quality would be highly regarded by the employer in considering you as a future employee. Stress on this quality within your resume as it may compel the employer to ignore your job-hopping.
So, to avoid being called as the jack of all, follow the given tips and guidelines to write an impressive resume in spite of having frequent job shifts. Prove yourself as the master with a focused and goal-oriented resume.