Typically, one should stay in a job for aroundt three years before starting at a new company. Why? Well, it takes one year to familiarize yourself with everything, a further year to kick-off a project and a further year to ensure that the project is sustained, and you leave a positive impact. Have you changed your job more frequently? These five tips will help you to structure your CV well, so that the changes come across positively.
Tip 1: Honesty is key
Recruiters are very good at sensing gaps in CVs. That is why we recommend putting all your cards on the table. Don't be tempted to write just the years instead of the months and don't leave any job positions out completely.
Tip 2: Use the job interview to explain why you have changed jobs often
Sometimes there are good reasons for a job interview. A maternity cover or a project can be limited to a certain time period from the beginning. Or maybe you were employed by a large company and a whole department was let off, that is something individual employees can't help. Explain all these reasons at your job interview.
Tip 3: Highlight relevant work experience
If you are applying for a position as a software engineer at an insurance company, highlight all previous experiences at insurance companies on your CV. Maybe you were a trainee at an insurance company when you were younger? Even if this is not relevant for the job description, it may help you distinguish yourself from the competition.
Tip 4: Lists make things clearer
Sometimes people had similar job roles at different companies at different times in their career. For example if you were employed as a Business Analyst at multiple companies, then you could group these together in a list on your CV. This would help the recruiter get a better overview.
Tip 5: Show a central theme in the cover letter
It is particularly important for job hoppers to show a central theme in their CV. Explain the reason for moving jobs in a few short sentences. It is not necessary to justify yourself or speak badly about your previous employer. You can find more tips for writing cover letters here: Top 5 Cover Letter Tips.
We wish you the best of luck with your next job application! In an upcoming blog post we'll give you some tips on what to look out for when you start a new job, so that you can be happy there for at least three years!
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