Here at Spark Hire, we want to help candidates find their dream jobs using the power of online video. We get a lot of questions from readers about how to use online video in their search for a great job. These posts will address those questions about how to find success in your job search.
Question: How do I explain job hopping in the video interview? -Maria from Sandusky
Thank you for your great question, Maria! Before we get into talking about job hopping in a video interview or in-person interview, it’s important to first understand why being a job hopper might make it a bit difficult for you to find a job. Many employers tend to stay away from job hoppers because they usually don’t find them to be very reliable. After all, a job hopper is someone that has hopped from one job, to the next and to another. They generally don’t stay with one company for very long and thus get dubbed ‘hob hoppers.’ Employers may try and stay away from these job seekers because they assume hey will leave after just a short period of time.
While this is somewhat understandable from the employers side, it can be really difficult to ace a job interview if it comes up that you are a job hopper. That is why it is important for you (if you are a job hopper) to bring up your past work experience right away in the video interview. If you initiate the conversation on you being a job hopper then it shows the employer that you are confident enough to talk about the subject without them having to bring it up. Perhaps there are a few good reasons as to why you look like a job hopper on your resume. It could be that you were laid-off at one job and the other job wasn’t a very great fit company culture wise. Or perhaps the actual job that you were hired to perform is greatly different than how it was described to you in the job interview and you had to jump ship.
There can be a number of reasons as to why you are a job hopper. However, don’t take forever in explaining this. Explain it as concisely and briefly as you can to the employer and remember to leave the negativity at home. Don’t speak negatively of your past companies and don’t get defensive about your past situations. Doing this shows you are unprofessional and shift blame onto others. Instead, quickly give an outline as to why you left- or had to leave- your former employers. What is also important is to explain to the employer why this position is perfect for your specific skills and past work experience.
What you can do to emphasize the fact that you do not plan on hopping around with this job is to express how you can grow within the company. Ask questions about where the employer sees this position in a year and how the roles of the position align with your own career goals. This way you are showing the employer that you want to stay in this position for quite some time and that you won’t hop off to a new job within a few months.
Do you have a question you need answered? Spark a conversation with the Spark Hire team by submitting your question to [email protected] or in the comments below.
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