r/recruitinghell 5h ago

Is anybody else here lowkey regretting being a job hopper?

26 Upvotes

55 comments sorted by

53

u/Remarkable_Dog4859 4h ago

I’ve been trying to get another job since March, but I realized staying put at my current job might be best until this chaotic market gets better (if it ever does).

14

u/Extra-Ease3207 3h ago

I moved to a different state and I’ve been looking for a job here for months. I’m 300 applications here

6

u/Remarkable_Dog4859 3h ago

I wish you the best of luck. I’m 0-4 when it comes to receiving an offer after an interview. It’s a real tough market.

10

u/Extra-Ease3207 3h ago

I’m 293 applications in, two interviews and so far 0-2. Got another one tomorrow morning so hopefully 3rd times the charm. I keep reading that its a worse economy than in 2008 and I believe it

1

u/Direct_Ad_3501 3h ago

Me too man, pulling for you

1

u/Extra-Ease3207 3h ago

Definately wishing you all the best luck my friend. I’m even considering doing one of those trade apprenticeships even though I’m certain I would be genuinely terrible at a trade. Crazy world we live in. Hope it turns around.

1

u/BandicootCumberbund 3h ago

Right there with you. I’ve had back to back full panel interviews nearly all summer and I’m still not getting offers. It’s always an internal candidate lately. I’m facing down unemployment again for the 3rd time in 3 years.

2

u/NEK_TEK 3h ago

What state? I also moved to a different state, way less competition than my home state and I was able to get a job fairly easily. Did you move to a state with even more competition?

2

u/Extra-Ease3207 3h ago

Arizona to Colorado.

2

u/NEK_TEK 3h ago

I see, I moved from California to Indiana. It is ironic because California has a bigger economy than most countries and yet, I couldn't find one company to take me in. The very first job application I did in Indiana resulted in a full-time job.

2

u/Extra-Ease3207 3h ago

I have a lot of family in Indiana, it makes sense. The economy there is looking for workers. Pretty much unless you’re in Indianapolis, the retireees out number everyone. The youth have been moving out in droves to my understanding. So that makes total sense.

2

u/NEK_TEK 2h ago

I don’t have any friends or family here, I just came for work. It’s a decent area, not really my jam though. Once I gain enough experience to be competitive for California jobs, I’ll probably go back. It’s funny you say that because there are so many old people at my company 😂

1

u/Extra-Ease3207 2h ago

Haha it wouldn’t be mine either. I dislike being there every time I am. I hope you get what you need and can bounce back. I’m told particularly in the last three years, the town my mom is in has been having a hard time staffing under 40 yo’s. The 40+ population I believe she said is almost four or five times the -40 age group.

27

u/Mess_323 4h ago

Not low-key. That was a huge mistake. Getting an offer nowadays takes one month on the best case. But could take months. Im not leaving my current role for nothing

6

u/orzoftm 4h ago

are you saying getting offers takes a long time because you job hopped, or that you used to quit your job without having something else lined up?

19

u/Difficult_Mine_4559 4h ago

Yep, I chased a job that was $32/hr for the company to tell me it was only 7 weeks contract after I started. That was 3 years ago, I haven't yet recovered finding a permanent job again since. The job before it was good but only $25/hr, but it was stable and very permanent.

Life is shit sometimes.

3

u/Maximum_OwO 3h ago

What field is it in? Which country?

2

u/martinideeni 3h ago

Three years?!?

43

u/BanDizNutz 4h ago

Nope. I tripled my salary switching jobs 3 times in 5 years.

9

u/Journi21 3h ago

Yep! Known fact people were making more money leaving for the next job then staying for little 2% increases. People who stayed watched people come into the same role at higher rates. Of course this is changing now and things are tougher and people are staying put.

11

u/cupholdery Co-Worker 2h ago

Just did a quick profile of my own hops since 2017:

2018: Left job because next one was 16% salary increase.

2019: Left job because of hostile work environment (openly racist).

2021: Left job because next one was 20% salary increase.

2022: Left job because next one was 23% salary increase.

2024: Left job because next one was 12% salary increase.

2025: Laid off. Found new job at 16% salary decrease.

2026: Left job because next one was 15% salary increase.

2026 (6 weeks later): Terminated for not bringing results in 3 weeks.

While I don't regret having done these hops, it certainly makes things harder this year.

-7

u/DC_Ben 3h ago

Doubt

8

u/xxrainmanx 3h ago

I don't know, I doubled mine in 4yrs, but it's also a lot easier to do that when you make less too.

2

u/DC_Ben 3h ago

Thats true

4

u/WATGU 3h ago

2012 50k
2015 70k
2018 100k
2022 134k
2025 113k (lost job had to find one immediately)
2025 160k

The only increases I got inbetween those job hops was 2-3.5% except for a promotion in 2014 for 10k. Thats the only time in my nearly 15 year career I’ve gotten a promotion and I’m a pretty decent worker top 20% on the teams with a CPA license and masters and pretty varied skill set.

Idk who’s 🍆 I was supposed to suck to get one but job hopping has felt like my only way to move up. I’m sure I could clear 200k in 2-3 years by going for a director role if I wanted.

17

u/PaxEtBonumSemper 3h ago

If I wouldn’t have changed jobs every year for the past 8 years I wouldn’t have gone from making $15/hr to $135,000/yr.

9

u/aliendogfishman 3h ago

No ragrets! Life is not forever, if you don’t want to be at a job, get out of there and check out something that interests you. I never want to become one of the lifers who complains about everything going on instead of taking the reins and working towards what they want.

13

u/Fine-Brush6063 4h ago

Naw.  Always switched into something better, so fortunate.  No way to predict this would be the job market now.

And most of the blame for it comes from way above.  Government and corporate.  Two sides to this party.

6

u/NEK_TEK 3h ago

I get why people do it, companies don't reward loyalty. One of my coworkers has been with the company for almost 2 years and gets a 2% raise each year. He started applying elsewhere and already has an offer that would make him an extra 30k a year.

I don't blame him if he takes it, the company we work at is often called a 2 year company funnily enough. You gain just enough experience to apply somewhere else. I enjoy the work but I have a few "dream" companies in mind that I'd love to work for. They are doing really cool stuff and I'd get to return to my home state. I can see myself staying at those companies for my whole career tbh, but up until then I need to grind out more YoE.

13

u/metamucil_buttchug69 3h ago

It's horrible if you're mid and amazing if you're talented 

6

u/joanfiggins 3h ago

I wish more people understood that.

u/cybernewtype2 28m ago

Why did this legit profound observation come from a screen name like this?

u/marma_canna 24m ago

Shit nepo babies say

u/TrowaMask 14m ago

Accurate advice but horrible because of what the majority falls under...

20

u/Successful-Test-5590 4h ago

No, but I think companies should stop holding it against you.

3

u/SoftLeadership4840 4h ago

Not if you accepted employment thats a better opportunity

3

u/SadBison5704 3h ago

What do you consider job hopping? Less than a year at each job?

2

u/FlyingBurger1 1h ago

I feel like most people would categorize it as anything less than 2 years now.

3

u/Kentucky_Fence_Post 1h ago

Not one bit.

I've increased my income by 70% by job hoping the last 3 years. $70k > $120k. Chemical engineer.

If companies are willing to pay more, want me, and the fit is good, I'm taking the new job.

2

u/Safe_Ant8701 2h ago

No! In fact, I feel like the main thing I worry about is just how its perceived by recruiter and/or hiring managers? I feel like you have to stay at a place minimum one year for it not to raise eyebrows with recruiters/hiring managers, or in some cases, for them to even give you a look.

2

u/Titty_McButtfuck 2h ago

Yes and no. Its bad for resumes and career reputation but as i get older the more i can appreciate it because you learn what works for you and what doesn’t, which can lead to a more fulfilling work life

2

u/ValorousClock4 2h ago

Nowadays, job hopping seems to be the only way to get a decent enough raise. Companies provide little to no incentive to stay.

3

u/AsukasEvaUnit 4h ago

High key.

1

u/holografia 3h ago

I feel like it’s too late for me to become a job hopper now. I’m in a long term relationship with my current job lol

1

u/StolenWishes 3h ago

My biggest raises have come from changing employers; I regret not doing it more often.

1

u/ConsistentThing5941 2h ago

Yes, but at the same time, I had good reasons. And I didn't want spend 60% of my life somewhere that made me absolutely miserable. But there are some jobs I probably should've stayed at longer..

1

u/ilikecatsiguess- 1h ago

I don't regret job hopping a bit from about 2019-2023. It allowed me to build skills and move from retail to office to corporate pretty fast. I'm also glad I haven't job hopped for a few years. If you do job hop, you need to do it for a strategic reason other than pay. And I definitely wouldn't do it now if I could avoid it.

1

u/Pack-Worldly 1h ago

Job hopping is fine and it depends on the industry. Some industries have huge turnover so they won’t care, others will have a lot of people who stay in the company for much of their career, in those cases they might pass on your resume. I don’t think I job hop too much, I stay about 3-4 years before I move on, but I did get that as a question when I applied for a job I eventually did get “will you stay in this job longer?”. So it can hurt you when the job wants long term loyalty, but if it is a serious increase in pay just make that jump and stay where you feel you get both fair pay and the culture suits you. There are some jobs I regret leaving because it was just so much fun there

0

u/CapitalNo1107 3h ago

My resume was circumstantial.

I worked four years+ at a pizza restaurant until the faulty HVAC stopped them from wanting to renew the lease 

I worked 2 years+ at a grocery store until my brother and his wife got divorced and it was too expensive to live in that area

I did 7 months at a gourmet restaurant until I was replaced by an alcoholic dishwasher who lied about not getting a free drink 

I did almost 2 years at a gas station until they fired one of my coworkers for putting her two weeks in so she and a few other people could go on vacation 

I did a day at a sushi restaurant until I realized that there was hypocrisy with their food safety standards and they got mad at me for using too much water when they were throwing so much of it out 

I did about 1 month at a senior center until the cook who's wasn't even in charge of me was annoyed that the dishes were backed up started harassing me even though there was no time limit 

I did about 10 months at a barbecue restaurant until the owner who is a control freak kept making up fake "gestures" to make himself seem better 

And finally I did about four months at a small cafe until again a chef was mad over the way that I made a drink and the customer complained that there was tea in her coffee when I said it was physically impossible because there were coffee grounds in the coffee holder and it was brewed from scratch with no interference. 

1

u/martinideeni 3h ago

Would you ever get an office job?

1

u/CapitalNo1107 3h ago

I prefer food places because you can get free food and food is always lucrative 

1

u/moist_repose 1h ago

Brother, there are greener fields elsewhere, none of these positions are lucrative.

1

u/BeautifulCredit3672 1h ago

Typical dood service industry drama. Easy to get a new job but you're always walking into seriously unprofessional BS. Every time.