Howdy,

I'm in a bit of a tricky situation. I recently returned to the company that hired me out of college in 2018. I left my job there in 2022 due to my wife being relocated, and we have now moved back to Houston. I had to take a job at another shop when we first came back because there was not a position available for me at the original company. They just recently asked me to come back in sales, which I accepted, but now realize I made a mistake.

The problem is, my resume now makes it look like I am a job-hopper. I had the job in DFW, the first job back in Houston, and now my current job. I should have asked more questions before accepting the sales role. If I had known what it entailed, I would have stayed put. I'm going to try to change positions, but right now I doubt that they will be able to move me to something else.

Does anyone have any advice on how to handle a job search in this situation? I'm sure my resume will go straight into the big pile with the amount of job changes so quickly. Should I try networking?

Thanks in advance.

Gig 'em

Edited to add dates

My degree is industrial engineering, and my experience is in quality, project management, and now sales. Industry is oil&gas gathering and processing equipment (upstream and midstream)

@Capitol Ag

Thank you for the helpful advice. I think I'm my own worst critic at times.

I've been in pressure vessel manufacturing since I graduated. I've done some quality roles, project management, and a little bit of design and engineering. Project management was the most fulfilling but also super challenging, especially with the supply chain issues after 2020.

I've always been interested in supply chain but I'm afraid I'd have to take a big pay cut to be a buyer or an analyst.

I probably need to do some soul-searching to figure out where I need to be. But right now I'm just looking to get back to the operations side and away from commercial.

Does job hopping (or appearance thereof) even matter? I think not.

Only time i was miserable I got promoted from field operations to office engineering. Culture was toxic in the houston office. Granted I may not be office material but the clique-iness, tom foolery, kiss*ass BS that had to be put up with made me a miserable person to be around. Best thing that happend is I got laid off and went back to a field role. All of a sudden the weight I put on fell right off, wife was much happier, personal life improved.

So all that bitterness to say - Do what makes you happy. Life's too short to be stuck at a miserable job if you've got options.

broach the subject with the current boss about how you aren't happy like you thought you'd be and see what happens - maybe theres a spot at the current company in a different role? Or maybe the boss is a ***** about and you give your notice then.

You are probably overthinking it. You have a bit of a story if you are moving away from sales again and applying for non sales roles. Make sure you are really clear explaining what you are looking for in a job and the job hopper label concern in this case will take care of itself.

You are also still early enough in your career where personally, if I were hiring I wouldn't be that concerned particularly if you are applying for a role in a different field than sales.

adv17 said:

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@Capitol Ag

Thank you for the helpful advice. I think I'm my own worst critic at times.

I've been in pressure vessel manufacturing since I graduated. I've done some quality roles, project management, and a little bit of design and engineering. Project management was the most fulfilling but also super challenging, especially with the supply chain issues after 2020.

I've always been interested in supply chain but I'm afraid I'd have to take a big pay cut to be a buyer or an analyst.

I probably need to do some soul-searching to figure out where I need to be. But right now I'm just looking to get back to the operations side and away from commercial.

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Challenging can be a good thing, if it is the type of work that makes you happy and allows you to flow. As was said, being happy is important. Sure, we can all put up with some tough times if you know the outcome puts in in a great position to be happy down the line in a reasonable time frame. But if the job is just drudgery and a clear end isn't in sight, that's the red flag to move on imo. As you said, soul searching is needed. Hell, I feel like there will be multiple points in our career lives where the need to soul search and pivot will arise. So, this won't be the last time. Hence why I think having multiple stops on a resume isn't that bad of a thing anymore. Just have a good story or reason for why and press forward. Sure, if the interviewer can tell you're just lost in the woods on what to do next and get the feeling you just need a place holder job (not that this is a bad thing-we all HAVE to work. I am a teacher but do not at all plan on retiring a teacher, I have other things I want to accomplish in my time on Earth. But this works for me right now), then the resume might be an issue. But if you have your reasons down and can answer to them in the interview well enough, it likely won't be an issue for most. And this is where networking especially comes into play b/c, again, this is a person that will know you more than know your resume. Words on a piece of paper can never tell your story the way you the person can.

Good luck. It sounds like you have a few options to look at in terms of interests and potential opportunities. Just cultivate your network and keep it up to date and you should be fine.

FunnyFarm14 said:

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Does job hopping (or appearance thereof) even matter? I think not.

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I think it can at a certain point. But definitely not in your first 6ish years of your career.

job hopping doesn't matter anymore

knoxtom said:

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job hopping doesn't matter anymore

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I've been recruiting for 26 years and I don't care about people moving around, unless they can't explain they reason why.

Now older hiring managers may still be hung up on that topic.

Call BWFS and see if they are hiring