Changing the company within in 1.6 years

[Karthikayan Rajasekaran]

Hi All,

I have total experience 3.6 years in Java/j2ee technologies. I have worked in middle size company for the first 2 years. After that I have joined in big MNC.Currently I am working in this company for the last 1.6 years.

Can anyone tell me , changing the company within 1.6 years leads to any problem in my career.

Thanks,
Karthikayan

[Ulf Dittmer]

That can't be answered in general. It is on the short side (as was your first stint), so be prepared to address the reasons for leaving in interviews.

[Henry Wong]

Ulf Dittmer wrote:That can't be answered in general. It is on the short side (as was your first stint), so be prepared to address the reasons for leaving in interviews.

BTW, I once asked a candidate this question -- for the same reason that the stint was short. And there were many reasons, all related to how bad the company was, how bad the people were, and how badly he was treated.

Don't answer the question like that...

Henry

[Jan de Boer]

Since I am having the same problem, I have read a little about it. The main advices I found, are: Try to stay two years. Two years is a sort of minimum to get away with. Staying a few extra months should be doable for you? Like Henry says, it is not good to talk negative about former employers. You should say something like, I loved the people and my manager was a nice bloke, but they were working with legacy software, and I have to think about my future. On the other hand, if you can get a job by just telling the truth, tell the truth. I dont like to lie either. If a job was just bad, it was what it was. I am one year at a new company, have got six months left in a new contract, and I am sitting it out, knowing I am not going to be here next year for sure.

If it cheers you up, I know your situation. :-)

[K. Tsang]

There can be many reasons why a person would leave a job. That reason may be good or bad. Good for you may be bad for the company and vice versa.

I also agree 2 years is the normal tenure but if less than that, reasonable reasons for leaving are:
*End of project (and don't mention whether there are any new projects or not nor whether you like to work on it or not)
*Want to explore new this and that (and company direction isn't that)
*Want to gain more responsibilities (especially if you are looking for a promotion)

Despite the 2 year tenure is a good practice, but if things go south ... it doesn't matter if it's a month you are the one to make the call (eg leave the company, change team, transfer department etc)

At the end of the day, try to bring the "positive" side of things. Hoe this helps.