How to Answer Why Have You Had So Many Jobs

How to Answer Why Have You Had So Many JobsYoure sitting in the interview, and things are going fine, when the hiring manager looks up from your resume, eyebrow raised, and asks the question youve been dreading Youve had an awful lot of jobs, havent you? Can you walk me through that? googletag.cmd.push(function() googletag.display(div-gpt-ad-1467144145037-0) ) DO understand why this is a potential red flag.You probably had reasons for every job switch on your resume. The interviewer doesnt know thatall he or she knows is whats printed in black and white on that fancy cream-colored stock. He or she doesnt know if youve been fired from every punkt youve ever held, or if youre a serial quitter when a shinier new opportunity comes along. Before they can hire you, they need to get a solid sense of your employment history to help determine whether youre a good bet for this company. If you look like a flight risk, the company might not be willing to make that investment in you.DONT assume this makes you look bad by default.The fact that the interviewer is calling attention to your, uh, varied history is not meant to make you feel ashamed, like some kind of job floozy. If youre asked to clarify (or even just given an opening to do so), take a deep breath and make sure you have an elevator pitch-style explanation.DO make sure you have context for all of it.A shoulder shrug or a long, awkward pause is the least helpful response you can give here. Be prepared to talk about why you have a variety of jobs listed over a short(ish) amount of time.DONT make stuff up.If youre asked about the jobs youve listed on your resume, be honest. You dont have to give every gory detail about why you left a particular job, but if you stick to the broad outlines you should be okay. For example I welches let go due to a company restructuring at XYZ Corp, and it wasnt until I landed at the Elite Agency the following year that I felt like I was back on track, professionally.Its okay to admit that you left jobs in the past because they werent a great fit for your professional goals, but be sure to reiterate that you see this current opportunity as having long-term potential.DO consider revising your resume to edit out some job change details.Do you really need every single one of your jobs on there? If you have entries on your resume that lasted less than a year, think about whether that job really adds relevance to your history. If youre not using anyone from that job as a reference and it wasnt a major cornerstone of your relevant experience, then consider dropping it.For example, this block of your resumeEdgy.com Marketing Coordinator, March 2010 February 2012 Whirlwind Inc. Marketing Coordinator, February 2012 November 2012 MakeAMatch.com Social Media Director, November 2012 June 2014could be narrowed down to thisEdgy.com Marketing Coordinator, 2010 2012 MakeAMatch.com Social Media Director, 2012 2014This way, youve smoothed over an interim job that looks like a n odd blip, without leaving a gap. This can also avoid awkward explanations about why you left that middle job so soon.If this question comes up in your interview, take heartits not necessarily a dealbreaker. Its a conversational opening to give context and explain how those jobs turned you into the stellar candidate you are today.

Should Unpaid Internships Exist in 2018 3 Professional Women Weigh In

Should Unpaid Internships Exist in 2018 3 Professional Women Weigh In Unpaid internships, or arrangements in which students or recent grads work for college credit or experience, once seemed like a necessity for those who want to get their foot in the door. And in a number of industries, behauptung internships without pay remain pretty de rigueur.But recently, therbeies been a backlash against the concept of putting young and ambitious employees to work without tangible compensation. As of 2017, 61% of graduating college seniors spent time in an internship or apprenticeship during their academic careers, 57% of whom received payment for their labor (up 6% from 2011). However, unpaid internships still run rampant throughout many industries in the US. And with over 70% of unpaid interns in the US identifying as female, women are disproportionately finding themselves in these positions.In the year 2018, is an unpaid internship ever worth it, for employers or interns? We spoke with 3 pro fessional women to hear their thoughts on this controversial topic.With the unpaid internships, I felt confident in helping shape the role.New Jersey-based HR consultant and career coach Krishna Powell accepted both paid and unpaid internships early in her career. She found that the unpaid positions allowed her more influence and autonomy than the ones involving financial compensation.While in college, I completed two unpaid internships. And to my surprise, I enjoyed the unpaid internships much more than the paid internships. With unpaid internships, I felt confident in helping shape the role of my internship and found that leadership was more than willing to seek my opinion and listen to my suggestions. With paid internships, I found that organizations werent as open to hearing what an intern thought her position could or should be, Powell told Fairygodboss.I found that I felt less valued and did elend work as hard.Los Angeles PR apprentice Hannah Payne is currently wrapping up her undergraduate education, but the paid apprenticeship shes working right now isnt her first go-around on the internship Ferris wheel.My first two internships in college were for PR firms that did not pay their interns. In addition to the work being unpaid, food and gas were not reimbursed. I found that I felt less valued and did not work as hard, Payne told Fairygodboss.While she questions the ethical nature of unpaid internships, she does admit that these non-compensated positions helped her gain experience that proved beneficial to her job hunt.I do think that the ability to put these internships on my resume helped me attain excellent paid internships and career opportunities in the PR field, Payne said.Unpaid internships severely limit the talent pool to only interns who can afford to work for nothing.Marketing VP Wendy Fox of Green House Data hires interns for her department. But sheis strongly commited to paying these employees for their time and labor, largely to make hiring practices as egalitarian as possible.We bring on interns on occasion, but interns are always paid. Even with ethics aside, unpaid internships severely limitthe talent pool to onlyinterns who can afford to work for nothing. That alone is a compelling argument, especially in the current economy where talent is in very high demand.However, the ethical concerns are undeniable. Considering that women already perform almost twice the unpaid labor of men, and are paid less when they are paid,organizations refusing to reinforce the unpaid intern system areparticularly important to womens equality.In a 2017 study, researchers from MIT and Stanford found that paid internships actually may help close the gender pay gap by promoting the managerial track for women and establishing a higher baseline for compensation for first jobs out of school, offering yet another reason to permanently phase out unpaid internships, Fox explained.