Changing jobs within company and then switching companies?

[akafred]

I don't want to be an asshole. I have a job at a big company that is pretty good. I like most of what I do but I feel ready to move on to learn new things. If I switched jobs it would be the fourth I've had in 7 years in the company (but 2 were basically the same, just promoted). I'm not a stay in one place for a long time person, and I'm ready to move on. Plus this job has a Marketing title which means something at my company (even though it isnt't a "marketing" job).

The problem is the commute. I live on the east side of a congested city, work in a southern suburb, and in fall kiddo will start at a school in q western suburb. I have had it in my mind to look for job openings either in my part of town or the western part of town. Will I be shooting holes in my resume if I end up hating the commute and start looking elsewhere?

[mommyatty]

I don't think so. In fact, if you are in one company for a significant amount of time but have multiple positions including promotions at that company, I always assume as a hiring manager that your company saw something in you they were willing to spend the time and money to develop. And that you were pleasant enough to work with that different groups in your organization were willing to bring you onto their teams. So to me it's nothing but a positive. If it were 4 companies in 7 years? I'm not even interviewing you without a damn good explanation.

[akafred]

I just don't want someone to say "You just started a new job 4 months ago. What happened?" Well, it's ok if they say that. It's if they don't look past it to schedule an interview that would bother me .

[sandandsea]

Feb 28, 2015 14:14:32 GMT -5 akafred said:

I just don't want someone to say "You just started a new job 4 months ago. What happened?" Well, it's ok if they say that. It's if they don't look past it to schedule an interview that would bother me .

I think this is a fair interview question, you just need to have a response ready.  I  think moving around a fair amount is relatively common now.  I read an article a while ago that said that the average length of time someone stays with the same company is under 3-4 years or something like that.  Honestly though, I think anything under 6 months is something to be asked about, but not necessarily bad.  When I'm doing interviews, I'm looking for someone that wants to stay and grow long term so that I feel like I can really invest in them.

[billybumbler]

I don't think so. I think people understand that even if you switch jobs inside the company sometimes you just think the company is not challenging enough for you, you know? When I hired people I didn't look too closely at how long they were in each position inside a company, just at how long they were in each company.

[ECB]

So, you may switch to a new position in the same company, be there for 4 months and then leave?

I wouldn't overthink this too much. To what mommyatty said, I think moving within the same company isn't the same as going from company to company. I think moving w/in a company can actually be a good thing on many levels - that you're well known, people like you and people WANT you to move.

Now - if they look at it in detail and do ask "you were only in that position for 4 months, why?", there are a lot of totally reasonable responses. You could make it about the job/company - you've enjoyed working there, had many good experiences, but after this last job switch, you realized you're ready for new challenges.

You could make it about the new company. You weren't really thinking of leaving but you saw the job opening and as the company ... insert some nice things about the company that attracts you to them .. and you wanted to apply and see where it went.

All that being said - even if you left the company, went to a new company and shortly afterwards decided to leave - ONE short job hop like that will lead to them asking but I don't think it would ever knock you out of the running w/o at least an interview (if they like you overall). It happens - people start a new job and realize it's not a good fit. But the point of that is to LEARN. If the job wasn't what you expected, what are you doing NOW to make sure that doesn't happen again? If it was what you expected but you just didn't like it, why? And again, what are you doing to make sure that doesn't happen again? Just show you've learned from it.

It's when you truly start job hopping (company to company) that it will start to raise red flags. Because of what I just said - how many jobs are you going to take that are a bad fit before you really start to analyze it and assess what you're doing wrong?

[akafred]

Haha I pretty much overthink everything.

I don't job hop. I was at my first (real, post-college) job for 7 years in the same dept, just promotions within the dept. Then I worked at another (this time small) company for 2 years until they changed their business model and laid a lot of people off including me. Then I worked at my present job for the past 7, first 3 in one job/dept, transfer to new job for a year and was sought out by another sr mgr based on my skill set, then 18 months there before promotion and another 20 months in my current job (3 years in same dept).

Anyway, I just don't want to go for a new job now if that would be a problem. Sounds like it would be ok.

[ECB]

Yeah, you don't job hop. And even to what someone said above me, I can't imagine they'll be paying such close attention that they'll be noting exactly how long you spent at each position at your present job.

Good luck!

[pittpurple]

You could always structure your resume by place as opposed to by job title

Company 1:
Title 1
Title 2
Title 3

Company 2:
Title 1

I did that with my CV here as I was at the same place but they kept changing my responsibilities. It looked really 'job-hoppy' to me so I just presented it differently.
But regardless, no, I don't think having different jobs in the same place looks bad on a resume, even if it's a short period of time.