Ask HN: How short is too short for brief job stints on a resume to you?

3 points by kylegill 4 years ago | 6 comments

I've been involved in hiring decisions at my current role and have interacted with quite a few engineers who've been at startups for short stints like 3-6 months. I'm a little worried we might onboard someone who won't stick around. We grant a competitive amount of stock, though I think the best way to get people to stay is a good environment for work, and meaningful work to do that feels rewarding.

How much would you weigh brief time at a company on a resume, would it differ if the brief stints were with larger companies?

PaulHoule 4 years ago |

It depends on what the story of the brief stint is.

Somebody might have worked on a stream of small projects, succeed at them, kept moving on. There's nothing wrong with that.

Other people might chronically run into interpersonal problems and that is a concern.

It's a question to approach head-on in the interview.

kylegill 4 years ago | |

> It's a question to approach head-on in the interview.

I like that advice, transparency goes a long way both ways in the interview!

giantg2 4 years ago |

It would depend on the pattern and the reason for the short stint. Also, it depends on what they want to hire you for. If they're hiring you just for a project and plan to let you go afterwards, then short stints for other projects in your past should be fine too.

iwangulenko 4 years ago |

Hi, Iwan Gulenko (https://linkedin.com/in/iwan-gulenko), tech recruiter from Switzerland here.

In every culture it's different. In Switzerland, three stints of less than two years at companies is already a "Nogo".

In your situation, I would throughly ask why the stints were so short; maybe there are good reasons like the companies went bankrupt without any fault of the applicant, or maybe there is another specific reason that makes it more likely that they stick around with you, e.g., if you use a tech stack they love.

MattGaiser 4 years ago |

I don't have an answer to this, but I am curious to whether startups get treated differently than large corps given how quickly they can change.

I work for a startup that is vastly different than the one I joined a year ago and it shows in the turnover and I don't blame people for leaving over it. There are just two people left on my team from a year ago. I doubt that much has changed in my prior job in the government.

kylegill 4 years ago | |

Yeah I can relate. I've only really worked at startups but from conversations I have with friends at larger companies it seems turnover at startups is more the default course and almost expected at times.