My cousin is a resume reader for the company she works for. The first thing she was told to look for is past job history. How many jobs over a certain period of time. They don't want to hire job hoppers.
The consulting game gets old pretty quickly (I traveled for MSFT for three years) - because you can never really take it easy. In the IT infrastructure side, things can get pretty easy if you do your job well and aren't putting out fires constantly. Thus my having countless hours to waste here on CF feeling superior!
That is a pretty rare mentality these days, especially in the tech world. In most roles, you can get pigeonholed and/or be limited by the tasks you perform - thus limiting your knowledge scope. The longer you stay in roles like that, the harder it is to leave and find another role. People who jump around, get a look behind the curtain at how others do it, which offers unique perspectives. This is a reason some of the most sought after people in technology are those coming off of consulting gigs. Most people only last 2-3 years in consulting, because it is easy to get burnt out being on the road, and never actually "owning" something from start to finish. But, the perspective and knowledge gained, and the lessons learned during that time are usually invaluable. As an example, I was a Microsoft enterprise consultant (PFE) for three years - and in that time I did work for more than 100 enterprises, 43 of which were Fortune 500 companies - and 7 of the current Fortune 10 companies. I was able to see the right, and wrong ways to run an organization and sat in board rooms with some of the most powerful executives in the world. You know what the most valuable thing I learned from that experience? That most executives aren't there because of what they know or how smart they are, but because of who they know, or where they came from. And unless you have an MBA with honors from a prestigious university, the best way to strengthen your standing is through experience... like constant growth every few years, with roles at big name companies people respect. I'll be the first to admit that my time at Microsoft didn't really make me smarter technically - it just made me seem that way because of the logo on my business card. How you are perceived is the most important aspect of your career. Act like you belong. I work for a company that takes personal career development well, but I don't care about their dedication to helping me get the job or role I want. Their timeline simply isn't going to be as quick, or as aggressive as I want mine to be. I have been there 11 months, and while I have moved up twice already, I have my sights set higher. There are some radical changes I'm trying to make happen to make me appreciate the job more, and those will either keep me there longer than two years, or I'll head off to greener pastures 13-14 months from now. At the end of the day, regardless of how well a company may try to make employees empowered, and happy - we are just a number to them. Never forget that. And you know how I get around the "why haven't you stuck around for longer than 2-3 years?" There are reasons I left those companies, and I tell them those reasons. Things like "they weren't innovative enough" or "I feel my knowledge would continually regress had I kept working there," always work. I also say the magic words of, "those were jobs, I'm looking for my career" - which requires the right corporate culture, and most hiring managers think they have that culture. I've never gone on an interview in my professional life and not been offered the job. It isn't hard to sell yourself, and doing so in a way where you can spin your shortcomings into strengths. Confidence has been, and always will be key. You simply have to learn how to be confident, be prepared, and play the game... and it is exactly that, a game.
