Every bit of career advice for executives tells you to use recruiters, network and get introductions. What you are not told is the scariest question you will be asked as you look for a job is, "How long have you been with your current (or previous) employer."
Many people believe the job search myth that it is acceptable, even expected, to change jobs every two years. The fact of the matter is, most recruiters won't even consider a candidate with a pattern of very short tenure. Their clients don't want to hire them and recruiters do what they are asked. Even when there are, what you believe to be, perfectly good reasons for your brief stays, prospective employers still don't want to consider you because they assume you make bad decisions or decisions made without research. Either way, they prefer to consider candidates with a solid track record.Does this mean you won't be considered for the best jobs if you have a few short stints? That depends on the whole picture; if you had seven years at one company and only 18 at another, there is a certain balance. Your next job must be a keeper to cancel out the 18 month job.
Excellent performers tend to stay in their jobs three to five years. They live with the results of decisions they make and they learn from their mistakes. They implement course corrections, bring in new resources and in general, learn how to survive. People with short tenures are not seen as people who have that very core experience. Your time in service is a vital part of your appeal to a future employer.
It behooves any candidate to vet the company and their manager carefully before accepting any job. Use glassdoor.com and other corporate sites to learn what you can about the company, the management and their market.
Hoovers.com or Vault.com and search engines like Google and Yahoo! all prove valuable when researching companies online. Other research tools are magazines, periodicals and other publications such as Fortune, Forbes, Black Enterprise, BusinessWeek, The Wall Street Journal, Jungle Media, Hispanic Business, Working Mother, to name a few. Through best-of and worst-of lists and other featured articles, these publications provide current research on companies. If you are a LGBT candidate, use sites like Outandequal.com to learn about companies with a good track record in human rights. Consider your longevity with an employer an investment in your career. People with who stay five years always trump those with that mythologically acceptable two year history. You have to love those odds.
Rita Ashley, Job Search Coach