Should I feel guilty job hopping?

[vi edit]

Cliffs notes of the last 5 months of my life:

1) Find out in March that the wife and I are going to be moving from Iowa to Nebraska
2) Start applying to jobs in Nebraska in March
3) Last day of work with previous employer is(was) June 1st...no more paychecks
4) July rolls around and I still haven't found anything
5) July 5th I get an offer for a part time job a few minutes from my house...pay is bad...work is boring...but it's IT and it's a paycheck
6) August 9th comes around and I get an offer that pays well for the position doing CSR work...it's full time and has benefits

Meanwhile I'm still actively applying for full time positions in the IT field, but I am tired of waiting around. The CSR position pays quite a bit better than a lot of the entry to mid-entry level tech jobs I've been looking at.

My struggle is that I've had a job(although part time) for a month, and I'm dumping it. I'm worried I'm going to take this CSR job, and a month into that an IT job that I want will pop up.

I've got the money in the bank (plus the wife's paycheck) to keep us going for a year easily, but I don't want to hit the nestegg if I don't have to. I'm really considering picking up the CSR job.

:sigh:

I was with my previous employer 5 years, the one before that for 2. I feel terrible jumping around like this.

 

[robothouse77]

who cares? business is business

 

[Amplifier]

No.

 

[Platypus]

Take the job, if something better comes up then go for it. If employers ask why you've hopped around so much tell them that you didn't feel that you were adding value to the company and you are looking for an opportunity for both employer and employee to gain.

 

[zixxer]

companies will screw you at ANY opportunity

 

[captains]

dont feel quilty....do whats best for you....the company is just gonna do whats best for the company

 

[PingSpike]

Look out only for yourself, god knows businesses these days aren't going to do it for you.

 

[bonkers325]

you work to support yourself, not your employers. do what you need to do, as long as it feels right. especially since you just moved, it shouldn't be an issue.

 

[mugs]

Take the better job. You're part time, they'll get over it.

 

[kranky]

Take the CSR job and when you find something better suited to your experience, take it. No one expects CSRs to stay long-term anyway.

They will have benefited from having you with your level of experience as a CSR anyway, so it's fair.

I don't look at that as job-hopping, I look at it as trying to find a job that's appropriate for your background and skills. Once you find one, you won't be job-hopping. In the meantime, you do what you have to do.

 

[rh71]

part-time ? Fvck them. You do what you want. They should expect it.

 

[GasX]

Noone will EVER fault you for going from a crap part-time job to a full-time one.

 

[Saga]

Omaha?

 

[Phoenix86]

You have to take care of yourself first, so no.

 

[isasir]

The only time I'd worry this would come up is during an interview, at which point you can easily explain your situation - You took work to pay the bills, while continuing to find something in your field of expertise. Assuming the job you're interviewing for is in your area of expertise, there should be no problem.

 

[silverpig]

"I engaged in sexual intercourse with the cleaning lady on the desk in my office."

 

[DaveSimmons]

Originally posted by: isasir
The only time I'd worry this would come up is during an interview, at which point you can easily explain your situation - You took work to pay the bills, while continuing to find something in your field of expertise. Assuming the job you're interviewing for is in your area of expertise, there should be no problem.

Exactly. An employer would hesitate to hire someone changing jobs several times a year to chase the highest salary, but this situation is different.

You might even list these 2 jobs as "temporary" or "(while applying for a full-time IT position)" in your resume to make it clear to the person screening resumes before choosing who to interview.

 

[imported_silentlamb]

Originally posted by: Amplifier
No.

 

[vi edit]

Exactly. An employer would hesitate to hire someone changing jobs several times a year to chase the highest salary, but this situation is different.

You might even list these 2 jobs as "temporary" or "(while applying for a full-time IT position)" in your resume to make it clear to the person screening resumes before choosing who to interview.

Here's the *gotcha* about this situation. My part time employer is a "charity" group with political ties and affiliations with pretty much every major player in town. The board of trustees encompasses pretty much every CEO of a major company in town.

I haven't even listed the part time job on the resume out of fear that a future employer would call up the "charity" group and let them know that I was in the market.

In the future I don't even think I would list the position.

I don't want to burn the bridge here because these guys are entrenched DEEP into the city.

 

[purbeast0]

i still don't see how the original post has anything to do with job hopping.

 

[Aharami]

whatever works out best for you. if it benefits them, your employers wont think twice about dropping you...so why would you think twice about dropping them?

edit: the way I always looked at it: since you dont know what the future holds, choose the best option in the present. the CSR job is the best option in the present. Take that. If something better comes along later on, you can worry about that choice at that time. But if you dont take the CSR job in hopes of finding a better job in the future and nothing comes along in a while, you might kick yourself in the ass for not taking the CSR job

 

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: purbeast0
i still don't see how the original post has anything to do with job hopping.

Took job. Stayed a month. Left. Concerned I will do the same thing with second job when a better opportunity comes around in my field.

 

[habib89]

i don't see why it's so bad.. you need to support you and your wife.. and until you can find something that you want to do, you gotta to do something that you have to do

 

[Siva]

Originally posted by: vi_edit

Exactly. An employer would hesitate to hire someone changing jobs several times a year to chase the highest salary, but this situation is different.

You might even list these 2 jobs as "temporary" or "(while applying for a full-time IT position)" in your resume to make it clear to the person screening resumes before choosing who to interview.

Here's the *gotcha* about this situation. My part time employer is a "charity" group with political ties and affiliations with pretty much every major player in town. The board of trustees encompasses pretty much every CEO of a major company in town.

I haven't even listed the part time job on the resume out of fear that a future employer would call up the "charity" group and let them know that I was in the market.

In the future I don't even think I would list the position.

I don't want to burn the bridge here because these guys are entrenched DEEP into the city.

You are only part time though. I've never seen a part time position that is not easily replacable. They must know you want a full time job as well, I think most employers are understanding if you are on good terms with you. This job doesn't seem to suite your needs, why would you want to be stuck there? The longer you stay the harder it will be to leave.

 

[thujone]

i heard not long ago that nebraska had the most stagnant job market in the nation.

and iowa was one of, if not the, top state as far as job growth.

oh and... i do live in iowa


also... i'm in a similar situation. i just started an IT contract that's temp. just filling in for someone for an indeterminate ammount of time while he's out of the country... possibly up to 6 months, maybe even to hire. i've now been here about a week and a half.

BUT just today i had an interview for another IT job... that's closer to my house... but there's lots of little things not so cool about it. i have to pay for parkin g (free at current job), i'd work weird hours... noon-11pm mon-thurs (currently work 10a-7p mon-fri), and would probably have to do more phone support than i do currently... but... both ARE tier 2 desktop support. in any event... they said i'd hear back from them in a week or 2. and i told them i'd probably need 2 weeks notice.

so really it boils down to if they make me an offer... and what the terms of it are.

previous to this i was unemployed for a LONG time... so job stability beyond 6 months would make me VERY happy.