I know that generally changing too many jobs does not look good but if someone had genuine reasons and can explain the reasons well does it make anything better?I am talking of a 4th perm job in a span of almost 2.5 years (if I accept the offer). This has been due to combination of redundancies and being forced to take some jobs due to visa restrictions.Or would the advise be to stay put in the current job so that it the time between jobs increases on my CV at the risk of losing a good offer?

Evaluate why you want to resign. It will not be good in your record if you keep on resigning. It is more advisable if you stay at your current job for at least a year before looking for a new job. http://www.headhunt.com.sg/blog/index.php/think-before-you-leap-into-a-new-job

Thanks.Yes I am still evaluating. As I said, the too many changes happened due to a redundancy and me accepting a job (not the best one) within a week of being made redundant to meet some visa requirements.But now after 9 months in the job I have got a decent offer with a good organisation and hence deciding on the options.However, anyone out here if you have been in the interviewers shoes would you hire someone who has frequent changes ?

Some people take a little longer than others to settle down in their careers, so if you are talking about 2.5 years from graduation and the offer with a great company has come up then take it; but do so with the intention to put in 3 - 5 years there. You can afford a move but this really will have to be your last one for a while. You need to show some stability after which your early moves wont look any different than bunch of internships and contracts while getting yourself established.

Marsaday...thanks.Not a grad, but fall in the 6-9 years experience bracket.The early part of the career has been stable with just two employers within first 5 years...it is only the last few years where there have been changes.

2 employers in the first 5 years followed by 4 jobs in the next 2.5 years or so? This does not point to stability. You need to correct this either in your current position or make the move and stay there for 3 -5 years to get some continuity. Consider the company which has made the offer carefully - could you remain with them and progress over 3 - 5 years? If so make the move, but it's imperative you commit to your next company for the medium term. Every time you make one of these short term moves you risk decreasing your market value, and employers wont see you as a premium hire and will therefore push an offer down financially to both offset some risk you will leave quickly, or because they feel they can afford to do so and you have little leverage to negotiate. In individual steps you can easily miss the bigger downward spiral this creates, and in a few more years find yourself earning far below where you would be expected to be at this point, and with a hard fight to try and convince future employers to recover some lost ground. I can see there have been mitigating circumstances but no one is unlucky all the time - sooner of later hiring managers stop looking at the valid reasons and just see instability and unreliability. I guess my advice (for what its worth) would be take the offer, and in future look back on the short term roles as a series of interim positions which have prepared you for the long term position you are about to undertake.

Marsday...thanks once again for the detailed reply. Appreciated :)I have been really thinking over this for last few days, bascially looking at two options1. Stay in current role till I atleast complete 1.5 years and then look at other options - which could be staying perm of going contracting. This means declining the offer I have. 2. Accept the current offer and look to stay 3-3.5 yrs as you rightly suggested.If I take step 2, then my experience would show 4 changes in 2.5 years. Taking 1 would mean I minimise the impact somehow.Another thread going is to just take what is the best now and not to worry too much about future.Thanks

Hello,Well I have been in employer's shoes and I would say that the visa requirement would seem quite a good reason for me. The question is how do you make it visible on your resume/CV. Usually, such information is not placed in your application, so you simply might not get the chance to explain yourself about this.Therefore, if you think you will be able to get through to an interview stage with your experience, I think you will be fine. However, if you are planning to target unknown companies in the future and to go through a standard application procedure, I would consider sticking with the current job a bit longer, 1.5 years or so. I wish you patience and good decisionsFemaleConsultant[url]http://www.FemaleConsultant.com[/url]

i agree with you sticking to one job for at least 2 years or so leaves a good impression on employers . I was also like zee zee sometimes before but later i found that sticking to one job for sometimes increases my experience also & my good impression on my employer alsobest of luck to zee zee

I would also say stay in one job for at least 2 years since you have already been changing jobs a lot in a short period of time. You don't want to be labelled "jumper" I guess...good luck.