Don't assume we're job-hoppers. In fact, let's eliminate that term entirely

The world's changed since the 1980s. It's time to stop using decades-old career templates and update our collective thinking on what an ideal resume looks like.

Something that comes up a lot in interviews is the number of jobs I've had. "You've moved around a lot," is something I'm used to hearing at this point.

It's getting a little old, though I don't mind answering questions about this. It's necessary. But, what does bother me is the way some people assume many jobs on a resume means the individual is a job-hopper, who chooses to jump around and who should lose points for it. There are a lot of people out there whose story looks like mine.

My company is outsourcing operations on July 1, so I'm currently in the hunt for my next job after three years and eight months in my current marketing role. I've also worked for a company that downsized when the economy went bad, one that restructured under a new owner, one where the board came in and slowly eliminated the staff (I escaped before they got to me), and a start-up that went out of business.

I've also left jobs a couple of times for the same reason a lot of people leave jobs, like for a better opportunity for my family once or because I'd burned out from the stress, and will happily answer any questions people have about why I departed any job. I'll be honest about the best and worst moments of my career when asked. I'll even tell people about the one time I was fired. Giving answers doesn't scare me.

But, what I do worry about are the people who don't ask questions. For all the people asking why I've moved around a lot, I assume there are others who see the long resume and don't even call. I've read enough articles, run into enough skeptics and seen my resume raise enough questions that I'm certain I've been moved to the "no" stack without even being given the opportunity to explain why I've had a lot of one to three year stints at places.

We really need to take a collective step forward here. The days where large numbers of people stay with one company for their entire career and get a retirement party, or where someone has three jobs over the course of their lifetime, are mostly gone. Pensions don't exist in the ways they once did, nor does company loyalty. As much as some of us are looked at as job-hoppers, there are a lot of companies who churn through staff at an amazing rate. Do we have a name for these companies, similar to the career-limiting label society has given to the people these organizations easily move on from?

As a member of Generation X, I entered the workforce in time for the burst of the dot-com bubble, 9/11, the crash of the housing marketing and now the COVID-19 pandemic. I sometimes feel judged by people older than me who didn't have this many extraordinary economic events hit their generation in their first two decades in the workforce. That's not to say many of those who started their career before me haven't been hit with layoffs and set backs too. But, we need to stop using the Baby Boomer career template for those who entered the workforce after them.

It's past time we updated our thinking on what it means when someone sends you a resume showing they've spent a few years working for many companies. We're not all job-hoppers. In fact, some of us carry experience and skills developed across multiple industries. We also know a thing or two about adversity. Give us a judgement-free shot.