6 tips on how to avoid repeated changes of job

The tradition of jobs for life may be no more - but human resources practitioners still believe that job hopping can damage candidates' chances of finding work.

A survey by Jack Hammer Executive Headhunters found that almost 90% of HR managers would expect candidates to provide "a very good explanation" for repeated short tenures with various employers.

Debbie Goodman-Bhyat, the agency's CEO, said employers knew times had changed, but a CV filled with short stints at many companies still raised "red flags and could hurt a candidate's chances of securing a new job".

She has the following advice on what to consider before changing jobs:

1) It is important for job applicants to feel they are the "right fit" for the new company they wish to work for;

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2) If you face issues that make you want to leave, see if you cannot resolve them first before resigning;

3) How short is too short? The survey found that 55% of respondents considered less than a year a problem, and 45% said that between one and two years was too short. Most HR managers said they could understand one short stint at a company, but more than that would "be unacceptable";

4) Too many moves were an indication of poor judgment by the candidate, "poor performance", a lack of resilience, or that the employee "had not delivered";

5) Do not despair if you have moved around a fair amount, as long as you have good reasons for doing so or if your references explain what happened; and

6) If faced with a choice, "we would definitely go with" a more stable applicant, said one respondent.