How To Talk About Job-Hopping, Gaps And Freelancing In Your Next Job Interview

According to the Ladders, 75% of Millennials (and 64% of all employees) think that job-hopping can help their careers. But many employers don’t feel the same way. In the job interview process, if you have gaps, job-hopping or extensive freelance experience, those things can actually work against you. Your “diverse and varied background” could lead an employer to think that you are impetuous, flighty, or unable to make a long-term commitment. How can you overcome that perception, and prove that you’re the best candidate for the job?

You should never hire someone to work for you unless you would work for them, in an alternate universe.

When Forbes reports that four out of five Fortune 100 CEOs have been in the role for 10 years or more, job-hopping may actually be contrary to a career in the C-Suite. But who cares? How about having the career you dream about, instead of trying to match up with the CEO of Chevron before you’re 30? In a 2017 report, Pew Research says that 75% of surveyed Millennials have been with their current employer for at least 13 months. If those numbers don’t fit for you, and you’re overachieving on that stat, here’s how to have an interview that elevates your skills over experience.

1. What’s More Important Than Experience? In a job interview, there are really two questions you can answer. One is, “Tell us about your experience.” That question might focus your attention on a chronological retelling of your work history (yawn). That means staring at that six-month gap, or the time you did four consulting gigs inside of a year before you landed at Boeing. Those choices might be hard to explain, when you look at them from the standpoint of consistency, commitment and longevity. But there’s another question that’s more valuable. A question that’s much more powerful. Answering it fully, sincerely and clearly is the key to overcoming your experience. Here’s the question: How can you help us? When you focus on how you can help your next employer, you’re focusing on what matters most. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg looks for raw intelligence and resourcefulness over experience. He says, “You can hire someone who’s a software engineer who’s been doing it for 10 years…that’s cool…but if you find someone whose raw intelligence exceeds theirs but has 10 years less experience…they could probably adapt and learn way quicker and in a short amount of time do a lot of things the (the more experienced person could never do).” Service - in other words, how you can help your next employer - is always more powerful than experience. After all, do you think Zuckerberg got his job because of his experience? Not at all. It was his innovation and intelligence, not experience, that led him to create Facebook.
2. Do Bad Companies Happen to Good People? The answer to that question is: YES. Yes, they do. Have you experienced a role or a team or a company or a boss that just wasn’t a good fit? Bad companies happen. But good people keep moving on, seeking out ways to create an impact. How did you move on, and become more, because of your past experience (or in spite of it)? Moving on from a bad role so that you can find a good one doesn’t seem like a negative to me. The key is: what do you believe about your choices? Make sure that you share how your decisions served your goals and your purpose. Connect that purpose to your next employer, and turn your choices into assets in the interview.
3. “Move Fast and Break Stuff” - those are the famous words of Mark Zuckerberg. If you’re not moving fast, you’re standing still. And sometimes, moving out is the only way to move up in your career. Does your next employer value innovation? How does the organization’s culture align with your desires and goals? Consider this possibility: what if you didn’t have to have a long, drawn out story about how you had to take six months off when your mom broke her hip? What if it wasn’t necessary to explain that traveling around Europe was really important to you right after you graduated? Then what would you share in the interview? Consider the simple words of Katherine Hepburn: “Never complain, never explain.” We live in an era of entrepreneurship, AI and innovation - where technology is antique 18 months after its release. Your career shelf-life isn’t about longevity at a particular employer. Look instead at the consistency of your purpose. Your commitment to your values. Your ability to serve in different ways. Are you really aligned with what you want to do? Then don’t apologize for the choices you’ve made to get you to this point. Just move fast, and break stuff - because sometimes life is like a piñata. You gotta break it open to find the good inside.

Relating to Relationships

The number of girlfriends or boyfriends you’ve had may or may not make you a good partner. Sometimes it’s because you had a bad past relationship that you’re better at this one. And you prove that fact one day at a time. Leaving previous employers doesn’t mean that you’re a bad employee - it means you made choices. The past doesn’t determine the future - the present does. The future belongs to those who create it, and that means that you’ve got to focus on now. Remember, there’s nothing wrong with changing companies, or changing partners, to find who you really are. Welcome to the human race - we are all engaged in that very same search.

Remember these two principles:

√ The past reminds us, but it doesn’t define us.

√ You can’t drive your career forward by looking in the rear-view mirror.

If you’re looking to make a change, make sure you’re clear about the service you can provide - and create an equitable arrangement for your career move. The past is fixed - there’s no need to try and fix it. Focus on the experience you can create for your next employer, and get crystal-clear on what you can do in your next role. That way, you only have to look in the rear view mirror if you’re planning to go that way. Keep moving forward - there’s new opportunity ahead.