Gone are the days where multiple previous roles on a resume meant that you were a serial job-hopper and no one would work with you. In the modern job market, successful people change jobs frequently. If you are able to stay at a position for a year or longer, that can be helpful to show that not all of your positions are short duration and that you can be productive in the same role for an extended period of time. However, a few contract positions of 3, 6, or 9 months on a resume now just shows your versatility in a volatile market. Make sure you clearly explain any short-duration positions on your resume, so that hiring managers understand the difference between roles you had that ended as scheduled and roles that ended unexpectedly.
Temp positions can also be unpredictable in length. While many are 12 months or less, in some contracting arrangements, you could be with the same company for several years (Cinder has many employees that have been with us over 5 years!). Make sure you get clarity on the anticipated duration before you start a new role with a staffing company.
There are a lot of industry terms in the recruiting and staffing world. If you want to learn more, refer to this glossary of recruiting terms that we’ve been building.
*This content was originally written as a guest post on Mac’s list, available here: https://www.macslist.org/career-happiness/top-misconceptions-about-recruiters-explained