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Hopping too many startups in a row?

20 points 15characters | 3 comments | 21 Oct 24 01:07 UTC | HN request time: 0.623s | source

The last 3 positions I've held have been SWE at relatively small startups. Within 2 years of being at those companies, big changes occurred prompting me to hop for job security (didn't secure next round of funding, C-suite got replaced, etc). For me, this is the nature of startups- fast turnaround and turnover. I thought this was normal until my last interview where a recruiter was looking for stronger explanations as to why I haven't held a position for 3-4 years recently. Being clear that it wasn't a positive sign to them. Is it really that strange, or were they maybe used to bigger company culture and expectations? Not going to risk my own security riding a sinking ship.
1. muzani ◴[21 Oct 24 03:07 UTC] No.41900344[source]▶
Meanwhile I've had 10 years of experience before my current job, only one of which is longer than a year. It's the nature of startups. I don't think it was ever held against me. If anything, some were only evaluating FAANG-style experience (usually ex-FAANG managers), but I wouldn't qualify for those anyway.

I would say riding a sinking ship is a negative for an employee - it's a world of pivots and rapid change. You shouldn't be too loyal to an idea, and likely that extends to loyalty to a company. For a founder level person, they are expected to see it through to the end, and do graceful shutdowns when it is doomed.

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2. tonyedgecombe ◴[21 Oct 24 10:17 UTC] No.41902568[source]▶
That's more like contracting than a full time position.
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3. muzani ◴[21 Oct 24 13:44 UTC] No.41904103[source]▶
Yeah, that's a better way of putting it. I actually have them on resume as contracting because 1 page resumes are abstractions. The details go into a 20 page portfolio. But if a company has 6 months of runway, I can't mentally consider it a full time position anyway.