How a random coffee shop convo changed my whole approach to applying

I was grabbing a coffee in Portland last Tuesday and overheard two managers talking about how they sort resumes. They said they look for someone who stuck with a job for at least 2 years, no matter what it was. That hit me because I had been jumping between gigs every 6 months trying to climb faster. Now I actually stay put longer and my interviews go way better. Has anyone else heard weird hiring rules like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

williamw7514h ago

Yeah "overheard two managers" - that's a pretty thin sample. Two random people in a Portland coffee shop. Could be wrong about everything. The two year rule sounds like some old school HR thinking that ignores how jobs work now. Tons of industries run on contracts or project work. Six months somewhere could mean you finished the job. Not that you quit. Seems like taking advice from strangers you eavesdropped on is a risky way to change your whole career strategy.

rodriguez.mia13h ago

Lmao right? Next thing you know people will be building their whole job history around what some rando at a Starbucks counter muttered between sips of their matcha latte.

sean_barnes2413h ago

rodriguez.mia, you're not wrong about the whole building a career off coffee shop gossip thing. But the two year rule isn't actually about what some random managers think, it's more about how hiring managers and recruiters tend to view quick job changes. Sure, contract work is a different story, but if you've got three or four jobs in a row that only lasted six months each, that's gonna raise some eyebrows even if you finished the project. I've seen plenty of people get passed over for roles because their resume looked like they couldn't commit to anything. The real issue is taking career advice from strangers at all, whether they're in a coffee shop or not.