{"id":15493,"date":"2012-11-14T13:56:16","date_gmt":"2012-11-14T20:56:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/?p=15493"},"modified":"2012-11-14T13:56:16","modified_gmt":"2012-11-14T20:56:16","slug":"4-good-excuses-for-frequent-job-switchers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/4-good-excuses-for-frequent-job-switchers\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Good Excuses for Frequent Job Switchers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"12TerrificTips\"<\/a>You\u2019ve got great stats and strong skills. Any top business school<\/a> would be thrilled to have you join its next class\u2026almost. There\u2019s one obstacle standing in your way: your MBA resume<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The problem is that you are victim to what can be referred to as Frequent Job-Switching Syndrome (or FJSS). Those who suffer from FJSS may have impressive jobs listed on their resumes \u2013 that\u2019s not the problem; the problem is that they\u2019ve got way too many of them. Unfortunately, once you\u2019re labeled as someone with FJSS, you may also receive the follow-up diagnosis of commitment-phobe, and that\u2019s never a good label to acquire when you\u2019re applying to business school. Not only do b-schools want to know that you have what it takes to complete the 1-2 years of their rigorous MBA program, but they also want to make sure that you\u2019ll stick with your post-MBA position \u2013 at least for a long enough period so that you don\u2019t damage the school\u2019s relationship with that employer.<\/p>\n

When it comes to explaining your Frequent Job-Switching Syndrome, there are good excuses (as you\u2019ll read below) and bad excuses (like, I got bored, or I hated my boss). We suggest you use the good ones.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. You moved around a lot. You can\u2019t (usually) keep one position for many years if you\u2019re moving around a lot. Of course, you\u2019re going to need to explain why you\u2019ve needed to pick up and leave so many times in the last 5 years or so. You may want to explain how a sick parent required your presence half-way across the country after you\u2019d only been working at your job for 6 months, or how your spouse got relocated at a moment\u2019s notice\u2026twice.<\/li>\n
  2. You got laid off. Getting laid off happens to the best of us. And if you had to work at a not-so-great job just to pay the bills until you found another position in your field, then that\u2019s completely understandable and could easily explain the job jumping.<\/li>\n
  3. Your schedule shifted. There are many reasons why you may have needed to switch from part-time to full-time or from nighttime hours to daytime hours. If one job wasn\u2019t flexible enough to handle your schedule change, then you may have had to leave one position to search for another.<\/li>\n
  4. You weren\u2019t ready to settle. You need to be careful not to tread the wishy-washy line here, but if you\u2019re careful and honest, then it\u2019s possible to use this excuse to your advantage. You may want to explain how one job wasn\u2019t challenging enough or how it didn\u2019t provide you with the long-term growth potential that you had been seeking, and so you had moved on to try and find \u201cthe one.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    It\u2019s important that whichever of the above routes you take, you make sure that you explain how your Frequent Job-Switching Syndrome is only a temporary disease, and that with the right tools (i.e. a topnotch MBA education) and the right match, you plan on staying put in one position for the long haul (with room to grow). If possible, also show that your meandering prepared you for your post-MBA goal<\/a>, that somehow these different experiences (or at least most of them) had some benefit that will help you in your future career.<\/p>\n

    Finally, be sure to explain your multiple positions in a straightforward manner; be honest; and focus on convincing the adcom that you are, despite how it may look, a very committed person.<\/p>\n

    \u201c4 Good Excuses for Frequent Job Switchers\u201d was excerpted from <\/em><\/em>Twelve<\/em> Terrific Tips for MBA Applicants<\/em><\/em><\/em><\/a>. To view the entire free special report, please click here.<\/a><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n

    \"Accepted.com\"<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/em> Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best<\/em><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Accepted.com's experienced admissions consultants<\/a> can help you create the most impressive application possible with comprehensive packages<\/a>, <\/em><\/strong>or provide targeted assistance from picking perfect programs<\/a> to designing a dazzling resume<\/a>, constructing engaging essays<\/a>, or preparing for intense interview<\/a>s<\/a>\u2026and more! Accepted.com has guided thousands of applicants to acceptances at top MBA programs since 1994 \u2013 we know what works and what doesn't, so contact us<\/a> to get started now!<\/p>\n

    This article originally appeared on the Accepted Admissions Consulting Blog<\/a>, the official blog of Accepted.com.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    You\u2019ve got great stats and strong skills. Any top business school would be thrilled to have you join its next class\u2026almost. There\u2019s one obstacle standing in your way: your MBA…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,939,775,113],"tags":[641,227,278,895,761,121],"class_list":["post-15493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mba","category-accepted","category-admission-consultants","category-applications","tag-admissions-tips","tag-application-tips","tag-mba-application-tips","tag-mba-tips","tag-switching-jobs","tag-tips","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15493"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15493\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15495,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15493\/revisions\/15495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}