Our primary niche is in the placement of Contract CRAs. And by the nature of the contract ‘beast’, often those assignments will be short. Even though our firm understands that this is often how contract positions work, we will still ask CRAs the reason for leaving their last assignment (or position if perm).
So this begs the question – what answer are we looking for?
While there isn’t a perfect answer to this question, candidates should evaluate their own tenures…for both their contract assignments and permanent positions. I recently had a candidate approach me who had horrible (seriously – horrible) tenure. When I explained to her that she looked like a job hopper and should consider sticking with her current position a bit longer to improve her brand as a candidate, she was shocked.
She didn’t realize that she had poor tenure!
Then it was my turn to be shocked. Until I told her that her tenure was less than desirable, she had no idea. She then confided in me that it now made sense as to why she wasn’t winning interviews. So we thought we would educate our audience on this topic. What is poor job tenure? When is the reason for leaving an assignment or position not okay? When is it absolutely okay?
Oh – and how do you answer the fated ‘what was your reason for leaving’ interview question?
Listen to find out!