I’m Worried Changing Jobs Many Times Will Hurt My Employment Prospects; ‘Writing My Resume Is Depressing’

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:38 JST, March 16, 2025

Dear Troubleshooter:

I’m an unemployed woman in my late 40s. I’m currently trying to find a job.

Before I got married, I mainly worked at financial institutions. I quit when I got married. I started working part-time in childcare after having kids and changed my work conditions as they were growing up.

However, a medical condition affecting my leg worsened, and I was unable to continue working. So I had to quit that job.

I’d changed jobs many times since before I got married. In total, I’ve been employed by six companies, and I quit two of them within a year. I was also forced to change jobs when a company I was working for went bankrupt.

Because of my leg, I’ve taken interviews for jobs in fields completely different from childcare. However, I never got hired.

The experience has made me realize that I’d like to get a job where I can use my qualification as a childcare worker.

I think the large number of times I’ve switched jobs counts against me.

My children have grown up, and I’m searching for a full-time position as a regular worker. I’m worried about whether any company will hire someone who has changed jobs so frequently. Writing my resume is depressing.

— M, Shiga Prefecture

Dear Ms. M:

After getting married and putting your career on hold, you’ve tried to work in positions that suited your lifestyle at the time. You’ve always been involved in society and wanted to work, haven’t you? Although you initially worked at financial institutions, you later get a qualification as a certified childcare worker, didn’t you? That must have taken extraordinary effort. I take my hat off to you.

My three favorite things are taking a nap, having a drink in the evening and sleeping in. I’m not like you at all, and that makes me so ashamed I wish the earth would swallow me up.

There is absolutely no need to shy away from writing your resume just because you have frequently changed jobs. After all, you’ve been very eager to work.

Based on your age, I believe you found a job during the so-called employment ice age and “the lost three decades” after the collapse of the speculative bubble. During that period, the employment rate for new university graduates and the job-openings-to-job-applicants ratio dropped like stones. Business performance floundered, working conditions worsened and salaries were stagnant. Indeed, one of your workplaces also went out of business.

I think you were forced to repeatedly change jobs partly because of your own circumstances, but the circumstances of the times were also a major factor. If you were a new graduate and found employment this year, you might have ended up working at that company for a long time.

Please be brave and try your hand at a new job.

— Eiko Yamaguchi, writer