CodeSmith for CS University Graduates

Oh definitely not, changing jobs once is fine in that period but more than once raises some flags that need explanation. I thought you had more jobs because you said a 'stint at Microsoft' that I interpreted as a short thing and that you had more jobs. Re: layoffs, the hard truth is that unless more than 15% of the company was laid off, it was performance related in some capacity. If you were running a company and you had to mass layoff and cut departments, you would take all the best engineers from those areas and move them before laying off the team. It would be irrational not to do that after putting so much effort into finding and nurturing the best engineers. Now let's say you had to lay off 20% of staff across the whole company, and you tell each manager to remove 20% of people... do you think they would remove anyone but the lowest performers on their team? I know this can be harsh, but I think it's important to understand and acknowledge BUT THE FLIP SIDE is that if you have a performance layoff it doesn't mean you are a bad engineer!!! It means the company wasn't the best for you. Even if you did ok but weren't a top performer, there is a better fit for you somewhere else. If this is the case for you, acknowledging strengths and weaknesses and finding that fit will get you farther than not. You said your jobs were boring and easy, but I would look at that. If you were the #1 performer the first company would have kept you unless they let go of all their engineers. The contract would have renewed or you would have been recommended to a different team or you would have interviewed and converted full time.