亲爱的安妮：我和朋友为一件事相持不下，约定打赌，这里想请您帮忙做个了断。我是一位软件开发员，有11年的工作经验——其中6年服务于一家公司，最近5年在3家不同的公司工作。从2008年开始，我的工作变动比较多。被裁员后我找了一份工作，然后一位前同事给了我一个更具挑战性的机会，我就离开了那家公司。这是一个与客户相关的好机会，我接受了。现在我已经有了好几张新的证书，希望能到其他地方充分施展各项技能，同时获得相应的回报，这一切在现在这家公司看来都不太可能。

    唯一让我犹豫的是一位同事（兼朋友）告诉我说，如果我在现有职位上没有做满两年，会被认为是一位“频繁跳槽者”。这一定是件坏事吗？您怎么看？打赌输了的人要买午餐。--青青草原

    亲爱的青青草原：或许你们应该共同承担午餐费用。原因如下：一方面，每隔两、三年就换一份工作，如今这样做给人带来的负面影响已经远远比不上这场经济大萧条降临之前。“部分原因是因为近年来经济不稳定，还有一部分是因为随着Y代人进入就业市场，人们越来越愿意做一个自由人，”纽约市高管培训公司Career Leverage的总裁南希•弗莱德伯格指出。“它只关乎技能，与忠诚度或安全度都没有关系。跳来跳去已经成为新的常态。”

    你这一行尤其如此。“有些公司依然对有多段工作时间不满一年的求职者持保留态度。”波士顿猎头和招聘公司WinterWyman的IT业务合伙人特蕾西•凯施曼表示。“但我得说，也有越来越多的雇主不愿聘用在一个地方做了多年的人，或者整个职业生涯都在一个地方工作的人。招聘方可能会觉得这些人没有足够的野心，或者过于执着于某种文化或思考方式，难以适应新的环境。”

    就你的情况而言，前同事给了你一个具有挑战性的职位，这无疑是个加分。“通常那些频繁跳槽的人都是被以前的老板或同事招走的，”凯施曼称。“如果认识的人愿意与你再次共事，这是一个积极的信号。”

    不过，有一点必须要注意，这非常重要：和其他很多事情一样,话要怎么讲很关键。“只有在跳槽似乎毫无目标时，跳槽才会被认为是个问题。你可能会被认为不稳定或不可靠，”弗莱德伯格说。“但如果你做的每项决定都有一个好的理由——无论是增加职责、深化专长或获得更有市场竞争力的新技能——你很可能会被认为是一位职场快速上升者，而不是一位频繁跳槽者。”

    为了引导形成此类看法，她表示，必须确保简历所显示的职业生涯合乎逻辑。“简历应当讲述一个故事，不能光光按照时间罗列自己曾经从事的工作，这种做法很乏味。”

    弗莱德伯格建议她的客户将个人从事时间最长的工作（就你的情况来看，是那份从事6年的工作）列入简历第一页的页首摘要部分，特别是如果这家公司是一家知名企业的话。”然后，简短列明你的技能和专长领域。第三部分，应当简要写下你职业生涯至今的一些亮点——那些与你当前想获得的工作相关的重要成就。

    Dear Annie:Please settle a bet. I am a software developer with 11 years of experience -- six of them at one company, and the last five in three different places. I've moved around a lot since 2008 because, first, I got laid off and then, when I found another job, I left it because a former colleague offered me a bigger challenge. That turned into an interesting opportunity with a client, which I took. Now, I have a couple of new certifications and am thinking of going someplace where I could use all my different skills and get paid for them, which isn't happening here.

    The only reason I'm hesitating is that a coworker (who is also a friend) tells me that, with not quite two years in my current position, I'll be seen as a "job hopper." But is that necessarily a bad thing? What do you say? Whoever is wrong has to buy lunch.— Greener Pastures

    Dear G.P.:Maybe you should split the check. Here's why: On the one hand, changing jobs every couple of years carries far less stigma than it did before the Great Recession. "Partly because of all the economic instability lately, and partly due to the entry of Gen Y into the workforce, people increasingly see themselves as free agents," notes Nancy Friedberg, president of New York City executive coaching firm Career Leverage. "It's all about the portfolio of skills you bring, not loyalty or security. Moving around has become the new norm."

    That's especially true in your business. "Some companies may still be suspicious of anyone with too many short stints of a year or less," says Tracy Cashman a partner in the IT search division at WinterWyman, a Boston-based recruiting and staffing company. "But I would say more employers are reluctant to hire people who have been at one place for several years, or for their whole work history. Interviewers may feel that those people are not ambitious enough, or are so ingrained in a particular culture or way of thinking that they won't be able to adapt to a new environment."

    In your case, the fact that a former colleague tapped you for a challenging position is a definite plus. "Often, those who do move frequently are being recruited by people they previously worked for, or with," Cashman says. "It's a positive sign when people who know you want to work with you again."

    Even so, one important caveat: In this as in so much else, how you tell your story matters. "Job hopping is only a problem if it seems to be random. The danger is that you'll come across as flaky or unreliable," says Friedberg. "But if you have a good reason for each of the moves you made -- whether it was increased responsibility, a deepening of a specialization, or to pick up new skills that make you more marketable -- then you'll most likely be seen as a fast-tracker, not a job hopper."

    To encourage that perception, she adds, make sure your resume shows a coherent career path: "Your resume should tell a story, rather than just being a chronological laundry list of all the jobs you've held, which is very boring anyway."

    Friedberg counsels her clients to put their longest-held job (in your case, that six-year stint) in the summary paragraph that goes at the top of the first page, "especially if the company has a recognizable name." Next, briefly list your skills and areas of expertise. A third section should concisely list the highlights of your career so far -- those significant achievements that are relevant to the job you're trying to get now.