Key Takeaways
- Frequent job changes on a resume don’t reveal the reason behind them, and those reasons often include disability-related barriers, inaccessible workplaces, or caregiving demands rather than lack of commitment.
- An estimated 1 in 4 U.S. adults lives with a disability, and many disabilities are non-apparent, meaning hiring managers may see short job tenures without ever knowing the circumstances behind them.
- Because the ADA generally bars disability-related questions before a job offer, hiring decisions are often made without that context, so treating job-hopping as a red flag risks disadvantaging qualified candidates.
- Structured interviews, work samples, and competency-based assessments are stronger predictors of job performance than resume tenure, and nonprofits committed to equity should examine whether their screening practices unintentionally work against that goal.
During a recent conversation with a client, we were discussing a finalist for an executive role when someone remarked that the candidate would probably stay only two or three years. My response was simple: If that individual delivers the transformation the organization needs during those years, why wouldn’t that be considered a successful hire?
That conversation prompted me to reflect on my own career. Prior to founding Weiser Innovations, many of my roles lasted only one to two years. Looking back, I realized I have always been drawn to building organizations: developing strategy, creating systems, and leading transformation. Once those systems are established, however, my motivation shifts toward solving the next complex challenge.
Following my diagnosis with autism and ADHD as an adult, I also began wondering whether there was another explanation. Like many late-diagnosed neurodivergent professionals, I started exploring how neurodiversity may have influenced my career path. What I found raised a broader question: Are hiring managers unintentionally overlooking exceptional talent because of assumptions about job hopping?
For nonprofit organizations committed to equity and inclusion, that question deserves careful consideration.
A Resume Rarely Explains Why
Candidates leave organizations for countless reasons, including restructuring, toxic leadership, caregiving responsibilities, contract positions, organizational instability, burnout, inaccessible workplaces, or disability-related barriers. A resume records where someone worked and for how long, but it rarely captures the circumstances behind those transitions.
Research consistently shows that employees with disabilities face greater workplace barriers, stigma, and challenges obtaining appropriate accommodations, all of which contribute to higher turnover than their non-disabled peers. The issue is often not commitment to work, but the conditions under which work is performed (Lindsay et al., 2018; Schur et al., 2013).
Hidden Disabilities Often Remain Hidden
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that approximately one in four U.S. adults lives with a disability, and many disabilities, including autism, ADHD, learning disabilities, chronic illnesses, mental health conditions, and autoimmune disorders, may not be immediately apparent (CDC, 2024).
Many people with non-apparent disabilities choose not to disclose during the hiring process because they fear conscious or unconscious bias, being perceived as less capable, or jeopardizing employment opportunities despite legal protections. Others prefer to be evaluated solely on their qualifications or simply view their disability as private unless accommodations become necessary (Job Accommodation Network, 2023; U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 2000).
As a result, hiring managers reviewing a resume often see only several relatively short periods of employment, not the circumstances that produced them.
Why This Matters for Nonprofits
The Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits disability discrimination and generally prevents employers from asking disability-related questions before extending a job offer (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 2000). Consequently, hiring decisions are frequently made without knowing whether an applicant has a disability.
While changing jobs is not a protected characteristic, automatically treating frequent career moves as evidence of poor commitment may disproportionately disadvantage qualified individuals whose employment histories were shaped by undisclosed disabilities or inaccessible workplaces.
Organizations committed to disability inclusion should therefore examine whether resume screening practices unintentionally conflict with their equity goals.
Neurodiversity Challenges Traditional Assumptions
Research has repeatedly demonstrated that autistic and other neurodivergent professionals experience significant barriers during both hiring and employment despite possessing strengths such as systems thinking, innovation, sustained attention, analytical reasoning, and pattern recognition (Austin & Pisano, 2017; Scott et al., 2015).
Many adults are diagnosed only later in life. Before understanding their support needs or before finding an employer with an inclusive culture, they may move through several organizations searching for an environment where they can succeed. The resulting resume may resemble instability when, in reality, it reflects persistence and resilience.
Looking Beyond Tenure
Industrial-organizational psychology consistently finds that structured interviews, work samples, and competency-based assessments are substantially stronger predictors of future job performance than resume heuristics alone (Schmidt et al., 2016). Tenure is easy to measure; contribution is not.
Rather than asking, “Why have they had so many jobs?” hiring committees might ask:
- What did this individual accomplish in each role?
- Were these intentional career advancements?
- What organizational circumstances influenced these transitions?
- What evidence demonstrates adaptability, resilience, and measurable impact?
These questions generate information. Assumptions generate bias.
A Mission-Aligned Opportunity
The nonprofit sector exists to remove barriers and expand opportunity. Those values should extend to hiring.
Not every job hopper will become an exceptional employee, just as not every long-tenured employee will excel. The goal is not to replace one stereotype with another, but to evaluate candidates based on evidence rather than assumptions.
When nonprofits look beyond tenure and instead assess impact, adaptability, growth, and potential, they make stronger hiring decisions while reducing the likelihood of overlooking talented professionals whose careers have been shaped by barriers that never appear on a resume.
Benjamin Freedman is the CEO of Weiser Innovations. Weiser is an innovative talent acquisition firm with deep roots in the nonprofit sector and partners with 501 to help build a talent acquisition program at an affordable price for its 3,000 nonprofit clients. Contact us today for talent acquisition assistance.
(Images by: Razvytrica and Bilalulker)
