Seeking opinions on the situation I’m in right now. I worked at Autodesk for 5 years right after university, switched over and worked at 2 startups during a turbulent 1.5 year window.... Boomeranged back to Autodesk for another year and half now... At this point I’m torn as to whether it would be considered appropriate to switch jobs again - I’m getting a good pay bump and a role where I potentially see myself growing in. On paper, this would be seen as my 4th job in ~9 years (it’s the 5th job in reality).
Did the startups crash and burn, or are the still in existence you just decided to quit them?
One of them was cash stricken, the other I left cuz my role didn’t align with my interests (I only realised that on hindsight)
Well make sure you have a nice little blurb thought up for the response and you’ll be fine. “That one ran out of money” won’t get follow up questions but the second could get a basic one like “in a startup couldn’t you define your roll?” “What did you do to address your concerns with management before you finally quit” etc type behavioral questions.
Companies don't care as much as you think about job hopping
I see no problem. 6.5 out of 9 years didn't at the same company. Two startups that didn't work out is certainly defensible. Don't worry about it and go for it.