Too many job changes
Do Silicon Valley companies care if they see too many (4 in 9 years with last 2 in 2 years) job changes on a candidate’s resume?
There is such a thing as too many, but 4 in 9 years is not enough to raise any red flags. That sounds more or less average to me. Switching jobs every 6-9 months for 3+ years would be a potential red flag to me, unless there are very good explanations for what happened (yes, I have seen several resumes like this).
No one judges you if the moves are all upgrades :)
They do in Bay Area. In India probably not.
4 in 9 is a lot. Better have good reasons for it.
Nope, it is not, at least not in Silicon Valley. Nominally above average (which might be closer to 3), but not eyebrow raising. When I see somebody with only 1 or 2 jobs on their resume in 9+ years I assume they are low in motivation and skills unless they show evidence of many promotions during that tenure.
Nope
I can’t speak for Silicon Valley but I’m at 5 in the last 10 years. All necessary moves and all have been understood and welcomed by the companies I moved to.
No one cares as long as you have logical reasons. You could always make up reasons too. Lack of career growth and yada yada...
I've gone through 2 startup acquisitions in 2 years consecutively and it looks like I did 4 jobs in 4 years. I do explain to recruiters that I did 2 jobs total.
Depends on the job changes and why. Sometimes they do, but it depends.