Thoughts on applicants holding jobs for short periods of time?

[freshgirl]

I am looking for some opinions on my current situation. I recently resigned from the police academy. My goal is to work on the issues I was having and put myself through the extended academy starting in the fall. At this point, I need to find a job to support myself, but I'm not looking for anything that is too serious or demanding since I will be at the academy soon and want to focus my energy on that.

I have had a couple job offers from a few retail stores, I know I would probably make more filing for unemployment, but I would rather not go that route. None of these stores offer health benefits, but I have a couple applications at places that do.

My question is; will it look bad on my background if I accept one of these job offers for now and quit if I receive an offer from a place that does offer health benefits later on?

I’m worried about going through the academy without having a health plan and I don’t think I’ll be able to afford to pay for them on my own.

Other than that, I have a good job history. I worked consistently, I have had four jobs in 10 years (including jobs I held while in college), and left each one voluntarily.

[manahmanah]

I would not have a problem if I were a B.I. I mean, till you are hired you gotta do what you gotta do to meet your financial obligations and take care of yourself. Between the time I was out of the Marine Corps and finally got hired I had several different jobs and was on unemployment for a period of time as well. It's not like you're being a deadbeat, you're doing what you have to do. It's all up to the discretion of the B.I. and as long as you can explain your reasons for switching jobs I would not worry about it.

[DeltaV]

As long as you have a reasonable explanation of why you left the job, it shouldn't really be a problem.

Keep in mind though that you can get individual healthcare plans from good insurance companies for the neighborhood of $50 a month. They aren't going to cover weekly trips to the doctor, but will cover any major healthcare expenses, which is really why you want insurance in the first place. Most employers, even if they do offer insurance, make employees wait an averave of 30-60 days before coverage starts.

If I were doing your BI, I'd be more concerned about why you started the academy then quit rather than the job you held during the academy.

[Ken K]

I've heard that going the unemployment route could be detrimental to a BI. So any job that shows you are working through things is better. Someone else may have different thoughts on that point.

Like M98 said, be more concerned on the issues you were faced with at the academy.

[madsnax]

I've bounced around jobs alot. I'd hope that my BI would understand that in the technical industry, people move around when they're offered a better/higher paying job. At least in my case, I've had lots of job advancement. I've left companies and come back a year later when they offered me a better job or more money. I've also been laid off twice, right before Christmas. There is no corporate loyalty, at least in my field. I've got to look out for my family, when someone is offering me $27 an hour over $21, any reasonable person would take it!

[freshgirl]

Like M98 said, be more concerned on the issues you were faced with at the academy.

Thanks,
My main issue was PT, I did not fail PT, but I was on the bubble and one of the training officers did not feel I was trying hard enough. There were some communication problems between him and myself. Nothing confrontational, but I obviously was not communicating effectively with him. I wasn’t really given a choice other than to resign.