Today we released the results of a survey today to help job candidates pinpoint what might be holding them back from landing a job. The anonymous survey of 1,500 recruiters and hiring managers revealed that job hopping, a path often taken by the younger workforce, has long-lasting implications on a resume.

According to 39 percent of recruiters, the single biggest obstacle for an unemployed candidate in regaining employment is having a history of “hopping jobs,” or leaving a company before one year of tenure. Thirty-one percent consider being out of work for more than a year as the greatest challenge in regaining employment, followed by having gaps in your employment history (28 percent).

Additional key findings include:

Age is Not Just a Number. Seventy percent of respondents say candidates in their 30s are the easiest age group for recruiters to place in new jobs. Respondents also said that there is greater demand for candidates in their 40s than for candidates in their 20s. Only one percent of recruiters felt candidates in their 50s were the easiest to place, with zero percent responding favorably for the 60-year-old age group.

Unemployment Can Lead to Being Unemployable. The range of time for which a candidate can be unemployed before it becomes difficult for recruiters to find him or her a job is between six months and one year, according to 36 percent of respondents. Seventeen percent said that being unemployed for fewer than six months would still make it difficult to place someone in a job and four percent feel it is difficult to place anyone unemployed, no matter the duration.

Your Skill Set Could Kill Your Chances. When asked about factors that make it hardest for recruiters to place unemployed candidates in jobs, 31 percent said “if the skills [candidates] possess are no longer in demand,” while 26 percent said “if [candidates] are out of touch with the modern workplace/technology.”

Read our full press release here: http://www.bullhornreach.com/content/recruiter-survey-results

For an infographic illustrating the findings, please visit: http://bit.ly/PL1p9E