Indonesian engineers tend to fall into a familiar pattern: three months at startup A, six months at startup B, a few months at company C. Each move has a reasonable explanation: better salary, more exciting role, or a dysfunctional team at the previous place.
But after five or six job changes within three years, something shifts. Your resume starts to look suspicious to any employer, even ones offering higher pay.
The issue is not about "staying at one place forever." It is about narrative. Every time you job hop, you need a compelling story: "I joined company X to solve problem Y, successfully delivered Z, and now I am ready for a bigger challenge."
Without that story, your resume just looks like "an engineer who cannot commit."
Indonesian engineers have a real advantage in the global market, your technical skill level often matches or exceeds peers in other regions. But there is a gap in one area: a clear portfolio and career narrative.
Many focus 100 percent on technical depth but forget to document what they delivered, what they learned, and how that positions them for the next strategic role.
At any stage of your career: fresh graduate, mid-level with a job-hopping history, or senior looking to transition, there is a 12-month roadmap that can help you build a compelling portfolio and solid narrative. Not about "stop jumping," but about "jump with purpose and make every stop count."
Instead of constantly reacting to each opportunity that comes by, invest in building intentionally. Join RainTech's talent community to connect with companies that value long-term potential and career growth, or subscribe to RainTech's newsletter for monthly insights on how to position yourself effectively for global roles.
Why Indonesian Engineers Frequently Job Hop (and Why it Becomes a Problem)
Several valid reasons drive Indonesian engineers to move around:
- Salaries that do not keep pace with inflation. Startup A offered you IDR 15 million a year ago, but today that feels significantly lower. Each year, you must job hop to keep your salary relevant to the economy.
- Limited growth paths in small startups. You join as an engineer, but there is no senior engineer to learn from, no mentorship structure, and no clarity about when you could grow into an engineering manager or architect role.
- Hyper-competitive market. Recruiters call you every week with "better" offers. At some point, staying at one place feels like a waste.
- Unsustainable burnout. Many Indonesian startups push engineers hard without proper support, benefits, or work-life balance. After a few months, people leave.
The problem is: after five or six job moves, global employers start asking: "Why does this engineer never stay? Is there a personality issue? A commitment problem?"
From the perspective of a hiring manager or investor evaluating engineers for long-term roles (especially remote roles joining a global team), job-hopping history becomes a red flag, even if the reasons are valid from an engineering standpoint.
The 12 Month Portfolio Building Roadmap
This is a framework you can use from wherever you are starting. Not about perfect timing, but about consistency and intentionality.
Months 1–3: Map Your Strengths and Define Your Target Role
Focus: Understand where you are now and where you want to go.
- Technical audit: What skills are your strongest? Backend, frontend, DevOps, full-stack? Machine learning?
- Market research: For your target role (for example: "Senior Backend Engineer at a fintech," or "Full-stack at a Series A startup"), what skills are truly in demand?
- Gap analysis: What are you missing? A specific tech stack? AWS certification? System design knowledge?
Output: Clear profile: "I am a backend engineer strong in X, Y, Z, want to move toward role A, currently lacking skill B and C."
Insight from RainTech: Indonesian engineers often underestimate how strong their technical skills are. What frequently goes missing is not "the ability to code," but "the ability to articulate what you did and why it matters." So this month, also focus on "documenting your narrative."
Action items:
- Write down your last three roles: What was your main achievement? What was the impact?
- Research five job descriptions for your target role. Highlight skills that appear in three or more postings.
- Identify two to three critical skill gaps to fill.
Our article "Indonesia's Tech Talent Outlook 2025: Demand, Strategies, and Real Actions", will give you real insight into what the market is truly looking for in Indonesia.
Months 4-8: Build Your Portfolio Projects
Focus: Create three to four portfolio projects that showcase real skill, not just "tutorial projects."
Portfolio projects are not about "being completely original or complicated." They are about "showing your thinking, showing your execution, showing your polish."
Criteria for a strong portfolio project:
- Shows a real problem: Not about "learning React with a to-do list." About "I built system X because I observed problem Y in the Indonesia market, and here is how I solved it."
- Uses relevant tech stack: If your target is a backend role at a modern startup, your portfolio should use the tech stack they use (Go, Python, Rust, etc.), not just any technology.
- Has clear documentation: A README that explains the problem, how you solved it, what you learned, what the limitations are, and what your next steps would be.
- Open source contribution or side project: Not everything needs to be a side project. If you contributed a feature to a reputable open source project that was merged and is now used by multiple companies, that is equally valuable.
Example portfolio projects for an Indonesian engineer:
- "Built a system to monitor the cryptocurrency market in Indonesia with real-time alerts." (Shows problem understanding plus execution)
- "Contributed feature X to open source project Y, which was merged and is now used by Z companies." (Shows collaborative skill plus impact)
- "Designed and implemented a payment reconciliation system for an e-commerce platform handling thousands of daily transactions." (Shows system thinking plus scale)
Action items for this month:
- Months 4–5: Code and build.
- Month 6: Document. Write clear README, add diagrams, explain your decision-making.
- Month 7: Get feedback. Share with peer engineers, ask for constructive feedback.
- Month 8: Polish and publish (GitHub, portfolio website, blog post).
Month 9-10: Document Your Career Narative
Focus: Write down your story, not about job-hopping, but about "intentional learning and growth."
This is the most critical month to counter the job-hopping perception.
What you need to document:
- For each job: What was your main responsibility? What problem did you solve? What did you learn? How did it prepare you for the next role?
Example weak narrative: "I worked as a backend engineer at three different startups for six months each."
Example strong narrative: "I spent six months at a fintech startup building payment processing systems, learning about transaction safety and compliance. Then I spent six months at an e-commerce platform scaling databases from one million to ten million daily transactions, learning about system design at scale. Now I want to apply both expertise in [target role]."
- Side projects or contributions: What did you build? What did you learn?
- Learning journey: What skills are you actively developing in the last twelve months? Courses you took? Books you read?
Where to document:
- LinkedIn: Update your profile with clear role description and achievements.
- Personal website or blog: Write three to five posts about technical learning or project retrospectives.
- GitHub: Ensure your profile looks professional; pin projects that explain your best work.
For deeper guidance on positioning yourself for roles that value long-term stability and growth, read "How to Land a USD Salary as an Indonesia Engineer”
Month 11-12: Polish and Prepare for Your Next Move
Focus: Get ready to apply or negotiate, with confidence and a clear narrative.
Actions:
- Review your portfolio one more time. Does it tell a coherent story?
- Practice interviews: "Walk me through project X. Why did you choose that approach? What would you do differently?"
- Update your resume and LinkedIn one final time.
- Reach out to three to five senior engineers or mentors for feedback: "Does my story hang together? Would you hire me?"
Important: Finish strong in your current role. If you have already decided to job hop within the next month, you are still in your current role in months eleven to twelve. Make sure you deliver a strong final project, document knowledge transfer, and leave the door open for a good reference.
12 Month Portfolio Building Timeline
Why Portfolio is More Than Just "Project"
When you apply for a new role, especially at a global company, they do not just check your skills. They check: "Does this person understand system thinking? Can they communicate why they made a decision? Are they reliable and able to stay?"
Portfolio projects show all of this. Not about "the more complicated, the better." About "the clearer your thinking, the better."
From data that RainTech sees: Indonesian engineers who are hired into global roles are the ones with a combination of two things: (1) Strong technical skill, and (2) Ability to articulate what you did, why you did it, and what you learned. What often goes missing is point number two.
How to Frame Your Job Hopping History Positively
If your resume already looks like it has a lot of moves, do not hide it. Frame it as intentional learning.
This is not marketing BS. This is reframing facts.
Instead of: "I worked at four different companies within two years."
Say: "I deliberately rotated through four companies over two years, each for six months, to build breadth across different technical stacks and business domains: fintech architecture, e-commerce at scale, SaaS product development, and infrastructure engineering. Every rotation taught me specific skills that I now bring together into [target role]."
This is a true statement (assuming it is true), but it tells a different story.
Second part: Make sure at least your last one to two job tenures are "reasonable" (twelve-plus months). If you job-hopped every three months but your last role has been eighteen months, that signals "I can commit now."
Conclusion
Twelve months is enough time to build a compelling portfolio and a solid career narrative.
Not about "you must be an open source maintainer or contribute to a famous project." About "you must have three to four projects that showcase your thinking, documentation that is clear, and a story that is coherent about your career."
In interviews, employers do not want to see engineers who panic and jump every time salary goes up or a role looks exciting. They want engineers who have a long-term vision and understand what needs to be built to reach the next level.
A portfolio—real projects plus documentation plus narrative—is the way to tell that story.
Ready to start?
- Join RainTech's talent community to connect with companies that are building serious technology and value engineers who think long-term.
- Subscribe to RainTech's newsletter for monthly insights on tech career trends, portfolio tips, and strategies for framing your experience to global employers.
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