[dxf]

>Long ago, he joined a company fresh out of college that pretty much measured dev productivity with number of lines written. He quickly realized that it was a red-flag, but jumping ship so soon was going to be hard to explain on a resume.

Sorry to hijack your comment, but I would like to say:

There are many, many good reasons why someone would want to quit a job after only a short period of time at a company (harassment being an obvious one). It took me a long time to realize this fact, and stop viewing a quick departure as a potential red flag and also stop asking questions like "Why are you looking for a new role?"

Someone leaving a toxic environment really doesn't want to spend any part of the interview talking about the past; they want to show you they will be a valuable member of your team, while also learning if your company is one they want to work for. We should all consider that the next time we are reviewing resumes and interviewing candidates.

[skeeter2020]

It's still a red flag that needs to be explained. Unfortunately most employees will assume they did not leave voluntarily. The OP's reticence to jump is understandable

[sjg007]

“I made a mistake.” Easy. “Not a good fit”.

Nobody expects someone to get married after a couple dates.

[dxf]

But that's my point. It shouldn't be a red flag on the candidate, and shouldn't need to be explained.

[Clewza313]

That's the way it ought to be, but unfortunately that's not the way it is considered by many in reality, so it's rational for a candidate to want to avoid that situation.

[katbyte]

Couple quick departures is alright, but I recently interviewed someone who was like 10 jobs in 8 years…