The Short Answer
Most career advisors suggest staying at a job for at least one to two years before actively looking elsewhere, and this is the range that tends to look the most stable on a resume. It also gives you enough time to actually contribute something meaningful, learn the role well, and pick up a skill or two worth mentioning in your next interview. Leaving before the one year mark is not disqualifying, but it does mean you will likely need a clear, honest explanation ready when it comes up.
When It’s Okay to Leave Sooner
That guideline is not a rule carved in stone. If the role was misrepresented during the interview process, if the workplace turned out to be unsafe or unhealthy, or if the company goes through layoffs that affect you, none of that reflects poorly on you, no matter how short your time there was. The one to two year window mostly applies to voluntary moves made simply because a better opportunity came along, not to situations where leaving was the right call for your wellbeing.
There is a real difference between hopping around out of restlessness and leaving because the situation genuinely was not okay.
If you are curious about whether frequent job changes actually hurt your resume in general, we go into that question in more depth in our earlier post on job hopping Is Job Hopping Really Bad for Your Career? – Life at work
Work in progress.