Dilemma with Job Hopping?

Title is outdated, but I'm an A2A associate on a ProjFin / Structured Finance team that is weighing an opportunity at a competing bank. Without getting into the weeds, my biggest hold-up in making the move is being viewed as a job hopper this early into my career.

If I switch shops, this would be my third bank in three years. However, I'd be curious if my reasoning for my initial career move may give me some leeway:

  • My first bank was undergoing well-reported turmoil (I was there for ~1.5 years)
  • This caused a small portion of my team to make the transition to my current bank
  • Since we moved, my first bank has closed its ProjFin / Structured Finance desk and it was well-covered by major news agencies (i.e. WSJ, Bloomberg, Reuters, etc.)
  • I've been at my current shop for ~1-year and got promoted A2A
  • The bank currently recruiting me attempted to poach me ~1-year ago, but I already had signed with my current shop and didn't want to renege 

Holding all else equal, how big of an issue would switching jobs again be this early into my career? How long would I hypothetically have to stay at either my current bank or the new bank to eliminate that job-hopping reputation?

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