Is changing jobs three times a red flag on a resume?

2 years, 1 year 6 months, 2 years—that's not bad, is it? It seems they see it less as the 3 times being a problem and more as whether it's frequent relative to total years of experience.

I've switched jobs three times too, and I've never had much trouble at the document screening stage. But I didn't bother writing my reason for changing jobs on my resume. When you put it there, it actually comes across as defensive. Instead, in the career description, rather than phrases like 'salary/scope of work,' I put in what I did and what results I achieved in numbers, and my pass rate went up a lot. If they ask in the interview, you can explain it then along the lines of 'I wanted to take on a broader scope of work.' I think the standard approach is: resume = facts + achievements, reasons = explained in the interview.

Well, that's a bit... Isn't the idea that three job changes counts against you outdated? These days, many companies actually see it as experience in a variety of environments. Since standards vary by company, you should first check whether 'getting screened out at the resume stage so often' is really because of the number of job changes. It could be because the wording in your job description isn't great, or your title seems ambiguous for your years of experience.

I wouldn't recommend writing the reason lol. You'll end up saying the same thing as everyone else anyway, so it won't set you apart, and it just looks like you're going out of your way to explain weaknesses you don't even have.