Poll:How Many Times Did You Change Employers In Your Career?

[old medic]

My Career was EMS, and started PT in 1986, worked in the same county service till I retired in 2022. I had several full time jobs before, and several part time after.

 

[statsman]

I've worked for three different companies but the same group I hired into out of college for my entire career. One division sold/merged into another company, and one merger of two companies. For the sake of this poll, my answer is "One".

 

[Gumby]

35 years of working, 2 (maybe 3) entirely different careers, 6 different employers.

 

[Midpack]

I worked for a Fortune 500 company for 17 years, until they sold the (relatively small) division I was in to a private company in the same industry. I retired from there 18 years later.

So I had 0 job/career changes - very lucky it appears.

 

[jimbee]

How Many Times Did You Change Employers In Your Career?

Never. I stayed with the same employer for 32 years after graduating from college. I also worked for the same company every summer while going to college.

 

[Walt34]

One employer for 29 years and 4 months, that's where the pension comes from. My job title did change three times but the same employer.

 

[justlikebike]

Wow, I am amazed at how many people stayed with the same employer.
As a software developer, it is well known/understood that if you want to advance your career you MUST change employers. If you stay with the same company they tend to leave you in the same job as you can easily become the only person who understands that particular system. 10 years later, they change the system and you are out with the bathwater. And now your skills are 10 years out of date. Good luck finding a new job.
In a 32 year career I can remember 12 different employers, oh, wait make that 13.

 

[Tetto]

Once; left aerospace after 17 years, then on to medical devices/robotics for 20 so far.

 

[Calico]

I had seven employers in total.

I stayed at the last job for 25 years - partly due to "golden handcuffs" (pension) and it was worth any and all aggravation I encountered there from time to time.

Let's just say I outlasted all the "aggravators" and now every month when the pension check lands in my account I have a silly grin on my face all day.

Did I mention all the aggravators are still working?

 

[Act2]

So far, have stayed with one employer. . .

 

[COcheesehead]

7 total. 1 in my first 10 years out of college. Then the brunt of the changes, finishing my last 24 working years with my own business. So 7 in 35 years.

 

[mebden]

Let's see I've worked for 7 different companies.

1st US Navy 3 years active 3 years active reserve
2nd Chemical company for 18 years
3rd Foundry for 5 years
4th Ship building company 4 years.
5th Paper Company 6 months couldn't take Boss who knew nothing and was always asking me what I'd do, and I told him why do they need you then if I'm doing your job to.
6th Auto manufacturing making transmissions in a different state 2 years.
7th Another Ship building Company in another whole different state for 2 years then getting bought out by another ship building company and worked there for 2 years and 3 months and not sure if I will find a number 8 so tired of all the Bullshit out there and I might just sell everything and go live on the road lol.

 

[Jerry1]

5. More if you count a couple round trips. The last job I had was for a little more than 20 years. That got me a pension and retiree health insurance. Retired at 57. Worked in my profession for about 33 years.

 

[Ronstar]

Once. I worked for one civil engineering firm for 7 years after junior college. Then moved across town to a new startup. Worked there 33 years.

 

[Kings over Queens]

Counting only actual "career" type jobs, just 1.

Me too.

Self employed from 1985 until 2015 when I merged my company into what is now mega corp in the same industry.

Aside from me, I've only had one actual employer.

 

[Bruno]

33 years with the First and 13 years with 2nd ..Oil and gas was GOOD to me!!

 

[audreyh1]

I pretty much worked for the same company right out of college until I retired early. I do not count all the various jobs paying for college.

Two employers if you count my co-op job.

 

[harley]

unless you count when the company was sold, spun off, merged, acquired.

0.Name changes weren't from me job hopping but from megacorp reorganizing. But technically, I was a lifer.

Me too. Changed jobs once, 3 years after starting my career. Then stayed with the same Megacorp through 6 name changes/mergers.

Although I'm still working, now for myself (or more truthfully, DW). So maybe I should have said 2.

 

[Martlet]

I had one job change, but my final job encompassed eight different corporate ownerships and ten different office locations across two continents (plus some short term assignments to two additional locations in two further countries). It all counted as 30 years of continuous service. I got a nice set of golf clubs as a 30 years service gift just as they were bundling me ever so politely out the door!

 

[rwdflynavy]

Technically changed jobs once, but I chose zero.

I retired from the Navy and intended not to have a full time job again. I did take a full time position for a year with my alma mater for fun and then re-retired again.

 

[FLSUnFIRE]

All DoD but different agencies and competitively hired 2x (poll answer). Also was competitively promoted a couple times -pretty much knew I would get the job but had to be opened to others to apply and there was a risk I could be beat out by someone more qualified on paper (that almost happened once).


I also had several major roll changes I pursued that could be argued as competitive/moving but all fell within the same HR scheme so looked like the same job on paper (the boilerplate PD for most of my career was about 1.5" printed and pretty much included everything real or imagined "and other duties as assigned").


TGIF (Thank God I FIREd)! I don't miss any of it.

 

[DrRoy]

The division I was in was sold off, so we were a new company. It was not a competitive hire so I said zero changes.

 

[Andre1969]

It depends. I'm a government contractor, where the contract goes up for renewal every 5 years. If a new company wins, they usually take on all the existing employees, and about the only thing that changes is who the paycheck comes from, and health insurance/401k and other benefits. But we get to keep our seniority.

As of October, I'll have 31 years of seniority. But, technically five employers. Although the first one was actually one of those Chrysler-esque "mergers of equals", when Boeing took over McDonnell-Douglas.

So, I didn't answer, because I didn't know if I should put one, or five (or four if I count McDonell-Douglas and Boeing as one).

 

[Aerides]

1. (post college/school stuff). 26 years. Stared entry level. I moved up and around every year at first, then every 3 years after that.

If I stuck with a role to 4 years it showed as I got itchy. It was a big enough Megacorp that I essentially had 3 different careers and areas of expertise over that time, each built off the prior one but decidedly different.

 

[dixonge]

I lost count a long time ago. I'm going to estimate 20. Somewhere there is a digital copy of an old resume where I listed most of them out, but I can't find it at this time. My 'career' was around 32 years total. Here's a list (off the top of my head) of the various jobs I held:

Bank assistant in Fed Funds dept. (mostly using a calculator and making copies)
Dorm parent at children's home
Data entry - insurance co.
Vacuum cleaner sales
Insurance sales
Office temp - word processing
Personal assistant/event planner
Secretary
Technical support in a call center
Quality Assurance - call center
I.T. - Desktop Support
Real Estate sales (a.k.a. flipping)

During my 'career' my longest tenures with any one employer was 6.5 years, once, and 5 years, once.

In spite of all that I managed to eke out a decent pension and retire early. I got lucky, both w/ the government pension and with 'marrying up.'