How long did you work?

[Big_Hitter]

I was a management consultant for 33 years - consulting actuary

 

[CyclingInvestor]

27 years of programming (19 aerospace, 8 financial) at 4 companies, out at 48.

 

[ER Eddie]

It's hard to say exactly. As far as my main career, it was 20 years full time and 2 years part-time. But I did a lot of part-time and occasionally full-time work prior to that, too, in a handful of different jobs. Maybe 30 years if you add it all together and don't differentiate full vs. part time.

 

[chilkoot]

25 years for the Megacorp from which I retired, plus about another 7 years FT at two other companies before that.

 

[brett]

34 years. Last 25 at megacorp. 30 years in IT sales and management.

 

[CoolRich59]

I got my first part-time j*b in 1975 (age 15). I started w*rking full-time around 1982 (age 23). I w*rked continuously from then until I retired in 2018 (36 years).

 

[FREE866]

28 years. All sales related.

 

[SnowballCamper]

23 working years after high school. Just figuring that out sure puts a smile on my face.

 

[gamboolman]

43 years working in the Oilpatch based on retiring end of Dec, 2020.

Will have paid into Social Security since age 16 for 45 years.

Was working mowing yards from time I could barely push a lawn mower, hauling hay, watermelons, farm work, working in parents store, etc....

 

[jollystomper]

I agree with the caveat that completing an MBA while working is very beneficial. At least it was for me.

I had a different experience. At one point I was considering getting an MBA. I had taken the GMATs and had schools interested in me applying. But at the time, my Megacorp tended to promote from within. My management told me that it was fine to get a MBA for my own personal reasons, but advancement in the company would depend on my on the job performance. So I never pursued it (though I did over the years take some graduate business courses that Megacorp provided).

I can see it helping you with skills if one wanted to enter and advance in management. But I did not have that desire, though I was a manager for about 6 years before Megacorp extended technical careers to the executive pay level. I preferred that route.

 

[pacergal]

Started babysitting at age 12, worked part time though the rest of school/college.
If you only count full time for a "company", the answer is 39.

 

[bolt]

4am to 7pm, 7 days week w/usual weekend litetime governing 3 income streams of mine & others for about 15yrs.
Worked out ok.

Other than that, "looking for a nice used car"?
I've a dozen of them!

 

[teetee]

Oh boy I feel I am struggling at work everyday. It has been 7 years since I started workimg full time and I don't know if I can go past 10 years.

I work in tech support handling questions about computer coding and platform. I enjoy leaning and helping people. But I get tired easily and the work load seems to only go up.

I feel like rat in a wheel and just look for a way out. Right now I am saving up for FIRE but I feel like the more I know about the numbers and projections, the higher possibility I will risk it and quit my job earlier than planned. The past 7 years to me was like a century. SS is based on the avg of the top 35 yrs annual income. I really don't think I will last that long.

Perhaps it has something to do with my age. I started full time employment at 36.

 

[bluelight]

42 years of full time work, 46 years of paying into SS. I retired at age 62 and 3 months in March of 2019.

 

[Koolau]

36 years at one megacorp. Could have left after 29 but that's a story already told elsewhere in these pages. YMMV

 

[YakGrl]

39 years of full time work after college graduation. 38 years at one company. Retired at 59.

 

[Onward]

Exactly 20 yrs, but there were a lot of long breaks between gigs.

 

[rodi]

34 years of work history - but not all of that full time.

3 years was during college - and I typically worked 24hr/week.
Full time after college until my late 30's.
Then when older son was born I worked 24 hr/week for 18 months.
I transfered jobs within the company and boss insisted I up to 32hr/week.

Those are nominal hours. (3days/week and 4 days/week.) But like any engineering job 8 hours/day was not the reality - more like 10 hours/day. So much closer to full time.

 

[sn2792]

Retired at age 57 after 40 years at Megacorp.

 

[Islandtraveler]

Whats work?

 

[carty1]

41 years. Except for the 3 months I was "let go". Then got hired back at the same company that let me go. Guess I was "that bad".

 

[ychuck46]

Virtually all my life

I actually started working when I was seven years old with a large paper route (I was tall for my age so they believed that I was older). And in my early 20s I even worked full time at night running a warehouse year round while going to college during the day. But how long did I work in my chosen field after college? 35 years, retiring at age 60. Been out for six years and absolutely loving life. The wife retired four years before me at 56, btw.

 

[piccolopat]

I worked full time for almost 41 years, 38 of which were with the company I retired from.

 

[MacsNMore]

6 years part time during high school and all of college then 39 years full time (last 33 with same company). I’m a very thankful and lucky guy.

 

[Rambler]

27 years 3 months in my career job, all with the same company, no pension, but good bonuses, stock options, and restricted stock along the way. Pre career, I started as a paperboy at age 10, for about 2 years, then various farm and lawn mowing jobs, cooking jobs, vehicle based paper delivery for a year, and four years cooking in the cafeteria at university, and two years as a full time volunteer for my church. During those 12.5-13 years, I probably worked 7ish years full time equivalent. Count that how you will, but I graduated into retirement at 51. I’m 58 now, 7.5 years in, and I’m now looking for something to do. All my previous passions have dulled or been eliminated (due to a move, a couple of illnesses, and now COVID-19 keeping us still very cautious about going anywhere that isn’t absolutely critical).