Career Reflections

[lucija]

Brew - I don't think what you're doing is out of the norm.

My DH is in software development and he went through 4 companies and 6 official job changes (requiring resume and interviews) within the last 12 years. He cares little about the actual address of the job and worries less about protecting the actual job. He does, however, work very hard at protecting his life balance and career path (type of work, resume flexibility, marketability, etc). In this aspect, you and him appear to have lots in common.

I, on the other hand, have not switched jobs in over a decade. Reasons? Decent salary, back-stabbing free environment, supportive middle management, some say in choice of assignments and unbelievable overall flexibility - option to toggle between full and part time, option to set flexible hours (e.g., work 6am - 2pm), option to telecommute 100% of the time, etc --- great options with small kids at home.

 

[dessert]

This is an interesting thread. Let me tell you all about my "oddball" work record.
6 years US Navy
33+ years with same Megacorp at the same location.
Did get promoted twice and kept things interesting
I can hear and understand the comments now...."they just don't make em like that anymore".
Times surely have changed I know.

 

[Alan]

In 37 years I worked for four firms and am now retired with 4 pensions - I wish they had been transportable.

Firm A 6 years
Firm B 6 years
Firm C 7 years
Firm D 18 years

Good luck with your next move Brewer.

 

[FIRE'd@51]

Your post got me to thinking, and I needed both hands to do the calculation. After graduate school, I worked for 19 years. Over that time period I had 7 different employers, although I did spend 9 years at one firm. Overall, my longest stint has been being FIRE'd.

 

[simple girl]

In my 13 years as a physical therapist, I have had 11 different employers and am about to start my 12th in January 2011. No, I didn't change jobs that often...just worked per diem for multiple facilities at one time (more lucrative that way), plus DH and I have moved 4 times in the last 5 years for his career...it's been a challenge.

The current job I am leaving is only the second one I am leaving for a reason other than moving. Toxic environment. I stayed 11 months too long. I say move on if you can - no need to stay miserable any longer than you have to.

 

[Buckeye]

HR was one of the two winners of the 2010 President's Award (with some sort of 6 sigma association) for coming up with a program called something like Flex Workfarce (not a typo). Flex employees are hired under some streamlined hiring process to fulfill a specific requirement. They will receive higher wages because they will receive no benefits. The employee can buy into the health insurance plan at 100% of cost and contribute to the 401(k) with no match.

Because you are an employee, all normal employer paid taxes are paid. When the need (i.e. project) is over, so is your engagement. COBRA? Unemployment? Don't know. It probably depends on the length of employment.

You are now in a pool of "approved" workers for projects to choose from in the future. Sounds like HR figured out a way to hire temporary workers without paying the middleman.

 

[Alan]

I say move on if you can - no need to stay miserable any longer than you have to.

I agree with that advice. The last 2 firms I worked for were Megacorps, and I moved location and job 6 times during that 24 year period, 5 times because I'd grown to hate where I was and once because they closed down the location and either laid off or re-deployed the employees.

I never once moved purely to gain a promotion, and I turned down several promotions because I was perfectly happy where I was.

 

[FreqFlyer]

Firm A 5 years
Firm B 9.5 yrs and counting with MegaCorp

I'm trapped with shares that finally vest in 2011 so I'm open to make a move in early 2012. It will depend how I feel at the time. I think it's good to move around a bit as you get exposed to different ways of doing business.

Kudos to you Brewer if you recognize when it's becoming demotivating and can make the change.

 

[BigMoneyJim]

I was with one company for 12 or so years, but I really had three different career types within the company. I quit them, and a few short stints here and there, wound up going back to them for about 5 years then quit them again. If I go back again I figure I'll be the only 20-year employee with two weeks' vacation. (Most benefits reset on rehire.)

I've been with my current company about 4 years, but I'm on my 3rd major job role within that time. I don't think I'm a long-timer type.

I'm not sure how much is built into me and how much was me looking at my 30+ year tenured coworkers and thinking "damn, I don't want to be still doing this same thing in 10, 20, 30 years!"

Also, in my first run as a field tech I met people at many different companies and many different jobs, and I noticed quite a few who lamented they had been with one company and one job for 15-30 years, got laid off and couldn't get paid the same because they were monolithic and/or obsolete. I knew I didn't want to be "that guy".

I used to think my current skillset would last me until retirement, but I'm not so sure anymore. Companies have been trying to engineer out the need for my higher expertise so all that's needed are procedures and cheaper screwdriver-turners. They couldn't get it right for a long time, but with ISO20000 and ITIL they seem to be getting it right enough for the big brass to be happy, if not the end user. The smarts are being centralized, proceduralized or engineered away.

Anyway, I expect changes one way or another for me in the next year or two. I'm not FI, but I'm in the best position I've been in my life to handle drastic changes, and that's not by accident.

 

[MichaelB]

If you were a consultant 2 years per job would be ok. Look at your profile like a consultant. If your skills are getting stale or not growing, that’s the problem. If your resume shows solid skill building and expertise in critical areas, that’s an opportunity, and you take advantage of it by changing jobs. New company or old company doesn’t really matter. This is even easier for you and any prospective employer because you have no long term employment expectation.

 

[Purron]

If you were a consultant 2 years per job would be ok. Look at your profile like a consultant. If your skills are getting stale or not growing, that’s the problem. If your resume shows solid skill building and expertise in critical areas, that’s an opportunity, and you take advantage of it by changing jobs. New company or old company doesn’t really matter. This is even easier for you and any prospective employer because you have no long term employment expectation.

My thoughts exactly. Many people work this way now. I worked for 7 employers in 35 years and that seemed like a lot of job hopping. The reality is, after a certain time period, each place I worked for become a drag in one way or another. If I were in my 20s and starting my career, I'd want to be able to change my work setting and employer frequently.

 

[Automatika]

Great thread! I had thought about starting a thread on nearly the same subject. My career path:
8 years Air Force.
4 years in college, 30 year old freshman, got my Electrical Engineering degree.
2 years company A
2 years company B
Both company A and B involved sales but paid no commission leaving me very unmotivated, started my own company doing controls work and panel building.
10 years running my own company. It got pretty capital intensive the final couple of years when I started building machinery and at DWs urging I decided to shut it down. Most of the time I loved the work but it became a 7 day a week thing which was probably not good overall.

4.5 years company C. Loved it the first couple of years as I had many weekends off and was involved in very cool projects. Got to travel fairly regularly which I also like including some international.

Things are not going well currently though. Several series of layoffs and 3 bummer projects in a row. I am seriously thinking of leaving and starting a consulting business but am afraid of falling into my old habits of working 7 days a week and starting to hire people/build machinery. I question whether I have the energy and discipline to follow my plan and work for myself. I can see in my mind what I woould like to be doing but am not sure how to get there.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Son-in-law changes jobs every two years more or less. Important thing is that he's never burned a bridge in the process.

 

[Free To Canoe]

....40 contract jobs and a dozen W2 jobs...

Damn! I thought I could top it.

I am almost to 20 jobs. With me it was often a question of lay-offs and not so much being upwardly mobile.

Brewer,

Keep your chin up. You were looking when you found this one. A new and probably better one is waiting just around the corner.

Free to canoe

 

[jayc]

34 years in IT. 11 years as employee with 3 different companies. 23 years as a contractor with approx 12 different companies. Job hopping was the fastest way to increase skill set and hourly rate from 1976 - 2000. The last 2 gigs as an employee were supposed to be my last stops but then outsourcing and downsizing came in vogue. Watching incompetent middle managers decide other people's fate was enough to cure me of employee = job security.

My most stressful years were as an employee the last 2 times. Too much politics and dead-weight were at these places. They both get in the way of being productive. My last 2 year gig (contractor) was at an insurance company. I am currently on a 3 month gig at a medical facility doing some data warehouse work. Same chit, same problems, they just talk in medical jargon enstead of insurance jargon.

Contracting is the only way I roll now.

Get a new job while you still have this job. You make your own breaks.

 

[freebird5825]

You're making me think again. Cut that out!

I'm going to skip my college years because there are just too many to remember.
College graduation to 1983 - small engine mechanic, sub teacher, house cleaner, cashier, think tank technical staffer, yadda yadda yadda
1983 to 1988 - software and computer system management for 3 different contractors.
1988 to 2007 - entered federal service but changed positions voluntarily from lab experimenter to plans/programs support staffer to contracts manager, then back to lab experimenter and program manager.
I was never bored.

If going to w*rk right now feels like going to the dentist to get 10 teeth drilled without Novacaine, and you have the opportunity to make a positive move, go for it.

 

[akck]

Firm A was just under 8 years.
Then 2 years at graduate school.
Then just under 4 years at firm B.
Then just over 10 years at firm C.
Then several temp jobs over 8 months.
And currently 9 years at firm D as of today.

While I haven't worked at any one place for much over 10 years, firm D will likely see me for another 3 to 3.25 years because I'll be retiring then. I just don't see taking on the hassles of taking on a new position for such a short period. The one saving factor for me was that firm C and firm D contribute to the same retirement system. Otherwise, I'd probably be looking for another job and looking to work at least another 10 years.

 

[Retch The Grate]

Son-in-law changes jobs every two years more or less. Important thing is that he's never burned a bridge in the process.

Yup leaving every job with the possibility that you could go back if they are still in business is great, and at least in the game industry, the majority of my jobs have been because of great contacts made at previous jobs or college.

 

[foxfirev5]

I have spent 31 years with my last employer and have run the full job cycle. Aggressive early, job promotions, big raises and relocations. Now I barely get reviewed, being in an advisory position I am largely on my own. However, who knows how long this run will last. The one big thing is that I saw this coming years ago and planned for ER. Now Ive got 18 weeks until I could bail out, but who's counting? I have no regrets about hanging through some tough times and not jumping from job to job. But that's just me/

 

[jIMOh]

I think jumping from job to job has a lot to do with the type of job. Nothing wrong with it if there is pension to protect by staying. When it's time to go ya gotta go.

I was in the car biz and was in 4 different dealers in 35 years. The last one was 21 years. This is very unusual today as most dealership owners spend most of their time trying to figure out how to rip the employees off.

No big deal, just move on. Excelsior!

This is my sentiment.

In college, I had lots of co-ops, and my college had mandatory co-ops every 3 months. Most students kept there co-ops 5 years, In my 6 years I had 4 co-op employers which totaled 3 years (36 months) of experience.

I can clearly see I was immature at the time and needed some growing up (in hindsight).

At the 4th stop, I learned a software, and was hired by the company which developed that software once I graduated. I have been (here) ever since. That small software company has been bought or sold off 3 times.

merged with competitor in 2000
sold to investment banker in 2001
sold to publicly held company in about 2005 or 2006.

Each merger or buy out made the situation worse... in 1997 and 1998 we had keg parties in the lobby and it was FUN. And I was getting paid. Now I am in middle of a career change myself, as this has clearly run its course, and my manager is an ID Ten T. His boss is also an ID Ten 10 T. His boss is also an ID Ten T. Once I lose respect for someone, it's tough to get it back, so time to go.


I focus on salary more than continuity of employers. If salary keeps going up, then you are doing something right.

 

[vicente solano]

One and only job as a lawyer/HR manager in a public megacorp (Navy shipyard). 30 years spent there. Few good memories.

 

[HFWR]

Let's see...

• Pumped gas at a Sunoco station
• Sports reporter for local newspaper
• Sorted bottles in a soft drink warehouse
• Machine operator making soft drink and food cans
• Clerk at a hardware store,
• Machine operator making/packaging creamed corn and tomato juice
• Disc jockey
• Janitor for UPS
• Grocery bagger
• Pizza "chef"
• Machine operator making exotic packaging materials; i.e. cardboard boxes with custom foam inserts
• Machine operator making various and sundry car parts
• Machine operator making plastic bottles
• Machine operator at a sawmill
• Moved chickens, packed eggs (lasted 3.5 days)
• [-]Sold[/-] Demonstrated vacuum cleaners
• Printer's apprentice (fired at lunch)
• Bartender
• Electrician's helper
• [-]Wafer bitch[/-] Research technician (25 yrs)
• Research technician, part deux (2.5 yrs and counting)

And probably some I've forgotten...

 

[BTravlin]

Okay, here goes:

- stock clerk & janitor for clothing store
- stock clerk for retail department store
- convenience store clerk, part time
- gas jockey plus minor mechanic at Exxon station
- stock clerk for wholesale auto parts distributor
- auto parts clerk for Buick dealership
- route body parts sales for GM
- liquor store clerk, part time
- copier & fax sales
- grader for veneer manufacturer
- imported plywood sales

11 jobs total

Age 13 to 31: 10 jobs
Age 31 to present: 1 job

 

[Lusitan]

I am curious, though: am I extremely atypical in the number of my employers, or are others moving frequently as well?

We're about the same age. I'm at gig #5 now, although I made a career change for this one. Wouldn't be surprised if I end up at gig #6 before long.

So, no -- for our generation, I don't think you're atypical.

Sorry to hear things are getting ugly at w*rk; hope you find something better soon.

 

[chinaco]

...

We will see what is out there. Worst case scenario is that I hunker down and suck it up for the next 3 years until ESR.

I did some job hopping early in my career, mainly for more money... a few times because I was looking for a better gig.

I decided a long time ago that w*rk sucks. I can feel your pain, I get frustrated at work myself.

My job is not terrible, but I do not look to it for satisfaction. It is a paycheck. Right now I have a job where I am in control of what I do (for the most part), don't work any overtime (maybe an hour here or there) and make a good living. I avoided a promotion opportunity a while back just to keep my life simple as I approach FIRE. I was not going to get into a situation where someone expects a lot of overtime.... I consider myself a short-timer!

It seems to be working out. I will FIRE next summer.


One way to make a decision (assuming you do no absolutely hate your current job)... Only consider taking another job if the new job really improves your situation in a substantial financial way or quality of life..... A lot MORE MONEY or fewer hours and the same money or more money!