Sounds like my husband's resume. He's also in the software field (programmer-analyst), and over a 19-year period, he's had job tenures ranging from six years to 4- 5-month contracts, with the average probably being 3 years per job. And he's a very stable guy. One thing in this field...sometimes you have to change jobs to move ahead, either financially or in terms of career. If the hot thing is, say, data warehousing and you find a job that enables you to get that under your belt, you take it.DCrom wrote:Sometimes, you don't have a choice. I've been working in Silicon Valley since 1980, and the job picture is . . . variable. I tend to think of myself as a pretty stable guy, but in that time I've worked for 9 different companies (8 different jobs - one company got bought out). Never been fired, but been laid off three times, all by companies going under (the last time was this spring). Longest time on the job - 7 years. Shortest time - 5 months (startup company). Charted, it looks something like this -pthouron wrote:I am amazed and envious when I see there still are people who've had the same job for twenty years or more... Can't seem to be staying in one place for too long (sometimes my choice, sometimes not )...
2 years - .5 year - 1 year - 6 years - 7 years - 3 years - 3 years - 1 month (current)
I like where I am now - a lot. And I like the idea of staying here for a long time. But I'll be *amazed* (and pleased) if things remain stable enough I'm still working here in 10 years time.
(I'm a Software Engineer, for the curious, mostly specializing in device drivers and embedded systems. Currently working on high definition digital TV.)
It's a really bad market here at the moment, however. Seems like there's just nothing out there
Redwolf