Almost 40 years old, had 5 professional jobs over 19 years and a bunch of student jobs and odd jobs during a year of work & travel post graduation that I wouldn’t count.
Including my employer being bought out by another company? Ten since 1990. Shortest stint was under a year. Bern with my current employer 11 years now.
I started out doing software development. I’m now a devops engineer.
Like if you count jobs I did in high school or university or before I got into my career job, several, but in my actual career… several. I just move around the organization sometimes for a variety of reasons. I like the department I’m in now though so will probably stay here as I really like my patients.
12, but it’s complicated. I was a freelancer for a long time, count that as one job, but I had dozens of customers. I quit one place and went back, and 2 employers have been acquired while I worked there, count all those as one each. Not counting summer or part times while in school. This is all over the span of 44 years, so I’m a little quicker than your 4 years on average. The shortest one was a little less than a year; it was a mistake to take the job in the first place. IMO, switching jobs is the biggest, maybe the only, leverage a worker has vs an employer. If you don’t have a credible alternative to your job, they know that, and know they can victimize you.
Anytime someone moves to a new job at a quicker pace than once every four years sounds a bit much to me. Not in a disapproving way of course. I’ve had many odds and ends but only one true career, though this in turn can be split into a few roles which I have taken. As often as I explain it, all parts of the career, old and new, are difficult to explain, though they can be discussed.
contract work is much less - I had a 6 week gig once
startups may not last - I worked for a couple software startups that were funded for one year
in the beginning of your career, you really need to move on after 2-3 years, if you want career progression. Most of your career, you need to demonstrate stability, so yeah, 4+. However, at least for software, new employers get worried if you e been at the same pla pace a decade or more
What do they get worried about? Someone might like their exact position, no? Or do I misunderstand?
But yeah, that’s where I tried to differentiate gigs from careers. Gigs are one-time favors, sidequests if you will. When I call something a career, I refer to an indefinite mainstay. And in-between gigs and careers you might get something like my described line of work where it’s akin to a club or association taking on a labor role. If it’s a career, and the person isn’t there for more than four years, a part of me half-expects there was a falling out.
I don’t know if this is specific to software, where technology is constantly changing but companies do not. If you’ve been in the same job too long, they start questioning whether you’ve been able to keep up with technology or can adapt to a new environment
10 of them were from when I was a kid through college, and then 4 in my professional career. I’m entering my 40s and have been at my current job for 8+ years now.
In 25 years of working I’ve had 13 jobs for 4 companies. Seems like a lot, but most of the changes were just moving into related jobs paying incrementally better money, with the support of my manager.
Someone shared on my local Reddit group that their boss actually prefers people with more jobs under their belt as the candidate has much more varied experience.
I’m 32 and I’m on my tenth job in just under three years. I’d consider that a lot but I’m quite fickle when my job conditions are shit so it depends how you look at it.
10 jobs in 3 years? That over 3 jobs a year. I’m not saying you should stay in a job with bad conditions, but I’m not sure how you could look at it where that isn’t a ton of job in a short amount of time.
In the moment it’s hard not to see it as a necessary evil, and that’s before you see how bad it actually is. I’m freelance now so I am a bit stricter when I can afford it.
10 I think. 11 if a different job in the same company counts.
But in the beginning there was a lot of hit&miss before I actually ended up with what I consider a “proper job”, which skewes the total in a positive direction. A proper career started in 2008 for me, and while I have changed employer a few times, I’m mostly doing the same thing - IT in industries and places people normally don’t associate with IT. I’ve held four positions like this, two of them in the same company. I’m jumping ship this summer to do pretty much exactly the same but for a different employer and more money.
large is a relative term. Assuming they started working part time at 16, If i reviewed a person who had 10 jobs by the time they were 25 that would be a red flag. If they have 10 jobs by 35 that would be less of a red flag.
You wouldn’t be including irrelevant professional history in the CV. I have had many jobs, but my last four are relevant to what I do now and are over a decade. Anything before that, no one would care or would be insignificant in time and skillset/experience.
Counting from the age of 18 to now, I have had 18 actual jobs in the last 30 years. A couple were times when I had two jobs at the same time, and I didn’t count side gigs I had.
I would guess that I’ve had a lot of jobs, but I am now in tech,so it doesn’t seem to hurt me like it did when I worked other industries.
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