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In the tech industry, I'd generally recommend looking around every 3-4 years, unless you have golden handcuffs and you don't think that can be beat elsewhere. A

In the tech industry, I'd generally recommend looking around every 3-4 years, unless you have golden handcuffs and you don't think that can be beat elsewhere. Any longer than that and you risk settling into a box of which you may become unable to think outside. Any shorter than that, and you probably aren't maximizing your potential, in terms of promotions and learning those fresh perspectives and new tech that will benefit you in your next role. At some point, you may get to the level where you're happy with your comp and happy with your responsibilities, in which case it might actually be best to stay around as long as you can. Not my cup of tea, but it's definitely something to think about. In other words, good on you for looking around after a few years!

cbsks 5y ago
> unless you have golden handcuffs and you don't think that can be beat elsewhere Luckily this is becoming less likely now that more companies are allowing remote work. I live in a relatively small city and have interviewed at every local company that interests me. My previous employer was by far the highest paying of all of them. I was able to find a remote job that broke my golden handcuffs by almost 2x.
- flerchin 5y ago
  The other golden handcuffs are vesting schedules.
pram 5y ago
It can be more than just golden handcuffs. If you stay at a place for 4+ years you hopefully have a lot of clout and connections. That kind of situation can get pretty comfy. Starting all over again kinda sucks. The older I get the less I look forward to doing the hustle to gain cred in new orgs.
- Jemaclus 5y ago
  Definitely. You're not wrong. But one of the downsides of sticking around for 4+ years is, like I said, there is a _risk of_ (ie, not guaranteed) becoming kind of a stick in the mud and the company then could suffer from your leadership/clout rather than benefiting from it. I've worked at several companies where the leadership had been there for 8+ years, and that led to inertia and small-C conservatism and reluctance to adopt new technologies or paradigms that would really accelerate company growth. The companies were generally successful, but working there was kind of a slog and it was tough to attract new engineers to work on old tech in outdated paradigms. That said, there are plenty of folks who _like_ the old tech, so it's not necessarily a deal-breaker for anyone. All that to say: you aren't wrong. If you're in that position and you don't want to leave, that's really the company's problem and not yours. Do your own thing! I support it 100%! (Not that you need my support, but you have it anyway!)

cbsks 5y ago

> unless you have golden handcuffs and you don't think that can be beat elsewhere Luckily this is becoming less likely now that more companies are allowing remote work. I live in a relatively small city and have interviewed at every local company that interests me. My previous employer was by far the highest paying of all of them. I was able to find a remote job that broke my golden handcuffs by almost 2x.

flerchin 5y ago
The other golden handcuffs are vesting schedules.

pram 5y ago

It can be more than just golden handcuffs. If you stay at a place for 4+ years you hopefully have a lot of clout and connections. That kind of situation can get pretty comfy. Starting all over again kinda sucks. The older I get the less I look forward to doing the hustle to gain cred in new orgs.

Jemaclus 5y ago
Definitely. You're not wrong. But one of the downsides of sticking around for 4+ years is, like I said, there is a _risk of_ (ie, not guaranteed) becoming kind of a stick in the mud and the company then could suffer from your leadership/clout rather than benefiting from it. I've worked at several companies where the leadership had been there for 8+ years, and that led to inertia and small-C conservatism and reluctance to adopt new technologies or paradigms that would really accelerate company growth. The companies were generally successful, but working there was kind of a slog and it was tough to attract new engineers to work on old tech in outdated paradigms. That said, there are plenty of folks who _like_ the old tech, so it's not necessarily a deal-breaker for anyone. All that to say: you aren't wrong. If you're in that position and you don't want to leave, that's really the company's problem and not yours. Do your own thing! I support it 100%! (Not that you need my support, but you have it anyway!)