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Ten years at the same company sounds like a nightmare to many of us. I'm pretty unapologetic about job hopping. Most companies just don't have enough interesti

Ten years at the same company sounds like a nightmare to many of us. I'm pretty unapologetic about job hopping. Most companies just don't have enough interesting work or the right culture to make it worthwhile to stay if you're a genuine fast learner. That said, I'd love to find a company and job where I could stay for 10 years. That would be ideal. I'm one of the first ones out of a crappy situation, but I'm also tired of this world in which one has to keep changing jobs to get a chance at the interesting work.

Joeri 13y ago
I don't quite understand how the work can be interesting when you start out but lose interest after a year or two, unless the project itself ends or goes into maintenance mode. To me, either something is interesting or is not, from day one. Just to give a different perspective: personally I've only had one employer since I started working 9 years ago, so I'm nearly at that 10 year stretch. I've changed technology several times while there, usually by proposing the change myself. I've also changed what sort of product I've worked on many times. Whenever the work becomes boring because a project goes into maintenance mode, I decide I want to work on something fresh and make it happen.
- georgemcbay 13y ago
  "personally I've only had one employer since I started working 9 years ago" I think your experience is an anomaly. I'm nearly 40 and I've had a couple of jobs with something like the freedom you describe (and these [eg. chumby industries] ended only because the company went out of business, not because I left willingly), but the vast majority of jobs, even the supposedly exciting start-up (non-founder) jobs are much more restricted than that. There's a fairly predictable cycle that occurs at many employers where if you're lucky enough to find a job working on a completely new product (which is ideal for a lot of top developers), you work on that for a year or so, get the first versions out, and then go into a trickle maintenance mode where you're mostly dealing with adding small, mostly unexciting new features. If you were instrumental in helping developing that product, the company will usually be reluctant to let you off of it even if they have other cool things to work on. You tend to get trapped by your early success and become defined by the first project you worked on despite the fact that everyone would probably be better off if you were assigned to the new thing and less experienced developers were put on your maintenance tasks. To be fair, there are companies out there that don't fall into this trap, but they are few and far between. Like Michael, I've become pretty blase about job-hopping because of this. If I join your company, I'll give you at least a year and I won't leave you hanging between important release dates, but if you aren't giving me an environment where I am being challenged on a fairly regular basis, don't expect me to be there 3+ years down the line.
- chollida1 13y ago
  > I don't quite understand how the work can be interesting when you start out but lose interest after a year or tw Really? Have you ever gotten tired of an ex? DO you continue to read the same book or watch the same movie over and over again? There is something to be said for the old saying about having 10 years of experience vs having 1 year of experience 10 times. I've been lucky to work on some fantastic projects( compiler development, software that was sent into space, algo trading systems), all of which I was hugely interested in when i started. 3 years later on all of them I've learned that everything starts to look old after a while:)

Joeri 13y ago

I don't quite understand how the work can be interesting when you start out but lose interest after a year or two, unless the project itself ends or goes into maintenance mode. To me, either something is interesting or is not, from day one. Just to give a different perspective: personally I've only had one employer since I started working 9 years ago, so I'm nearly at that 10 year stretch. I've changed technology several times while there, usually by proposing the change myself. I've also changed what sort of product I've worked on many times. Whenever the work becomes boring because a project goes into maintenance mode, I decide I want to work on something fresh and make it happen.

georgemcbay 13y ago
"personally I've only had one employer since I started working 9 years ago" I think your experience is an anomaly. I'm nearly 40 and I've had a couple of jobs with something like the freedom you describe (and these [eg. chumby industries] ended only because the company went out of business, not because I left willingly), but the vast majority of jobs, even the supposedly exciting start-up (non-founder) jobs are much more restricted than that. There's a fairly predictable cycle that occurs at many employers where if you're lucky enough to find a job working on a completely new product (which is ideal for a lot of top developers), you work on that for a year or so, get the first versions out, and then go into a trickle maintenance mode where you're mostly dealing with adding small, mostly unexciting new features. If you were instrumental in helping developing that product, the company will usually be reluctant to let you off of it even if they have other cool things to work on. You tend to get trapped by your early success and become defined by the first project you worked on despite the fact that everyone would probably be better off if you were assigned to the new thing and less experienced developers were put on your maintenance tasks. To be fair, there are companies out there that don't fall into this trap, but they are few and far between. Like Michael, I've become pretty blase about job-hopping because of this. If I join your company, I'll give you at least a year and I won't leave you hanging between important release dates, but if you aren't giving me an environment where I am being challenged on a fairly regular basis, don't expect me to be there 3+ years down the line.
chollida1 13y ago
> I don't quite understand how the work can be interesting when you start out but lose interest after a year or tw Really? Have you ever gotten tired of an ex? DO you continue to read the same book or watch the same movie over and over again? There is something to be said for the old saying about having 10 years of experience vs having 1 year of experience 10 times. I've been lucky to work on some fantastic projects( compiler development, software that was sent into space, algo trading systems), all of which I was hugely interested in when i started. 3 years later on all of them I've learned that everything starts to look old after a while:)