How long have you worked at your current job?

BigreenGreg

35 years in the business, 14 at this firm. I was very lucky to land in the right spot for me. I’ve got about 10 more years before I’m ready to call it quits.

hoosier_egger

5 years. Prior to this gig, 17 years with an auto parts supplier working my way up until I hit a plateau and got bored.

bradleya123

22 years with the Navy then 12 years with a government contractor, now - golf and egging!!

fishlessman

44 years, i think i was born in this cave. at 13 i was doing roughly 60 hours a week during school vacations and thru the summer. at 2 bucks an hour i had more money than i do now in my pocket

The Cen-Tex Smoker

5 years. Last job 8, job before that 15. 

Eoin

20 years since I started this business. It will be my last job, not sure when the end is though.

alaskanassasin

Self employed almost my whole adult life, been a farmer for the last 7 years. My only boss is Mother Nature, and she can be a fickle biotch. She has made me question my profession many times,she makes my schedule, she is unpredictable, moody, down right savage at times, does not care if I get paid, she never takes into account what I am doing, constantly probing for weakness, she even works long after I have gone to sleep.

  She has taught me a invaluable lesson though, Make hay when the sun shines.

Bellavista52

First job 3 years. Second job 24 years culminating in last 12 as CFO, next job 5 years, current job 9 years - looking retirement in the face. This excludes youth jobs as paper boy on a bike, printing press operator, lawn mowing, snow shoveling, musician, etc.

billyray

Self employed for 31 years, retired now for 21 years.

EzraBrooks

First company - 2 years
Second company - 2 years
Third Company - 8 years
Fourth Company - 4 years
Current company - 3 years

Same field the entire time, but I moved around when it was beneficial to my career but also when I recognized that each company had changed enough that I didn't want to be a part of it anymore. I have the tendency to like to be at small companies where everyone pitches in as a team. But over time they get bigger and that introduces politics and everyone seems to lose their way.

I was taught a lesson by my father, who put in 44 years at the same company only to see his salary and retirement benefits cut several times in the later years, and the company eventually went under a few years before he was ready to retire, leaving him jobless and with no relevant experience job hunting. Luckily for him he was close enough that he could just retire a little early, but just goes to show you that the company doesn't give a damn about you as a person.

Ozzie_Isaac

EzraBrooks said:

...... just goes to show you that the company doesn't give a damn about you as a person.

This is a lesson that people seem to have a hard time grasping.  At the personal level individuals care about employees, at the macro level, people are an expensive inconvenience for companies and the easiest lever to use for cost cutting.

lkapigian

Ozzie_Isaac said:

EzraBrooks said:

...... just goes to show you that the company doesn't give a damn about you as a person.

This is a lesson that people seem to have a hard time grasping.  At the personal level individuals care about employees, at the macro level, people are an expensive inconvenience for companies and the easiest lever to use for cost cutting.

My company is my family , people don’t work with me, we Work together.I have never asked anything of anyone I was not willing to do myself. We have a near zero turnover, most have been there over 10 years, longest is 22 years and I gave him 25% of the company a few years ago for his effort and likely will give another 24% away ( I need 51% lol )

I want a happy environment 

Legume

EzraBrooks said:

First company - 2 years
Second company - 2 years
Third Company - 8 years
Fourth Company - 4 years
Current company - 3 years

Same field the entire time, but I moved around when it was beneficial to my career but also when I recognized that each company had changed enough that I didn't want to be a part of it anymore. I have the tendency to like to be at small companies where everyone pitches in as a team. But over time they get bigger and that introduces politics and everyone seems to lose their way.

I was taught a lesson by my father, who put in 44 years at the same company only to see his salary and retirement benefits cut several times in the later years, and the company eventually went under a few years before he was ready to retire, leaving him jobless and with no relevant experience job hunting. Luckily for him he was close enough that he could just retire a little early, but just goes to show you that the company doesn't give a damn about you as a person.

^^^^ this.

I said above 19 years, that’s with one company, but 7 and 5 year stints at other companies preceded current company, and it’s time to go. It’s always interesting to see companies try to engender loyalty but then see how that doesn’t really go both ways, it’s a business.  You don’t often hear people say - I wish I had stayed at that company.

Ozzie_Isaac

lkapigian said:

Ozzie_Isaac said:

EzraBrooks said:

...... just goes to show you that the company doesn't give a damn about you as a person.

This is a lesson that people seem to have a hard time grasping.  At the personal level individuals care about employees, at the macro level, people are an expensive inconvenience for companies and the easiest lever to use for cost cutting.

My company is my family , people don’t work with me, we Work together.I have never asked anything of anyone I was not willing to do myself. We have a near zero turnover, most have been there over 10 years, longest is 22 years and I gave him 25% of the company a few years ago for his effort and likely will give another 24% away ( I need 51% lol )

I want a happy environment 

The exception that makes the rule .... There are absolutely wonderful places to work at, I should make an added note, any company in the US that is publicly traded ultimately sees employees as numbers.

lkapigian

Ozzie_Isaac said:

lkapigian said:

Ozzie_Isaac said:

EzraBrooks said:

...... just goes to show you that the company doesn't give a damn about you as a person.

This is a lesson that people seem to have a hard time grasping.  At the personal level individuals care about employees, at the macro level, people are an expensive inconvenience for companies and the easiest lever to use for cost cutting.

My company is my family , people don’t work with me, we Work together.I have never asked anything of anyone I was not willing to do myself. We have a near zero turnover, most have been there over 10 years, longest is 22 years and I gave him 25% of the company a few years ago for his effort and likely will give another 24% away ( I need 51% lol )

I want a happy environment 

The exception that makes the rule .... There are absolutely wonderful places to work at, I should make an added note, any company in the US that is publicly traded ultimately sees employees as numbers.

That is for sure, money and numbers will never define me, "If it's money you seek, you shall never have enough"

do the right thing always, the end result can only be positive 

Ozzie_Isaac

lkapigian said:

Ozzie_Isaac said:

lkapigian said:

Ozzie_Isaac said:

EzraBrooks said:

...... just goes to show you that the company doesn't give a damn about you as a person.

This is a lesson that people seem to have a hard time grasping.  At the personal level individuals care about employees, at the macro level, people are an expensive inconvenience for companies and the easiest lever to use for cost cutting.

My company is my family , people don’t work with me, we Work together.I have never asked anything of anyone I was not willing to do myself. We have a near zero turnover, most have been there over 10 years, longest is 22 years and I gave him 25% of the company a few years ago for his effort and likely will give another 24% away ( I need 51% lol )

I want a happy environment 

The exception that makes the rule .... There are absolutely wonderful places to work at, I should make an added note, any company in the US that is publicly traded ultimately sees employees as numbers.

That is for sure, money and numbers will never define me, "If it's money you seek, you shall never have enough"

do the right thing always, the end result can only be positive 

That is how my wife runs her business.  Worry about her clients and employees first, the rest will and has followed.  It has far exceeded her expectations.

REB17

I may be wrong, but it seems to me you're miserable in your current job. To me, waking up every day and dreading to go to work is no way to live, no matter how much you make. 

Mark_B_Good

Working on year 26 right now. Will retire here.

Eoin

lkapigian said:

Ozzie_Isaac said:

EzraBrooks said:

...... just goes to show you that the company doesn't give a damn about you as a person.

This is a lesson that people seem to have a hard time grasping.  At the personal level individuals care about employees, at the macro level, people are an expensive inconvenience for companies and the easiest lever to use for cost cutting.

My company is my family , people don’t work with me, we Work together.I have never asked anything of anyone I was not willing to do myself. We have a near zero turnover, most have been there over 10 years, longest is 22 years and I gave him 25% of the company a few years ago for his effort and likely will give another 24% away ( I need 51% lol )

I want a happy environment 

Agreed. I also have almost zero staff turnover. Treating people well pays in the long run, but big companies are too interested in short term numbers over long term sustainability.

Ozzie_Isaac

Eoin said:

lkapigian said:

Ozzie_Isaac said:

EzraBrooks said:

...... just goes to show you that the company doesn't give a damn about you as a person.

This is a lesson that people seem to have a hard time grasping.  At the personal level individuals care about employees, at the macro level, people are an expensive inconvenience for companies and the easiest lever to use for cost cutting.

My company is my family , people don’t work with me, we Work together.I have never asked anything of anyone I was not willing to do myself. We have a near zero turnover, most have been there over 10 years, longest is 22 years and I gave him 25% of the company a few years ago for his effort and likely will give another 24% away ( I need 51% lol )

I want a happy environment 

Agreed. I also have almost zero staff turnover. Treating people well pays in the long run, but big companies are too interested in short term numbers over long term sustainability.

Do British companies suffer from the same "quarterly" mentality?  The things I see companies due to meet a quarterly financial target make my head spin.  The first part of the next quarter is trying to unwind the issues caused by that decision making.

Eoin

Ozzie_Isaac said:

Eoin said:

lkapigian said:

Ozzie_Isaac said:

EzraBrooks said:

...... just goes to show you that the company doesn't give a damn about you as a person.

This is a lesson that people seem to have a hard time grasping.  At the personal level individuals care about employees, at the macro level, people are an expensive inconvenience for companies and the easiest lever to use for cost cutting.

My company is my family , people don’t work with me, we Work together.I have never asked anything of anyone I was not willing to do myself. We have a near zero turnover, most have been there over 10 years, longest is 22 years and I gave him 25% of the company a few years ago for his effort and likely will give another 24% away ( I need 51% lol )

I want a happy environment 

Agreed. I also have almost zero staff turnover. Treating people well pays in the long run, but big companies are too interested in short term numbers over long term sustainability.

Do British companies suffer from the same "quarterly" mentality?  The things I see companies due to meet a quarterly financial target make my head spin.  The first part of the next quarter is trying to unwind the issues caused by that decision making.

I assume big companies do, but people I know who have worked in the US say that the reporting requirements are worse in the US. One of my Italian suppliers has been taken over by a big US corporation and are now much more bureaucratic. They are also now obsessed with annual sales and less technically flexible because they see special engineering as an unnecessary cost, in spite of the fact that their historic market share has been due to that technical flexibility.

Botch

Ozzie_Isaac said:
The things I see companies due to meet a quarterly financial target make my head spin.  The first part of the next quarter is trying to unwind the issues caused by that decision making.

 

 

JohnInCarolina

Eoin said:

Ozzie_Isaac said:

Eoin said:

lkapigian said:

Ozzie_Isaac said:

EzraBrooks said:

...... just goes to show you that the company doesn't give a damn about you as a person.

This is a lesson that people seem to have a hard time grasping.  At the personal level individuals care about employees, at the macro level, people are an expensive inconvenience for companies and the easiest lever to use for cost cutting.

My company is my family , people don’t work with me, we Work together.I have never asked anything of anyone I was not willing to do myself. We have a near zero turnover, most have been there over 10 years, longest is 22 years and I gave him 25% of the company a few years ago for his effort and likely will give another 24% away ( I need 51% lol )

I want a happy environment 

Agreed. I also have almost zero staff turnover. Treating people well pays in the long run, but big companies are too interested in short term numbers over long term sustainability.

Do British companies suffer from the same "quarterly" mentality?  The things I see companies due to meet a quarterly financial target make my head spin.  The first part of the next quarter is trying to unwind the issues caused by that decision making.

I assume big companies do, but people I know who have worked in the US say that the reporting requirements are worse in the US. 

Eoin

JohnInCarolina said:

Eoin said:

Ozzie_Isaac said:

Eoin said:

lkapigian said:

Ozzie_Isaac said:

EzraBrooks said:

...... just goes to show you that the company doesn't give a damn about you as a person.

This is a lesson that people seem to have a hard time grasping.  At the personal level individuals care about employees, at the macro level, people are an expensive inconvenience for companies and the easiest lever to use for cost cutting.

My company is my family , people don’t work with me, we Work together.I have never asked anything of anyone I was not willing to do myself. We have a near zero turnover, most have been there over 10 years, longest is 22 years and I gave him 25% of the company a few years ago for his effort and likely will give another 24% away ( I need 51% lol )

I want a happy environment 

Agreed. I also have almost zero staff turnover. Treating people well pays in the long run, but big companies are too interested in short term numbers over long term sustainability.

Do British companies suffer from the same "quarterly" mentality?  The things I see companies due to meet a quarterly financial target make my head spin.  The first part of the next quarter is trying to unwind the issues caused by that decision making.

I assume big companies do, but people I know who have worked in the US say that the reporting requirements are worse in the US. 

Mmmmk

Ozzie_Isaac

...

RiverBBQ

22 at first job. Thought I was done, got promoted well on my way….. then got booted.  5 more and I would have early out voluntarily.  Starting over again 2 years ago at a completely new field but moving up quickly. Afraid I’ll now have to work until I die. 

JohnInCarolina

22 years and counting for me, no sign of moving anytime soon.  I was incredibly lucky to land here with my first job out of grad school.  These days I likely wouldn't even be considered for a position, much less hired, with that same resume I had at the time.  

55Kevy

I had the same employer for 38 years, retiring at 59.5. In those 38 years I had 17 or 18 different assignments that took me from Louisiana to Canada, Colorado to California, Kazakhstan and Indonesia. Glad I left when I did: I don't think I could stand the Corp Culture now.

Botch

55Kevy said:

I had the same employer for 38 years, retiring at 59.5. In those 38 years I had 17 or 18 different assignments that took me from Louisiana to Canada, Colorado to California, Kazakhstan and Indonesia. Glad I left when I did: I don't think I could stand the Corp Culture now.

Marines, Army engineer, or...?  

MotownVol

Going on 33 years at the same company.  Been acquired twice.  First 12 or so years were great with several promotions, fun and challenging projects, etc.  

Then company leadership changed and the next 5 years were tough.  Then company leadership changed again and got even worse.  So bad I had made up my mind to leave, but before I could find something else the leaders were all fired and the new leaders were a total breath of fresh air, so I never left.  Take about crazy quarterly management, that was us.

Those leaders were also let go after the company was acquired the second time, but the new ownership is even better.  No more 60-65 hour work weeks.  I work about 50 hours a week now, which I think is fair.  

I’m now the old guy that knows everything about the company and feel appreciated for my industry knowledge.   If I can hang in for another 4 or so year, I will gladly ride off into eggsville.