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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask how long you’ve been at your current place of work

81 replies

Newnyham · 10/05/2019 12:34

I’m starting my first ‘proper’ job out of uni soon and the company will be paying for further professional qualifications so I’ll be locked in for 3 years after them. Pretty standard, but it has made me wonder how often people tend to change companies.

People my age haven’t really moved around much yet and my parents/their friends seemed to stay with the same employer for decades!

OP posts:
BobbinThreadbare123 · 10/05/2019 13:25

Proper jobs:
18 mo
2 years
2 years
Walked out after a month
Currently 2.5 years and staying!

I was a late starter in careers terms due to doing two Master's degrees and a doctorate after my undergrad degree. Took yonks!

LakieLady · 10/05/2019 13:25

12 years, but in 4 different roles.

I'm only just over 2 years off retirement though, so don't think I'll be going anywhere else now. And I only do 17 hours pw, so even if I hated it, I wouldn't have to hate it for long, iyswim. And I don't hate it, I love it - interesting work, great team, terrific manager - what's not to like?

Oh yes, shite pay!

maddening · 10/05/2019 13:35

Out of uni:

1st job 11 years
1 year off with son
2nd job : 5 years
Current job: 9mths so far

WhatToDo999 · 10/05/2019 13:36

current job - 12 years
one before - 3 years
before that - 7 years
before that - 5.5 years

can't see me moving from this job - i'm like part of the furniture lol

Pinotjo · 10/05/2019 13:41

19 miserable years in my current job. If you don't like a job then leave, don't be like me, I got sucked in by the good pay, now I'm trapped by the good pension. However in your case the yrs will fly by, so I'd go for it

ShatnersWig · 10/05/2019 13:45

1st job - 15 months
2nd job - 12 months
3rd job - 15 months
4th job - 18 months
5th job - 18 months
then freelance for a few years
6th job - almost 14 years and counting!

Jobs 1-4 were the same company and the first two moves were internal transfers/promotions to different roles in different departments. Job 4 I applied for but still same company.

Current job totally utterly different sector from jobs 1-5.

megletthesecond · 10/05/2019 13:47

9 years.
I've not dared change since the dc's were pre-schoolers because I need parental leave and maximum annual leave for school holidays.

BiddyPop · 10/05/2019 13:52

1st job - a “filler” - 9 months
2nd job - career - so far, 20 years (in Feb just gone)

I have the opportunity to move around within the organization and have some more professional training and been promoted a few times in that period.

I’m my institution, Lots of people do 40 years + (within my own institution, or moving between related organizations over time)

Lots of people do 1-2 years and move on to something else entirely

And lots of people something in between

Twolipstulips · 10/05/2019 13:52

21 years, but project based so 6 different offices. Been promoted 5 times. Resigned today! Got a new job in similar sector, but much nicher role. Looking forward to the change but nervous about being the newbie!

BiddyPop · 10/05/2019 13:53

I did have other jobs before and during Uni years, that is just since I graduated

tisonlymeagain · 10/05/2019 13:54

First job - 18 years
Second job - 3 years
This job - 1 year so far

BrewdogMillionaire · 10/05/2019 14:03

5 years - parttime self-employed whilst studying
3 months - internship
15 months - current employment (but regularly still scout other jobs as I dont enjoy my job)

cowcowsalsa · 10/05/2019 14:11

I was in one from 18 years old to 28/29 years old.
One from 29 to 30.
Current 30 till now - 36 years old, 37 this year.

Hiddenaspie1973 · 10/05/2019 14:18

The longest I've been in a job was 3 years 8 months.
The shortest 1 hour.
Currently with L.A for nearly 2 years with no immediate plans to move on.

LoopyLu2019 · 10/05/2019 14:23

I did 1 year in my 1st job out of uni and I don't see myself leaving my current employer any time soon. I might change roles, no one here really stays in the same role for more than 5 years that's for sure! After 2 years in a role you're encouraged to start looking for your next one.

Spidey66 · 10/05/2019 14:23

First job-four years
second job (traditional nurse training) 3 years
third job- four months (short term contract)
fourth job-seven tears
fifth job -13 years
current-2.5 years
I'm old.

magpie24 · 10/05/2019 14:35

My first post grad job I was locked in for 2 years (for a training contract) and I stayed for a year and a half after that. So 3.5 in total.

Current job almost 4 years.

In my conservative profession (law) I do think people judge those who don't stick at jobs for a while. It's a profession where people seem to expect others to slog out a role even if it's a bit shit.

magpie24 · 10/05/2019 14:39

Also to add the most senior people where I work now seem to have been there 20+ years. Not as many lateral hires for the big big jobs

Wadingthroughshit · 10/05/2019 14:44

Trends have changed. Older generations tended to stay with the same company for a lot longer, and have less jobs with different companies. Now, it's perfectly normal, or at least more likely, for millennials and younger to build 'job portfolios', whereby we have shorted periods with more companies, usually attracted by training, conditions and benefits. I've been with my org, first since postgrad and first in my field for nearly a year, and I will look to move on after my youngest starts school this year and has settled in as I want to move up to the next level.
Three years with training sounds great!

shumway · 10/05/2019 14:48

18 years. In 2 different departments.

ThePants999 · 10/05/2019 14:52

14 years, from graduation to now.

sugarbum · 10/05/2019 14:54

My first proper job was 7 years, although I had a 15 month sabbatical near the end of that and worked temping jobs in Australia.
I then had a baby and couldn't return to that job (commuting issue) so I got a work from home job. They made me redundant after about a year.
Then I got the job I'm at now. I've been here since my youngest was one, so 8 years. Its not very exciting, but they are unbelievably flexible. So I stay.
A few of the friends I made at my first job are still there, even though the company has changed hands/names several times. They must be on 20 years now!

Ces6 · 10/05/2019 14:55

22 years. And I am still at the same level I was on joining - depressing !

Metalhead · 10/05/2019 14:59

I was with the same company for 12 years but got moved around internally a lot, though always in similar roles.

Just left three months ago and started a new job in a totally unrelated field.

Yearofchange · 10/05/2019 15:05

I stayed with my first organisation (who I joined straight from university) 3 years - did two different jobs though, each for about 18 months. The next place I worked I stayed 10 years which felt too long... however I did get promoted twice and have my children while I was there so I got quite a lot done! Current organisation just under a year, think I will stay 2-3 years before looking again unless there are some changes. Ideally I would try and avoid staying anywhere much longer than 5 years, it is hard to leave (emotionally and because it is your comfort zone) and I think it makes it harder to look like a dynamic candidate to a new employer if you’ve been in the same role a long time. Also I suppose I found the longer I was in each job, the less I got done eventually if that makes sense? I suppose I was active in changing things for the first couple of years and then got a bit less enthusiastic, worn down by politics etc.