i was musing this question last night.

i took a new job last december. it's pretty good and a vast improvement over my last job in every way. however, it's not quite what i was expecting and therefore i feel like some of my talents are not being utilized.

so i'm not actively pursuing another job at the moment, but i can see that happening by the time i've been here for a year, anyway.

how long do you think you should stay at a job before taking another step up the ladder? my wife said 2 years and i thought that was ridiculous, maybe a year...

4/3/2007 11:48:09 AM

i think it completely depends on the situation, but if you've already invested a few years, i would see how much longer you have to stick around before you get pension.

at my work, you have to work for 5 years before you are able to acquire the pension money you have gained, so if I was unhappy, I would probably stick around 5 years so I can get that money.

if you're unhappy, leave, but if you do that too early and often, its not going to look good to new potetial employees. why would they want to hire you if you stay at every job a year or two.

i do think a year is too soon to really get in the groove of a job though.

4/3/2007 11:52:57 AM

very good insight

for whatever reason i was focusing on my point of view rather than that of future employers

tdub does have some uses

4/3/2007 12:03:40 PM

i agree with sober

also i think that expecting a promotion after being at the company for 1 year is in most cases not the standard but my no means rare either - it's all dependent on the company though

4/3/2007 12:46:54 PM

I've seen a couple people quit the first day on the job

4/3/2007 5:06:43 PM

we had one lady leave after the 3rd day. She said she had a doctor's appointment and never showed back up

4/3/2007 6:09:45 PM

I'm staying put till I'm vested in some of that match money. Personally, that's my new gauge.

4/3/2007 7:14:25 PM

6 years.

4/3/2007 8:08:34 PM

Too many moves will look bad on your resume. But don't sit on a job if an awesome opportunity presents itself. Just think harder about the job you want to do before you accept, is it really what you want to do or will this just hold you over for another year? Unfortunatly the only way to make decent $ is to move from on job to the next. If more companies would treat new grads with some respect they might be able to keep the people they train.

4/3/2007 8:35:21 PM

^I agree

4/4/2007 5:37:53 AM

You said some of your talents aren't being utilized. Could you possibly make a horitontal move within the company?

4/4/2007 9:16:43 AM

^yeah, and on that note, have you told anybody? talk to your supervisor and tell him how you feel...maybe something can be done to improve the situation.

there are a few people that i work with that feel the same way you do, but they won't talk to anyone about it. you need to voice your opinion if you really arent happy. you dont need to be rude or negative about it, but i good supervisor wants his employees to be happy.

4/4/2007 9:49:47 AM

Exactly! When I first applied for my current job it had tons of pros over what I was doing before, but it still wasn't what I wanted to do long term. I mentioned this to my boss and told me to give him two good years and then he would try to get me moved. Two years is nothing compared to the length of your entire career.

[Edited on April 4, 2007 at 9:53 AM. Reason : ]

4/4/2007 9:52:52 AM

The rule of thumb is at least one year with your current position before you leave. When you hop around at a rate faster than that, it tends to raise questions.

There are of course, a lot of other factors as well. If you're okay with your job and have things like pension that you can be vested in after five years, you may just stick around until then. If you're bored or absolutely miserable in your current position, there's nothing wrong with bailing out. If you're in a large corporation that offers a lot of different job opportunities, it may be better to simply rotate to a new position within the company instead of bailing out and starting the job hunt for scratch.

I think for me, I prefer at least two years at the job. You usually know its time to move on when your job is no longer challenging and you've stopped learning.

4/4/2007 10:24:40 AM

what if it is no longer challenging, you get bored, and you stop learning 6 months into it?

4/4/2007 11:21:00 AM

talk to someone about it

4/4/2007 11:24:06 AM

i've been w/ my company for 2 years 5 months now

i did a lot of job hoping in the past and that hurt my "appeal"
but those companies i left didnt live up to what was promised...kind of like what is going on now w/ my current job

promises of raises and bonuses not being fulfilled. i used to get to travel all over the US but now the new guy gets to take my place on all trips so that is another big X to my current company

i just started looking again and forgot how much of a JOB it is to find a JOB

4/4/2007 12:15:35 PM

I am currently considering bolting and it's only been three months.. I know it's gonna hurt me but I bring a lot to the table.

4/10/2007 9:02:22 PM

better to bolt after 3 months than after 10 months. sometimes you just gotta cut your losses.

once you get another job, you can remove any reference to the 3-month gig entirely from your resume, and just pretend it never happened. youll need to have a good "reason" why you werent working for 3 months, but that timeframe isnt unreasonable to take off.

obviously though, you cant keep pulling that shit. you better make your next one count for a good 2+ years, hopefully more.

whatever you do, dont quit before you get an offer. and give at least 2 wks notice for them to find/train replacement.

generally speaking if you can hold out for at least a full year, that might be better, but it depends. if your current job really sucks to the point of being unbearable and/or you get a killer offer/opportunity somewhere else, then you just gotta go for it.

and even the 1 year minimum "rule" is just for limited use. you leave an entry level job after 1 or 2 years... no one will think bad about it. but if you keep going from successive job to job, after 1 or 2 years, it will hurt you.





[Edited on April 11, 2007 at 1:07 AM. Reason : ]

4/11/2007 12:55:45 AM

my stepdad worked at his first job for like 3 years

hes doing pretty well right now

4/11/2007 1:53:42 AM

Quote :

"the 1 year minimum "rule" is just for limited use. you leave an entry level job after 1 or 2 years... no one will think bad about it. but if you keep going from successive job to job, after 1 or 2 years, it will hurt you."

basically my opinion. i left my first "real" job after about 14 months. i had no problem getting a few interviews and a couple of decent offers around that time. i ended up going into the family business though, so it didn't matter.

4/11/2007 2:53:21 AM

I stayed at my last job for four months and realized I was getting shafted based on market rate. I basically told them I would leave if I got the chance and the market was better than I realized. I ended up getting four offers in under a week, so I left.

At any rate if you have the offers and the pay is better you don't owe them anything

[Edited on April 13, 2007 at 10:06 PM. Reason : a ]

4/13/2007 10:04:24 PM

We just had a guy in our office quit after 3 days. I ran into him when he was waiting to be interviewed and he was telling me he had been trying to get an interview with us for a while and this is the type of company he really wants to work for, yada yada. Guess we scared him off

Oh, this wasn't an entry level position or anything either. He was probably in his late 30's early 40's

4/24/2007 10:19:03 AM

Damn, did he get another offer or something? I can't imagine ever leaving a job after three days.

4/24/2007 10:25:48 AM

No idea. That would be my guess though. Funny thing is he was the third person named "Doug" that had quit/been fired in the past 3-4 months. So according to my manager, no one else by the name of Doug will be hired


Ha, just found out from someone else in the office, aparently he was shadowing the guy he was supposed to replace. This guy had turned in his notice a couple weeks ago and said he would be glad to train someone before he left. Well aparently he was telling this new guy a bunch of bs about the company and that caused him to quit.

[Edited on April 24, 2007 at 11:22 AM. Reason : more info]

4/24/2007 11:03:06 AM

I've only been with my current company for 10 months now, but if we hadn't merged - I would have left right around the year mark.

As it stands, I'm planning on staying here as long as there is opportunity for advancement - and as the situation stands right now, those opportunities are plentiful.

My rule always was stay for a year unless it's 100% unbearable for the first job out of college, after that leave if a better opportunity comes along, but don't quit before you have another job.

To each their own but if a company really won't hire me becuase I stayed for less than X number of days/years and looks at this point as critical, rather than finding out the situations behind them - I'm not keen on working for that company anyway.

4/24/2007 12:46:18 PM

I think twice about hiring people with resumes that make them look like "job-jumpers" - if you decide to leave after one year there- just be sure you somehow represent in a very P.C. way that you are leaving because you are looking to be utilized to your full potential.

4/24/2007 1:25:19 PM

I left my first job after less than a year, but only because I already have another ones lined up.

4/24/2007 1:29:15 PM

people jump from job to job thinking they'll move further up the corporate ladder, but usually all they do is get a couple steps up and then jump from ladder to ladder at the same level. be more selective in your job hunting, and be prepared to put up with a little bit of bullshit and politics anywhere you go.

4/30/2007 11:07:53 PM

I am starting to think if I really want to stay in TX.....starting to think about returning to NC. I like my job and got a raise, but I just dont really like Texas all that much. When I first got this job, it was for experience, and i have 2 and a half years right now of that experience, so i dont think it would be hard to find another job. It is just all the family etc live in NC...blah

I have a 6 month lease, and it comes up in July, have to decide what i want to do soon.....The good thing is I got a furnished apartment so all I would have to do is pack up the car and leave.

[Edited on May 1, 2007 at 7:12 PM. Reason : w]

5/1/2007 7:10:47 PM

1. By far, your biggest mistake was not interviewing the company well when they called you in for an interview. Get this right the next time and you won't have to worry about this problem.

2. 2 years is ridiculous to stay in a job you don't like. If you really hate it, it should be on the order of months (assuming no entanglements like pensions or moving expenses are involved). The company doesn't give a shit about you and you don't owe them anything.

3. A short switch doesn't matter so much as long as you have a good explanation. This can come up during the interview or cover letter.

5/2/2007 3:26:56 AM

Agreed. A short switch occasionally isn't bad. People sometimes get crappy jobs and will flee. As mentioned before though, if it becomes a habit, then it's going to raise some questions with future employers.

Quote :

"what if it is no longer challenging, you get bored, and you stop learning 6 months into it? "

I'd say put up with it for another six months and then reassess. Six months is a really short time at a job, and especially if you're new to the field, it usually takes from that to a year for employers to be comfortable enough to start giving you more complex and challenging assignments. If they're still jerking you around after a year though, then a leave by that point isn't so bad.

5/2/2007 5:59:16 PM

Just make sure the company you leave is a company you never want to work for again.

I hated my job 3 months in. The rest of my team (3 of us) quit and I was left alone, in training, on a 1 person team. Sucked. I stuck with it, and was promoted. My team manager moved down to become the senior on the team (he hated TM hours) and they hired 2 girls onto the team. I got promoted and learned the system better. Got more confident in the job and was promoted again last month. I'm now 2.5 years into the job. Its definitely not a career for me, but the company is outstanding. Great benefits, pension, and I found out 2 months ago that the office is relocating 2 miles from my house in Charlotte. Everything just sort of fell into place.

I was open with them a year ago. Sat my boss down and told him that I'd like to explore other positions within the company. They set me up with share-a-days with the other jobs I was interested in and I will likely apply later this year (when all our offices merge).

I couldn't envision all this happening 3 months into the job. I'm glad I stuck around. Make sure you weigh the positives. Remember the grass is not always greener on the other side.

5/2/2007 6:29:46 PM

Don't leave until you have your next job lined up.

5/2/2007 9:28:36 PM

im in the same position. i'll leave. dont plan on wasting my 20s on something i hate. there are always employers who dont mind employees who are restless. as long as you are honest with them...aka tell them you are NOT using your brain in full potential, job not challenging, nowhere to move up despite accomplishments etc....you should be fine.

staying somewhere you dont like 5 or 6 years over 5-10k of pension is fucking crazy. half a decade is well worth more than 10k.

[Edited on May 3, 2007 at 12:07 AM. Reason : f]

5/3/2007 12:06:57 AM

Quote :

"Don't leave until you have your next job lined up."

Best advice ever.


I quit my last job because I was so fed up with the BS politicking behind the scenes, and I didn't have anything lined up. I spent a week looking for something to keep my head above water, and it was pretty much the worst week of my life. I can't imagine what it would be like if I hadn't lucked into the position I'm in now, or if I would have been out of work for more than that week.

5/5/2007 12:04:09 PM

due to my background, i have to stay in my positions now, even if i go to work every day and have to eat spoonfuls of shit. i have good skills, and i test well and interview well, but i can't pass through certain areas without getting netted on some sort of BS that disqualifies me.

unless they are beating you at work every day, i say suck it up and stay until you 1) find something else, 2) cant stand it anymore.

5/5/2007 7:25:58 PM

I came across a FMEA (Failure mode and effects analysis for non engineering types) that my company did for the hiring process. Their definition of a job-hopper is anyone that repeatedly changes jobs before 2.5 years of service.

Therefore, they decided to hire only those that were in their previous position at a minimum of 2 years.

You have the 90 day trial period, and if you don't like the job get out, as far as being there for over a year, I'd stick it out for at least 2 unless it's killing you.

5/5/2007 7:39:45 PM

Another consideration here is if any perks you were given upon sign on rely on you staying a minimum length of time. From what I understand, a year is *very* common to ensure you aren't paying the company back for a signing bonus *or* training of some sort they fronted. If you signed contract paperwork, go back, and look at it, and make sure you're in the clear before you go hop off somewhere else.

5/18/2007 11:35:56 PM

Are term-based contracts legal in the US?

5/19/2007 4:58:33 PM

too many moves is not automatically a bad thing, not by any means

5/19/2007 5:43:00 PM

^^must be, 'cuz i'm on one. i'll owe $8k and my relocation if i leave before a year of service and half that if i leave after one but before two

5/27/2007 2:05:59 PM

^^^ i would hope so since that's all the military uses...
of course, the military usually gets to play by their own rules, so that might not be the best example...

5/28/2007 8:04:34 AM

I'm currently in the market for a new job, and I've been here for 13 months

basically this place is slowly getting worse and worse, and management is also becoming worse.

it would take about 3 pages to explain, but it's time to leave

my problem is that i'm stuck looking in gboro, due to family reasons

Therefore most of the ME jobs in Greensboro require at least 2+ of experience, and while that's usually just a "suggestion" i've had people tell me that I'm perfect for the job, but HR will not let them bring in someone with less than 2 years.

BS if you ask me, but I have no reason to doubt this guy.

Anyway, there were 4 engineers that were hired last May, and two of them have already quit. One after 9 months, and the other last month.

7/30/2007 1:36:51 PM

^

i'd apply anyway. i've heard that before, but the HR guy told me they put that on everything to weed out the losers.

if you excel, they will hire you.

i've had no problems with lack of experience and i have very little to go on.

[Edited on August 14, 2007 at 1:05 AM. Reason : my personality is what wins people over, not my lack of knowledge. ]

8/14/2007 1:04:07 AM

I really don't think time spent at each job is all that important unless your resume is riddled with a string of lengths of employments < 2 years. It all depends on how you come across to the interviewer. And don't think you won't get an interview. The market has more jobs than candidates in most fields, particularly Civil(A) and Mechanical engineering.

The advise about not quitting until you had another job lined up is also very good. Keep your ear to the ground. Get the Sunday paper. Browse online listings (they're usually free to job seekers). You never know what might come along even if you are extremely happy with your current job.

(A) My last job was with a civil design firm in Raleigh, and they have been looking for Civil Techs, EITs, and PEs for 2 years. Now I work for a Utility Construction company who has been looking for Foremen, Superintendents, and Managment Personnel for as long as I have been here. The problem is that it is outdoor work dealing with water distribution, sewer collection, and mechanical utilities and no one with a college education wants to work outside in the dirt, even if they make upwards of $40k starting out with earning potential of > $80k/yr as a FOREMAN, much less a Project Manager.

8/14/2007 9:34:27 AM

Here's a question for you guys, along these lines.

I've got a lot of experience over the years, but most of my work experience has been as independent contract work or as intership type positions.

I wonder if seeing 7-8 years of contract experience weighs differently on HR screeners than 7-8 years of "job hopping". I haven't had a terrible time getting prospects finding a new job, but I definitely have gotten the feeling of being "dropped" by some of the bigger companies HR systems because of the varied amount of work I've done.


Also, as an employee, 2 years minimum in a position.

8/15/2007 12:57:26 AM

Here's the problem - unless you're shooting for a management position, you're worse off to have a lot of varied experience. Its better to become a master at one thing (no, not a tool); establish a great deal of depth in a given field and have some knowledge of other related fields. Then you will be a valuable employee/prospect to any employer.

Two caveats:
1) sucks if that field gets eliminated somehow
2) no, i'm not talking about becoming a master at a tool

8/15/2007 7:22:38 AM

Had my first of several interviews yesterday, got a job offer this morning

^I think that's definitely the case for corporate jobs, I've definitely had trouble getting into big companies. Not that I've really applied to or want to work for a giant.

8/15/2007 10:38:22 AM

the industry i'm in, it's not uncommon to hop from company to company. i noticed this trend when i look at resumes and job applications (I'm part HR over here) and i was told the way to move up in my industry is to physically change jobs. now granted, i don't think its smart to be moving every 6 months to a year but still.

Quote :

"I'm currently in the market for a new job, and I've been here for 13 months basically this place is slowly getting worse and worse, and management is also becoming worse. it would take about 3 pages to explain, but it's time to leave"

completely agree....minus the about to leave part but mostly because i dont feel like boring anyone with the office antics unless you're interested. (and if you are shoot me a PM and i will amuse you for a good 2 hours).

8/15/2007 1:50:17 PM