4 year itch to change a job....

[YS2003]

Even though job hoppers are frowned upon by many employers, I started noticing I have a proclivity toward a 4 year itch to change my job. I moved from my previous company to this company about 4 years ago after working with that first company for 4 years.
Do you have the similar experience? When I move to a new job, I intend for a long term career. But, I bump into a better opportunity to deploy my skills, experience, and motivation more productively and earn more money at the same time (which, I tend to take that opportunity). I don't know how come this happens at the 4th year at my previous job and this one. Maybe coincidence. How about you?

 

[thedude110]

My itch is much ... shorter, or itchier, or something.

Since I've been 22, I've held jobs for 2, 3, 1, and 1 years. In the job I'm in at the moment, it's beyond possible I won't return after this, my first year.

I think job hopping is pretty normal -- and I think four years is a pretty significant chunk of time to spend with an employer. If you can find a place (and people) that you love, so much the better. But that combination of people and place has been, in my experience, awfully difficult to find.

 

[miloblithe]

I've never even had a job for 2 years. I'll be 34 this summer. It's definitely a different world now than it was 50 years ago.

One thing you should consider is that to some employers, while job hopping may be frowned upon, staying too long in a position can be seen as a lack of ambition, or even talent. It's a difficult balance.

 

[furcalchick]

i think 4 years is a good amount of time in today's world. about 30 years ago, it was natural to stay in one or two places for your whole working life, but now, most people change employers about every 3 years (please correct me if i'm wrong) on average.

if you wanted to change jobs every six months or every year, that could be unhealthy, and employers frown on that, as it shows that you can't stay long at all in one place.

 

[jcarm24]

i haven't been in the work place too long, but my manager explained that a 4 year turn around is not uncommon anymore. He's a bit older than i, and said that his generation's turn around was closer to 10 yrs, and even older generations rarely changed jobs. So I guess your itch isn't that out of place any more

 

[macmama]

It's about 3-4 years for me too.

 

[YS2003]

One thing you should consider is that to some employers, while job hopping may be frowned upon, staying too long in a position can be seen as a lack of ambition, or even talent. It's a difficult balance.

That is what I was also thinking about. At my work place, there are some old timers who are laboring through daily works in very "laid-back" manner. At some corners of the work place, seniority speaks better than performance. I am more for performance and that is the main reason I cannot pass on a better opportunity even though there are some risks associated with any job change (as I cannot be sure how the change will turn out until I do it).

Good to know 4 year turn around is not that uncommon in the current work environment. I don't want to turn off potential employers because of that as I only move to a better opportunity when I know I can use my skills more productively and can stimulate my interest and motivation at my work (I hate boring, repetitive and non-challenging works, even though I can perform well if I choose to do so). I only consider moving when I know I can earn more than I do now (which has been my guiding principle of my job change). I have a few knocking at my door and I got to answer one of those shortly.

 

[flopticalcube]

Since leaving grad school (aged 26), I have averaged 18 months between jobs. I stopped working for "the man" when I turned 40 (3 years ago).

My father worked like a dog for 17 years for the same company until they replaced him with a 23 year old at half his wage. Longer careers are for chumps!

 

[johnee]

I work at ibm, and when I first joined, I had every intention of staying as long as i liked. However due to the company trying to pinch every penny till it screams, I no longer desire to stay after the 7 years i've been there. I need to stay for at least 3 more years, but after that i'm becoming a lumberjack so i can be ok, sleep all night and work all day.

But I know exactly what you mean. I think life in 3-5 year chunks is a good thing. I certainly am not one of those people that devotes 30 years of their life to one thing.

There is a huge world out there, and we all should make plans to incorporate the exploring of that world into our lively-hoods. You should check this out (Henry David Thoreau, he's a god):

http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Life_Without_Principle

Here's some excerpts:

"The aim of the laborer should be, not to get his living, to get "a good job," but to perform well a certain work; and, even in a pecuniary sense, it would be economy for a town to pay its laborers so well that they would not feel that they were working for low ends, as for a livelihood merely, but for scientific, or even moral ends. Do not hire a man who does your work for money, but him who does it for love of it."

"The community has no bribe that will tempt a wise man. You may raise money enough to tunnel a mountain, but you cannot raise money enough to hire a man who is minding his own business. An efficient and valuable man does what he can, whether the community pay him for it or not. The inefficient offer their inefficiency to the highest bidder, and are forever expecting to be put into office. One would suppose that they were rarely disappointed."

 

[miloblithe]

It's also assuredly the case that different industries have different standards. When I worked in software development, a year seemed like a long time.

 

[JNB]

Boy howdy, I really am old fashioned!

I'm on my second significant job. Been here a bit over seven years, and just now starting to feel like one of the "regulars." That last major position was 20 years & change. I only left that because I was timing the economy. I've had a few other positions, including one short stint of five years self-employment.

It seems nobody has patience or takes the long view anymore, from individuals to corporations. It's really sad, too, because there's a lot to be gained from the "greyhairs", or in my case, nohairs.

But, fifty years before me, is was apprenticeship at twelve, journeyman at thirty, master at forty-five, and dead at fifty or so, all on the same job. That's human progress, eh?

Even though job hoppers are frowned upon by many employers, I started noticing I have a proclivity toward a 4 year itch to change my job.

At four years, you may be - frighteningly enough - stunting your career growth. I see the young Turks doing 18 to 24 months, punching another ticket, and moving upward & onward, believing that they actually know a damn thing.,..

 

[johnee]

Boy howdy, I really am old fashioned!

I don't think so, I think you are just the type of person that is able to stay at one thing for a long time.

I on the other hand like the excitement of shaking things up like this girl i know in vegas that does this thing where she ... oops i got carried away.

 

[sushi]

I think it depends on the kind of job/career one is pursuing.

Some are better when you change often, others are better when you gain experience within the same environment.

 

[YS2003]

At four years, you may be - frighteningly enough - stunting your career growth. I see the young Turks doing 18 to 24 months, punching another ticket, and moving upward & onward, believing that they actually know a damn thing.,..

Well, in my case, I have been in the same industry for over 8 years by now. Some of the job skills are very easily transferable to other positions in different industries. Also, if a job hopper is good at learning new things quickly (I am one of them to some extend; I know my limitation. I cannot be a nuclear physicist or brain surgeon in 3 months). I noticed many employers are looking for people who can learn new things and concepts quickly as things change in this rapidly changing economy. I know some of my older coworkers do not like the fact I am breaking the "curve" by generating more sales and creating more opportunity for the company. A nail which sticks out will be knocked down (a bad translation of an Asian proverb). The management loves me; but, I know some of my coworkers do not like a curve breaker.

 

[adk]

Well, in my case, I have been in the same industry for over 8 years by now. Some of the job skills are very easily transferable to other positions in different industries. Also, if a job hopper is good at learning new things quickly (I am one of them to some extend; I know my limitation. I cannot be a nuclear physicist or brain surgeon in 3 months). I noticed many employers are looking for people who can learn new things and concepts quickly as things change in this rapidly changing economy. I know some of my older coworkers do not like the fact I am breaking the "curve" by generating more sales and creating more opportunity for the company. A nail which sticks out will be knocked down (a bad translation of an Asian proverb). The management loves me; but, I know some of my coworkers do not like a curve breaker.

If you're a salesperson, changing jobs every four years is not a big deal, especially if a potential employer sees that you increased your salary each time.