In the past 10 years, how many... [Poll]

jobs have you had? After voting, feel free to share what you think is "normal".

I look at resumes sometimes and see 5+ jobs in a 10 year period and I wonder if that's normal these days.

Re: In the past 10 years, how many... [Poll]

I am about to be 26 and I have been at my job for 6.5 yrs.

I started as an intern for 2 years and then came on FT when I graduated.

From 16-19 I had about 5 jobs including lifeguarding during the summer

If the applicants are older, then I may think it was odd to have so many jobs in the last 10 yrs. But if the applicant is 25 or younger then I can see how they may have so many jobs in the last 10 yrs.

Of course you don't know the persons age from reading a resume though

Re: In the past 10 years, how many... [Poll]

One, and I am grateful for that fact. I am a teacher and the process drained me so much. In education, because jobs were hard to come by even in good times, I think we tend to stay put, unless one advances in administrative/staff development capacity.

ETA- I think it depends- if a person had multiple positions in one company, that would be a plus, and there might be other circumstances, but I also think five jobs in ten years is a lot.

Message edited 6/22/2010 10:07:55 AM.

Re: In the past 10 years, how many... [Poll]

"normal" is a hard description...

however at this point in time, loyalty is to yourself and not to the company.... i remember growing up and hearing people talk about how bad their job was and they would stay because they "had to do their part, its for the better of the company".... that idea is just GONE these days.

for someone straight out of college, 3-4 years in a job is more then enough now... this partly has to do with gaining experience and figuring out what exactly you want to do... and partly has to do with the companies these days seem not to REALLY care about their employees anymore... its all about making money and cutting losses, and you need to have the same approach in your life.

Re: In the past 10 years, how many... [Poll]

Two.

One while in College (summers) /Grad school.

And my current career for 6 yrs. I have changed places three times, but always same job and employer.

ETA: I think that job change is dependent on your line of work. Educators can stay in the same place for 20+ years whereas most business jobs are more likely to change every cple yrs. The days of people staying with one company for 30 years ended when the pensions did.

Message edited 6/22/2010 10:09:04 AM.

Re: In the past 10 years, how many... [Poll]

One job.
I've been here for 15 years, hope to make it here another 18 years until I retire.

Re: In the past 10 years, how many... [Poll]

Re: In the past 10 years, how many... [Poll]

I think it depends on what business they are in.

I have had 4 jobs in the past 10 years.

I worked for the postal service and they let me go before my probation was over (was christmas help apparently)

Then I went to a Mortgage company

Left that mortgage company to go to a better paying mortgage company

2nd mortgage company started tanking and I got a job at a Real Estate attorney's office


My sister also works in the mortgage industry and she has had 4 jobs in the past 3 years because the places that she works at keep going under.

Re: In the past 10 years, how many... [Poll]

I worked at my first job for almost 9 years...then I became self employed. Back in 2008 i started a totally new career path and have 2 p/t jobs in the new field..one position is only during May-Sept...the other is only during the school year. My resume is a bit odd..since it goes from 15 years of one career to a completely non-related career for the last 2.

Dh worked for a few start ups that went under...so things like that could be why they had so many jobs in such a small amount of time?

Re: In the past 10 years, how many... [Poll]

4, but two are at the same place.

Company 1 - was laid off
Company 2 - resigned while on maternity leave
Company 3 - left for another job offer
Company 1 AGAIN - my old boss called and asked if I wanted to come back, I accepted

Re: In the past 10 years, how many... [Poll]

I've had one job in the past 10 years but I would add that there is no "norm".

I think it is highly dependent on age & industry. Twentysomethings tend to jump around more than thirtysomethings. Some industries see higher turnover, ie software companies & most recently the financial sector.

Re: In the past 10 years, how many... [Poll]

3
my internship during grad school and then 2 jobs (i'm still at the 2nd one)

Re: In the past 10 years, how many... [Poll]

3 real meaningful gigs..

the most recent 6 years.

Re: In the past 10 years, how many... [Poll]

I think it depends on your age and industry. Someone younger may move around a bit after college until they find something that suits them.

I am 26 and have had 4 jobs in the last 10 years. One was a temp holiday stint at a store when I was much younger. I worked for one company for almost 5 years and grew into 3 different roles while there in that time period. Then I followed my boss to another company for a short period of time, and am now at my current company for almost 3 years.

Re: In the past 10 years, how many... [Poll]

When I was in college I only worked summer/winter jobs, so I don't really count those - but I was at once place of employment from age 20-21. (#1)

When I was 22 I got a job at a law firm but only worked there 6 months before returning to school. (#2)

I worked at another job the summer I was 23, but again returned to school that September. (#3)

I graduated with my Masters at age 25 and actually got a permanent position where I did my internship (#4).

And in 2006 I was hired at my current position - #5

So because of my age (30) and where I was in life, I don't think it's weird for me to have had 5 jobs in 10 years

Re: In the past 10 years, how many... [Poll]

I've had 4 but there are a few factors involved.

I'm a legal secretary and started at small firms which meant no growth. I left the first firm for a considerable pay increase and better hours which made it easier to take my classes - I was going to school at night at the time.

The second firm on my list had nearly 100% turnover in a year. That's a poo poo on the firm, not me, and the firm has since dissolved. I'm one of the few who didn't get fired... I'm gifted that way. I was there for 14 months.

I left the third place when I got my bachelors degree.

I've been at my current place for 4 years and I have no desire to change jobs anytime soon. It's a good fit for me.

Re: In the past 10 years, how many... [Poll]

Well, I have had 4 jobs, but three of them at the same agency, all promotions. So, I look at being at the same place as a positive thing.

When I have to review resumes, I look for people that are at one place for at least a year (or 2) and question people that move around a lot, laterally. If they move for advancement then I think that's ok.

Re: In the past 10 years, how many... [Poll]

2 real jobs, but then different summer and tutoring jobs since I'm a teacher.

Re: In the past 10 years, how many... [Poll]

2 in the past 10 years.

I worked at Waldbaums for 6 years and I am now in my 5th year with SSA.

Re: In the past 10 years, how many... [Poll]

I worked for the same engineering company for 10 years and then 1.5 years ago stopped working when I had my son.

I have since started my own business.

I agree that younger 20-somethings tend to change jobs more frequently, part of it is gaining experience, part is industry (in engineering it seems you got the biggest raises by going to a competitor - my rate increased by 60% by going to a competitor for 6 months and then back to my original company, I had many colleagues who did the same thing), part could be finding the right fit.

If the person is older and still job hopping. I would not look favorably on it, I don't want to spend the time/effort to get someone into our mode of working and familiar with our clients to have them leave in 2-3 years and have to start the process again. Many engineering jobs take many years to complete, you don't want to constantly rotate your staff.

Message edited 6/22/2010 10:52:51 AM.

Re: In the past 10 years, how many... [Poll]

I think it depends on the industry

I had 4 jobs in product development/retail

very normal for that field to jump around

now I am a realtor - with my own business on the side

and I will shortly be moving on to my second real estate company - where I hope to stay for a while

Re: In the past 10 years, how many... [Poll]

I've been at my current company for 8 years, although 6 of those years I've been part time since I had kids... Don't plan on leaving them anytime soon, they are very accommodating to my PT schedule.

Before that, I was with 2 other companies for 3 years each.

I think it was easier for me to move to better opportunities when I was younger and child free. Like I mentioned, I am not leaving my current company any time soon since they let me work my own PT schedule and with kids, that is very hard to find.

Re: In the past 10 years, how many... [Poll]

I started my job at 19. I'm turning 30 this year. So I've been here a little over 10 years.

I realize that this is not the norm. As I have had my job longer than ANY friend I have who is my age or even a little older than me.

I would think that 5 jobs in 10 years is OK. anything more than that could be considered excessive when applying for other jobs. they might ask about stability, in whatever form of legal questions they are allowed.

Re: In the past 10 years, how many... [Poll]

I've had 3. After college, I worked one job for 6 years. Things started going south, but I tried holding on until a job I was promised opened up in 2008. Unfortunately, it got too bad & I had to leave & take another job for a year until my current job finally opened up. I worked in a small 4 person dept. at my 1st job & my boss & coworker were cheating on their spouses w/each other & as you can imagine, things got weird/bad there very quickly once that happened...

Message edited 6/22/2010 11:10:49 AM.

Re: In the past 10 years, how many... [Poll]

I am not sure, what is normal, but here is how it worked out for me:

HS/College: TOH Lifeguard (9 years)
Teacher on LI (1 year) *resigned because of relocation for DH's job
Teacher in rural upstate school (1 year) *resigned due to awful commute/found better paying job
Teacher in suburban upstate school (2 years)