What's the longest you've stayed? (Job-R)

parallaxparallax no-style-having mf'er 1,266 Posts
edited November 2014 in Strut Central
The longest I stayed at any one position was 4 years while working at a college doing advancement work. Nice gig, good pay, good people...but I felt like I wasn't making a difference. I continue to do non-profit work, but currently at a social-services agency. (1.5 years and counting)

I am impressed by people who stay in one spot for 20-30+ years. I can't do it.

What's the longest you've stayed?

  Comments


  • CBearCBear 902 Posts
    11 years currently. I used to have a 3 year rule before that, but I was young. This position suits me.

  • skelskel You can't cheat karma 5,033 Posts
    14 years.
    350 people in 86, 20 left in 99; it fell to me to switch the lights off, and was still sorting out various operational niceties until 03.
    Going for beers with a mob of dudes on 20th, we haven't met for between 15 and 20 years.
    Can't recall anything other than good times; had my two eldest kids with one of the office girls, the redundancy cheque paid off the mortgage, and what I learned and who I met was the bedrock of my career.
    It was only after that it all went tits up.

    Wmic

  • DuderonomyDuderonomy Haut de la Garenne 7,789 Posts

    7 years. I was young and I needed the money.

  • 14-15 years. burned my hands with solder and acid paste my young adult life in the name of the family biz.

    probably wouldn't trade the experience for anything in the world though.

  • Bon VivantBon Vivant The Eye of the Storm 2,018 Posts
    Longest I've stayed at the same place was a DJ residency I had. Was there 6-7 years.

    Longest non-DJ gig is probably my current one. Almost 3 years.

  • JimsterJimster Cruffiton.etsy.com 6,952 Posts
    Before I was working for myself, 3 years. My choice.

    Since then, I've had contracts ranging from one month, to ones lasting 5 years (3 months at a time).

    Happy to just take the money as a contractor and not stress raises, who earns more than who, "Annual Performance Reviews" and other such corporate bitterness catalysts.

    Man got kids to raise, music to play and bikes to ride. Fuck working to death.



  • FrankFrank 2,373 Posts
    Several stints as a machinist in various businesses all between 3 and 18 months before I found something that paid (slightly) better. 4 stints in silk screening both textiles and membrane keyboards 6-18 months each. 18 months chef training and workign as a line cook. Several short stints working constructions, usually while being on vacation from other jobs.

    Quit my last day job in 1997 and not going back to that shit.

  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    24 years at this, if you can it a job.

    I was never more than a few years at any one job before then. Shoe repair tended to be seasonal/part time. One time in Seattle I was working at 4 different shoe repair shops at once.
    Before shoe repair I did jobs that were best short term,
    Telephone solicitations
    Drug dealer
    Farm work
    Dairy farm
    Tractor operator (farm and grounds for the feds)
    Christmas tree harvesting
    Cannery
    Luggage repair
    Census enumerator
    Volunteer coordinator (woulda stayed but organization pulled funding)
    And some other jobs I can't remember I am sure.
    When you are young, if you spend 6 mos or a year at a job it seems like a lifetime.


  • white_teawhite_tea 3,262 Posts
    Current gig: Eight years; I get five weeks paid vacay (small reward, to be sure) if I last a decade which, knock on particle board. Union protection, some travel, rub elbows with peeps in power. It's not all bad.

  • 8 years working for the corporation this month actually, that my longest. the last 4 jobs i had i was laid off from due to lack of work/business/outsourcing, i like my current gig, i get 5 weeks paid vacation, benefits for dental/vision/medical, a few challenges to keep shit fresh. something else thats kinda cool is that i work for an American company so i get American holidays off as well (theres a pro and a con to that of course) like spending Canada Day working but July 4th partying, or working Thanksgiving in Canada and having a day off in a few weeks..

    if i lost my job tomorrow though - at the ripe ol age of 40yrs old, i have no clue wtf i'd do after this gig...

  • 9-5 job was 3 years. the Wherehouse.
    in ugly duckling = 22 years.

    peace, stein...


  • 18 years (technically). Got laid off on my 17th anniversary and enjoyed a full year of severance, 100% pay and benefits.

  • Big_StacksBig_Stacks "I don't worry about hittin' power, cause I don't give 'em nuttin' to hit." 4,670 Posts
    Hey,

    My longest job tenure has been 7 years at Rutgers University. I work as a professor so I have incredible work autonomy. My other longest gigs include 6 years as a professor at UW-Milwaukee, and 4 years as a preloader at United Parcel Service during my undergraduate studies.

    Peace,

    Big Stacks from Kakalak

  • motown67motown67 4,513 Posts
    This is my 20th year teaching. All done at same school although subjects I've taught have changed several times. Last 10 yrs I've been teaching 9th and 12th graders though.

  • asstroasstro 1,754 Posts
    January will be 7 years at my current job. I enjoy my job but the magazine industry is such a mess right now I have no real security anymore. Scary times.

  • RAJRAJ tenacious local 7,782 Posts
    I helped start an engineering company with my wife and father-in-law in 2000. In for life.

  • ppadilhappadilha 2,244 Posts
    I've been freelancing since I graduated from college, with projects rarely lasting more than 6 months at a time. Once I was baffled when someone offered me a job on a TV show and said they wanted a minimum commitment of 2 years. But I've had clients I've worked for, off and on, for several years. And I've been in the same field for about 12 years now. But I don't think I've ever worked for the same boss for longer than 6 months at a time. Basically, I don't know how to answer this question.

  • DB_CooperDB_Cooper Manhatin' 7,823 Posts
    7 years at WGBH in Boston, just finishing a little over 4 years at the current gig (last day's tomorrow).

  • ketanketan Warmly booming riffs 3,164 Posts
    Into my fourth year of a (dream) position at a uni up in Canada. This is my longest job to date and it never gets boring.

    Also:
    Big_Stacks said:
    I have incredible work autonomy.

    So key to keeping work-life balance in czech. Among other things (like being a dude), this is why I'm privileged in life.

  • PrimeCutsLtdPrimeCutsLtd jersey fresh 2,632 Posts
    Been working for the same employers since '99. Serving seafood to tourists and locals at the Jersey Shore. Chop chop.

  • francois parkerfrancois parker formerly know as Parkz. 125 Posts
    14 years in my current job (rail industry) 13 years in my previous (print industry). Long may my current job continue.


  • RockadelicRockadelic Out Digging 13,993 Posts
    Today is my 34th anniversary at my job.....started off running a printing press and now run their R&D Lab.

    Have enjoyed every single day of it.

  • Bon VivantBon Vivant The Eye of the Storm 2,018 Posts
    Rockadelic said:
    Today is my 34th anniversary at my job.....started off running a printing press and now run their R&D Lab.

    Have enjoyed every single day of it.

    Happy anniversary!

  • ElectrodeElectrode Los Angeles 3,127 Posts
    youngEINSTEIN said:
    9-5 job was 3 years. the Wherehouse.

    Going on 3 in a warehouse myself (edit: oh, the music store!). Shipping. Ho-hum duties, but it's a small family owned company, they need me and I get paid rather well. This is why I try to get the most out of the 5-9 and weekends as possible.

  • I'll hit ten years with Starbucks in December. Not glamorous, but I started managing with them right as the recession bottomed out the market, so my salary is decent and I've made a killing on my stock options. I'm single and my cost of living is low so I'm happy with my $$ but I'm really tired of the day to day grind of running a store. I have a pretty much ideal situation - I'm at the bottom of an office tower, my core business is consistent Mon-Fri 8am-4pm, and my customers are not assholes. Staff are good at their job and likeable. But I'm just tired of making coffee and small talk 500+ times over and over a day.

    I'll be taking a sabbatical sometime in 2015 - I can take up to a year off unpaid, with guaranteed position when I come back. I'm not supposed to work, but I'm basically going to use it as a way to try a bit of a major life change. Either go back to school, or maybe move/travel... I don't know. Gotta use that opportunity for a drastic switch-up though... cuz I can just pull chute and go back to managing after a year if it doesn't work out.

    /overshare

  • Big_StacksBig_Stacks "I don't worry about hittin' power, cause I don't give 'em nuttin' to hit." 4,670 Posts
    Rockadelic said:
    Today is my 34th anniversary at my job.....started off running a printing press and now run their R&D Lab.

    Have enjoyed every single day of it.

    Congratulations, Rock!!! Now, that is dedication!!! I plan to stay on my gig for the long haul as well. I'll bow out by my early 60s since I don't want to be that washed-up old dude babbling in front of the class. Plus, I have other trails I want to blaze after that.

    Peace,

    Big Stacks from Kakalak

  • dukeofdelridgedukeofdelridge urgent.monkey.mice 2,453 Posts
    Five years.

  • I graduated high school in 99, worked for JW Pepper & Sons inc for 4 years.. and haven't had a job since 2003. I tried my hand at a life of crime that was oddly enough the best and worst time of my life. Now i'm a self sustaining independent artist barely making enough to not have a job. I'm fairly certain i'm on the fast track to 56 year old walmart greeter.. but at least i'll have the peace of mind knowing I dared and dared mightily for my entire adulthood. Or I could just be a lousy hippy.. cubicles are coffins mannnnnnnn.
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