View Full Version : Time at current employer?



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Easy180
02-16-2014, 02:37 PM
Just wondering where others are at career wise, what keeps you there, what prompts you to move around etc?

I'm coming up on 7 years with my current employer after spending 11 at my first employer. I'm one that puts job security over the possibility of more green stuff. I now have two young kiddos so working 43-45 hours a week is high on my priority list right now.

No need to name employers just thought it might be interesting to see different takes on career priorities is all.

Servicetech571
02-16-2014, 02:51 PM
2 yrs at my current job, 5yrs each at my previous 2 jobs.

Wishbone
02-16-2014, 03:39 PM
I'm 43 and just hit 18 years with my employer last month. You could say I'm content.

Easy180
02-16-2014, 03:44 PM
I'm 43 and just hit 18 years with my employer last month. You could say I'm content.

Get anything big at 20 or 25?

Next big thing for me is 4 weeks vacation at 15

rezman
02-16-2014, 03:53 PM
25 years here with 4 weeks vacation a year.

bradh
02-16-2014, 04:09 PM
7 years at my current, 34 years old

Took four other jobs post college to find something I loved

BlackmoreRulz
02-16-2014, 04:11 PM
Self-employed and my boss is a jerk.

Dennis Heaton
02-16-2014, 04:33 PM
I pretty much have quit working and looking forward to that Social Security Retirement Check in May! Longest I stayed with an employer was the USAF...20 years. I worked for the State of South Carolina (Sumter County Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse) for almost 2 years. In all honesty, I had a very hard time adjusting to civilian employers. Now days, when I am able, I do little odd jobs for the cash. Unlike BlacmoreRulz...I could NEVER work for myself! But, I would like to go into Private Investigations.

Easy180
02-16-2014, 05:08 PM
I pretty much have quit working and looking forward to that Social Security Retirement Check in May! Longest I stayed with an employer was the USAF...20 years. I worked for the State of South Carolina (Sumter County Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse) for almost 2 years. In all honesty, I had a very hard time adjusting to civilian employers. Now days, when I am able, I do little odd jobs for the cash. Unlike BlacmoreRulz...I could NEVER work for myself! But, I would like to go into Private Investigations.

Me neither. I'm about as risk averse as they come. I gotta give it up to the self employed. I just don't have the spine for it.

Ginkasa
02-16-2014, 05:09 PM
I'll hit nine years this year. I work odd hours, but everyday is different than the last.

MadMonk
02-16-2014, 05:19 PM
3yrs at current employer.
Previous employment:
18 months
1 yr
4 yrs
2.5 yrs
8 yrs
5 yrs

That's back far enough. I'm pretty happy where I am now. Barring any major changes, I can see myself retiring at my current employer (I'm 46). Most of my moves were not self-initiated. A few layoffs and a few reorganizations caused me to leave employment I was otherwise happy with. That's the way it is in IT sometimes. However, I've been fortunate in that in nearly every change I was able to get something better in terms of pay or benefits. I'm with Easy180 though, job stability is my #1 priority.

Jeepnokc
02-16-2014, 05:38 PM
Self employed 16 years. Don't think I could ever work for someone else at this point. Have had offers to merge or take on partners but just don't see the need to bring other cooks into the kitchen

BrettM2
02-16-2014, 05:45 PM
Air Force civil service for 4 1/2 years: 8 months in my current career field/station, previous time at Tinker in logistics. Spent 1 year at OCU prior to that, before that was undergrad/grad school.

bchris02
02-16-2014, 05:56 PM
Current employer: 1.5 years
3 years
9 months
11 months
3 years
2 years

bchris02
02-16-2014, 06:00 PM
Current employer: 1.5 years
3 years
9 months
11 months
3 years
2 years

ctchandler
02-16-2014, 06:04 PM
I was in the U. S. Navy for 7 years, 9 months, and 11 days, then worked for Lear Siegler for just over 3 years, then United Transports for about 2 years. I went to Hertz and retired in 2004, worked at Hertz three times for a total of 31 years. Leaving them twice cost me in the long haul but I'm happy with the way things worked out. I received phone calls from old friends and went to Woods Petroleum, but my ex boss at Hertz called and asked me to come back for a special project. The second time I left Hertz I got a call from a friend at Scrivner and worked for them for one year before returning to Hertz.
C. T.

ylouder
02-16-2014, 06:16 PM
5 years at federal government, before that job hopped for about 4 years with dod contractors and private industry. early in my career i learned it was very easy to go down the street to make more money but now i put job security as number 1.

overall im happy, but the fed. gov isnt what it once was so i make a point to keep my job skills sharp.

BBatesokc
02-16-2014, 06:22 PM
13 years self-employed. Wake up every day thankful I'm doing exactly what I want to do and can make a living at it. My self-employment is actually much more of a variety than most people realize and every day is something different to look forward to.

When I worked in the real world I'd work 2-5 years for someone than move on (mostly out of boredom). Still have to say though, had University and Children's Hospital not privatized, I'd have stayed there as a state employee forever.

gjl
02-16-2014, 07:04 PM
Just ended my 11th year of retirement/self employment. Before that 26 years with 4 different companies all in the same building. Didn't plan on retiring when I did but the 4th company moved my job to Monterrey Mexico.

Zuplar
02-16-2014, 07:06 PM
8 years where I am. Will probably be looking elsewhere in a year or so. Wife just got a new job after being laid off and I just want to make sure her job is secure. I'm underpaid and have had other offers after grad school, just turned them down cause I wasn't wanting to move at the time.

benjenn
02-16-2014, 07:14 PM
Celebrated 25th anniversary in January. Started when I was 24, I'll be 50 in May. Love what I do and the people I work with. Planning to retire in just over 4 years. If you love what you do, you'll never work another day in your life. People always say life is too short to do something you don't like.... I think it's too long. I can't imagine working 20 years in something I didn't love.

JohnnyW
02-16-2014, 08:42 PM
Get anything big at 20 or 25?

Next big thing for me is 4 weeks vacation at 15

Goodness. It takes 15 years to get to that much vacation? Americans work too much.

I've been with my job for 3.5 years and before that 4 months with another. I'll take enjoyment, flexibility, and time off over pay any day.

Easy180
02-16-2014, 09:23 PM
Goodness. It takes 15 years to get to that much vacation? Americans work too much.

I've been with my job for 3.5 years and before that 4 months with another. I'll take enjoyment, flexibility, and time off over pay any day.

Just if I stick in my current position. I go one up I could land 4 weeks but also land 8 more work hours a week and an addiction to Maalox.

ljbab728
02-16-2014, 09:38 PM
I've been at my current job for 13 years. I worked for my previous employer for 5 years until my current employer bought them out. My job prior to that was for 5 years until the owner died and the business closed.

gjl
02-16-2014, 09:42 PM
At my employer of 26 years you got 1 wk VA at 6 months service, 2 wks VA at 1 year, 3 wks VA at 8 years, 4 wks VA at 15 years, 5 wks VA at 20 years. In addition to that everyone got what were called excused work days, 4 paid and 1 unpaid every year. We hourly workers also had what were called in lates and out earlys. You could come in 2 hours late or leave 2 hours early up to 34 times a year. Then there was the paid sick leave program that was completely separate from vacation time.

Just the facts
02-16-2014, 09:50 PM
Being a consultant, I started at my current client on a 3 month contract - in January 2007. So 7 years on a 3 contract isn't bad. I stay because I get to work from home. However, I have swung way over to JohnnyW point of view. I worked too hard for far too long and have nothing to show for it. Most of the people I work with are in Europe and they get so much time off from work it isn't funny. It started to make think I was doing something wrong - and it turns out I was. I wasn't put on Earth to work 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year, for 50 years. My new goal is to work just enough to make living tolerable, not live just enough to make work tolerable.

elitespy
02-16-2014, 09:57 PM
I'm 25, going on 3 years at my current employer, before that was with another company 3 years to help get through college. Love the job and people I work with and they take care of me, don't know if I'll ever leave.

JohnnyW
02-17-2014, 05:28 AM
I'm glad you realized that Just the facts. It seems like we are raised to work in this country. You are told you have to work to be successful in life. You have to work to make enough money to be successful. There is always a big issue of unemployment. Always the hottest topic for political candidates. Interesting fact: Since the 1970s, Productivity in the US has gone up 80% but the median pay has only gone up 5%. Profits are sky high but workers are still working as hard or harder to make ends meet.

Anyways, I'm happy with my position and it's a salary I can live on. If the opportunity to work more to make more arose I would refuse. Life for me isn't about my work unless I can make a difference and leave a mark in this world. I work enough to enjoy life. Although, I'm still searching for a way to get paid to do my hobbies.

BBatesokc
02-17-2014, 06:35 AM
Being a consultant, I started at my current client on a 3 month contract - in January 2007. So 7 years on a 3 contract isn't bad. I stay because I get to work from home. However, I have swung way over to JohnnyW point of view. I worked too hard for far too long and have nothing to show for it. Most of the people I work with are in Europe and they get so much time off from work it isn't funny. It started to make think I was doing something wrong - and it turns out I was. I wasn't put on Earth to work 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year, for 50 years. My new goal is to work just enough to make living tolerable, not live just enough to make work tolerable.

Totally, agree. I could have gone a different route and made far more money and lived under the radar..... and, if that's how I personally defined 'success' then I probably would have gone that route. Instead, I sought to engage myself in something I was (and continue to be) passionate about (which isn't punching a clock or just being one of the herd). I truly believe if one does that (pursues whatever their passion is - raising kids, having a high paying job, being highly educated, teaching others, being self-employed, whatever it is.....) and is content with life and wakes up happy to engage in whatever endeavor they call a 'career' then their life will be truly blessed.

I personally can't imagine being retired. I've watched retirement kill more than one relative.

My recipe for success.... Enjoy what you do, try to do no harm, find someone to truly call a soul mate and surround yourself with a circle of positive influence.

Garin
02-17-2014, 06:49 AM
21 years ago fresh out of high school, I started living the American dream......And I'm still living it ,so amazed that you don't have to go to college to be successful. You just have to work hard!

Easy180
02-17-2014, 07:00 AM
21 years ago fresh out of high school, I started living the American dream......And I'm still living it ,so amazed that you don't have to go to college to be successful. You just have to work hard!

You are right about that. I have an MBA my wife no college but makes almost twice what I do. Not that I'm complaining!

mkjeeves
02-17-2014, 07:12 AM
Self employed for 24 years. I'm just about ready to do something else.

Just the facts
02-17-2014, 07:30 AM
I'm glad you realized that Just the facts. It seems like we are raised to work in this country.

Do you know why the Spanish work 20 hours per week? Answer, because they can.

catcherinthewry
02-17-2014, 08:00 AM
Do you know why the Spanish work 20 hours per week? Answer, because they can.

Maybe that explains why their country is bankrupt (along with several other European countries)?

Bill Robertson
02-17-2014, 08:14 AM
I've worked at the same place doing the same thing for 12 years. But being a federal contract I've worked for three different companies.

bradh
02-17-2014, 08:15 AM
Do you know why the Spanish work 20 hours per week? Answer, because they can.

yeah maybe not the best example

Just the facts
02-17-2014, 04:47 PM
Maybe that explains why their country is bankrupt (along with several other European countries)?

So what - ours is bankrupt also and we worked 40 hours a week to do it. That makes the Spanish twice as efficient as us.

JohnnyW
02-17-2014, 04:50 PM
Who came up with the 40 hours a week deal? I think it would make more sense to have goals set out each week and you spend however much time you need to get it done at least in my field. My job seems to be less about what you get done and more about if you are there for 40 hours.

JohnnyW
02-17-2014, 04:53 PM
So what - ours is bankrupt also and we worked 40 hours a week to do it. That makes the Spanish twice as efficient as us.

A long time ago people dreamed of the future where robots and automation would be able to do half our jobs. It seemed great because we only had to work 20 hours a week. Well the automation is happening except we work the same hours and now produce twice as much.

catcherinthewry
02-17-2014, 06:54 PM
So what - ours is bankrupt also and we worked 40 hours a week to do it. That makes the Spanish twice as efficient as us.

Come on JTF, you're smarter than that. If you think being bailed out to the tune of $56.6 billion and having 26.6% unemployment is efficient I don't want you running my country.

Getting back on topic, I've been at my current job for 33 years and get 7 weeks vacation, and no, I don't live in Europe or work for the government.

Just the facts
02-17-2014, 06:59 PM
The last time I worked for someone besides myself I had 5 weeks of vacation - of which I was lucky to take 2 weeks of it. For those with lots of vacation time how much of it do you actually get to use? Like I said, I got to use 2 of my 5 weeks and a lot of people I work with now never get to use their full allotment.

catch22
02-17-2014, 07:07 PM
Get anything big at 20 or 25?

Next big thing for me is 4 weeks vacation at 15

Jeez you need a union. :) I have 3 weeks of vacation and have 2 years with my current.

2 weeks earned, plus I deferred holiday pay (straight time on holidays instead of double) to earn the 3rd week.

Prunepicker
02-17-2014, 07:20 PM
I'm a musician and have been for quite some time. My income is dependent
upon people hiring me. While I'm classified self employed I rely upon
someone to hire me for the gig.

I teach music, play music, adjudicate music and arrange/orchestrate music.

Benefits? I can take off anytime I want. Of course I won't be eating
during that time and the bills won't get paid.

I've been a member of the AF of M (http://www.afm.org/) for over 40 years. Sometimes I
wonder why.

catcherinthewry
02-17-2014, 07:24 PM
The last time I worked for someone besides myself I had 5 weeks of vacation - of which I was lucky to take 2 weeks of it. For those with lots of vacation time how much of it do you actually get to use? Like I said, I got to use 2 of my 5 weeks and a lot of people I work with now never get to use their full allotment.

I've taken every vacation day I've had coming for the 33 yrs. I've worked for my current employer.

Easy180
02-17-2014, 07:31 PM
Jeez you need a union. :) I have 3 weeks of vacation and have 2 years with my current.

2 weeks earned, plus I deferred holiday pay (straight time on holidays instead of double) to earn the 3rd week.

I'm in banking so I do get all Federal holidays along with the three weeks, which I didn't get until 5 yrs. I do wish I had bargained for three when I was first hired cause two weeks just plain sucked

mugofbeer
02-17-2014, 09:00 PM
25 years, 4 weeks + holidays

catch22
02-17-2014, 09:18 PM
I'm in banking so I do get all Federal holidays along with the three weeks, which I didn't get until 5 yrs. I do wish I had bargained for three when I was first hired cause two weeks just plain sucked

I see. Was mainly just being facetious. I would give up some of the vacation I had if I had better hours and indoor work. Different strokes for different blokes :)

MadMonk
02-17-2014, 10:48 PM
I got 2 weeks/year immediately upon hiring and get 3 weeks after 5 yrs, and 4 weeks after 10. After that it jumps to 5 weeks after 20 years. That was negotiated when I was hired. I also accumulate sick leave every month that I rarely use. I think I'm up to around 60 hours at last count. Also, our work environment is pretty laid back and I can work from home, or leave early, take a long lunch, etc. if I need to without having to make it up. It's all good as long as you don't abuse it. I don't usually have a problem taking all my vacation days, but if I do, I can transfer up to five days into the following year to use in the first quarter.

RadicalModerate
02-17-2014, 11:01 PM
Excellent Topic for Discussion . . . and Food for Thought.
Thank you.

If I translated the original question correctly, you were asking how long have you been at your current job and why do you stay?
I've been employed in my current position for the most recent 8.5 years.

I remain there for the sake of the fact that it seems to provide the closest thing to "security" that currently exists in an "ever-changing" world.

Prior to this, there was a 12+ year contribution to my Self-Employed Dream about "Excellence in Carpentry" followed by a 10+ year contribution to Sharing that Dream with at risk youth in a Federally Funded educational facility for "At-Risk" youth.
(as promised in the ad . . . it was "Challenging and Rewarding".)

The current position isn't exactly "life-affirming" . . . yet it has it's moments.
Just for the fun of it . . . let's go back to "The Beginning" . . . =)

IHOP (c. 1967?) (For about three months) (Sunday Morning Dishwasher.) (Reason for Job: Responded to Newspaper Ad for "Needed: Sunday Morning Dishwashers" Min. Wage Paid) Reason for Leaving: Quit/Fired when "they" wanted me to work more days or they would get someone else. I reminded them, as only a 15 year old (back aroud '67) can, that I had responded to the newspaper ad for a Sunday Morning Dishwasher and that was all I wanted to do. We parted ways on amicable terms. (Perhaps mostly because I refrained from telling the Assistant to the Assistant Manager (acting like an HR peon?) about the "recycled sausage" incident that was a "get-even" thing with one of the Line Cooks. Yet at the time I didn't realize how the "hospitality industry" (restaurant business) works. Plus I was, at the time, unfamiliar with the word "amicable" and, therefore, could be wrong about the entire situation. =)

Except, I know, for sure that we did pull an uneaten sausage from one of the bus tubs, rinsed it off with the pre-sanitizer sprayer, and slipped it into the carefully temperature controlled, mise en place, pre-fab breakfast link sausage containers, standing ready by the side of the Line Cook who was less than friendly to those lower on the pecking order.

I sincerely hope that no innocent diners were injured in the performance of that jape.
Many years later--well, three or four, on a relative scale--I, as a diner, visited the same place, many times to dine and drink coffee.
(one of those, "no offense" deals. right?)


Yet that was back in '67 and a lot of water has flowed under the bridge.
(perhaps even the bridge between Purcell and Lexington)

Off Topic: Next to "The Mark Inside" the most revealing book I've read in the last couple of years is "Restaurant Confidential". =)

As Garrison Keillor--a well-known [fill in the epithet or word of praise]--once said:
"To a Writer, there are no 'Bad' Experiences." They are all simply material."
(he might have said, "just material" instead of "simply material" . . . whatever. =)

shawnw
02-18-2014, 12:07 AM
I had the same job for 3.5 years in college, then my first "real" job out of college for 2 years. Since then I've been with the same company the last almost 17 years. I've been lucky because I work for a defense contractor, and that line of work can sometimes require lots of company changes to do the same job. Shooting for 20 years at this point and then we'll see. My company awards 21 days of leave (so basically 4 work weeks) when you hit 10 years. That said, I have 180 unused hours (so 22.5 days) of leave accrued (since my company allows that, which isn't ubiquitous), which means I don't take enough time off like many others in the US, BUT the last 5+ years I've definitely learned that my job was not what defined me, but rather was a means to the lifestyle I want to live. Fortunately I was reasonably wise, for a 24-year old at the time, to have turned on my 401k up to the employer match so that it's had 16-years to take advantage of the compounding interest. You can't make up for lost time, so if there are any 20-somethings out there debating on the merits of a 401k, stop debating and turn it on! Best advice I can give (along with never cashing it out, or taking a loan against it, which erodes rate of return).

RadicalModerate
02-18-2014, 12:09 AM
A long time ago people dreamed of the future where robots and automation would be able to do half our jobs. It seemed great because we only had to work 20 hours a week. Well the automation is happening except we work the same hours and now produce twice as much.

I seem to recall that Karl Marx and Frederich Engles shared the same dream.
Just this side of the threshold of the Industrial Revolution (back in the mid-1800s).
It had something to do with "Mankind being freed from drudgery by technological advancements" and therefore being given the opportunity to be really human.

I don't see things trending that direction.

I wonder why that is.

MadMonk
02-18-2014, 08:33 AM
I wonder why that is.

The realization that there is no such thing a a truly free lunch?

RadicalModerate
02-18-2014, 09:20 AM
The realization that there is no such thing a a truly free lunch?

Maybe that's the reason . . .

On the other hand, could it be that modern technology is an electrically powered version of The Body Snatchers?
(not the kinder, gentler, Body Snatchers. the evil, grasping, heart and soul sucking, Body Snatchers.
the ones turning us into iPod People. Nah . . . it can't be that . . . or can it? [insert Theremin arpeggio. =)

Servicetech571
02-18-2014, 09:29 AM
Do you know why the Spanish work 20 hours per week? Answer, because they can.

Because 1/2 of them aren't living off the government...
Okla. Sen: U.S. disability system being "gamed" - CBS News (http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-57606172/okla-sen-u.s-disability-system-being-gamed/)

kelroy55
02-18-2014, 11:33 AM
Because 1/2 of them aren't living off the government...
Okla. Sen: U.S. disability system being "gamed" - CBS News (http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-57606172/okla-sen-u.s-disability-system-being-gamed/)

I agree the disability system is a cluster*&#% and needs overhauled. The problem is that will take money and people to do and nobody wants to pony up for either one. I don't have an easy answer but I would like to see some kind of LEO that investigates people on disability. There are some who really needs it and it's being ruined by those who don't. Make a Sheriff Joe style of camp for those who get caught abusing the system and send them there for 6 months and deny disability benefits forever for that person..

RadicalModerate
02-18-2014, 11:59 AM
I agree the disability system is a cluster*&#% and needs overhauled. The problem is that will take money and people to do and nobody wants to pony up for either one. I don't have an easy answer but I would like to see some kind of LEO that investigates people on disability. There are some who really needs it and it's being ruined by those who don't. Make a Sheriff Joe style of camp for those who get caught abusing the system and send them there for 6 months and deny disability benefits forever for that person..

Sorry, amigo, that sounds "cruel and unusual" . . . and is unlikely to fly.
Nor even snorkel up from the depths of "political reality".

Servicetech571
02-18-2014, 12:55 PM
I agree the disability system is a cluster*&#% and needs overhauled. The problem is that will take money and people to do and nobody wants to pony up for either one. I don't have an easy answer but I would like to see some kind of LEO that investigates people on disability. There are some who really needs it and it's being ruined by those who don't. Make a Sheriff Joe style of camp for those who get caught abusing the system and send them there for 6 months and deny disability benefits forever for that person..

Wouldn't have to be expensive to bust the fraudsters:
Here?s One Simple Way to End Social Security Disability Fraud (http://ftmdaily.com/daily-briefing/end-social-security-disability-fraud/)

Just the facts
02-18-2014, 01:07 PM
Wouldn't have to be expensive to bust the fraudsters:
Here?s One Simple Way to End Social Security Disability Fraud (http://ftmdaily.com/daily-briefing/end-social-security-disability-fraud/)

Sounds to me like the problem will solve itself in mid-2015. At that point we can just send a letter to all the people who needed the money letting them know their thieving neighbors stole it, and then send a list of all the late-nite TV advertising attorneys who helped them. Binder and Binder might need to hire more security.


What makes these revelations so egregious is that some of the latest projections show that the Social Security Disability Trust Fund is expected to be depleted within 18 months. When the money runs dry, what then?

6wmROJA7K6E

Meanwhile, down at the scooter store....

RadicalModerate
02-18-2014, 01:43 PM
. . . (thanks for 'the fade' . . . amigo . . . c/o Triumph the Insult Dog Comedy Weatherman--in Hawaii =)

^ Close . . . Yet, "No Pizza" . . .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffCEr327W44
(who actually did "Let The Dogs Out"?)

(i have a feeling that everyone from Crispus Attucks to Frederick Douglas to Bill Cosby, Famous Amos and a host of Others, including, but not limited to Alan Keyes and Thomas Sowell, plus Eddie Murphy, Flip Wilson and Dave Chappelle not to mention Bobby Seale, Huey P. Newton, and Eldridge Cleaver would probably agree. Yet, I've been wrong before. Like, did I forget Malcolm X and Redd Foxx? =)

(For the Doubters: It ain't about race. It's about mainstream culture. =)

("give 'them' bread and circuses? pshaw! eat yer 'bread and circuses' . . .
let's invent cable tv and the internet and let them eat that!)

Apparently many youngsters get paid for drivel like that.
Especially in the form of Video Games.

I suppose, in the end, it's all good.
I know the Pork Tenderloin ala Jacques and Julia with Port and Prunes (over leftover rice) will be. =)

Servicetech571
02-18-2014, 02:14 PM
Sounds to me like the problem will solve itself in mid-2015. At that point we can just send a letter to all the people who needed the money letting them know their thieving neighbors stole it, and then send a list of all the late-nite TV advertising attorneys who helped them. Binder and Binder might need to hire more security.



6wmROJA7K6E

Meanwhile, down at the scooter store....

It won't "go broke", we'll just borrow more money from China to cover the fraudsters.