How long do you stay in a role before looking to move

Most people on here I find to be of the careerist mindset, I am one of those.

How long do you stay in a certain role before looking to move up internally? How long do you give the internal option until you begin to look out into other companies?

It's one thing for the manager to say within in 6 - 12 months we are looking to move you up, that would get my attention and I would consider. But if I get the "stay here 2 - 3 years and good things will happen", that doesn't do as much for me.

Just curious thanks!

Find more posts tagged with

Comments

NetworkNewb

Prettttttty close to a question you asked before

http://www.techexams.net/forums/jobs-degrees/123538-your-opinion-how-long-does-average-employee-stay-position.html

Guessing your wanting to leave your current position?

powerfool

My last two moves have been rather lateral in terms of seniority (other aspects of the job move were different beyond just salary/benefits). However, due to this, I started looking at advancement within the organization even before starting with them. It was part of the hiring discussion, more specifically. What career paths are available in general and specifically for this position and location within the near future? How long does one have to wait to advance into such a position and what sort of exceptions exist to this policy?

So, I will tell you that based on experience, don't expect a timely advancement based on pre-hire discussions. It has to be something that is based on track record and opportunity. If the opportunity presents itself rather quickly, then that is great... but you better have positioned yourself for it appropriately in that timeframe. I did talk to another organization less than a year after taking my current role and it would have been another lateral move but I was interested in seeing if perhaps I could get them to place me into a leadership (beyond senior) role immediately. It was another one of those discussions of "Well, we can't make any promises, but there are opportunities to advance..." That ended the discussion for me. If you are looking to be in an advanced role... it is better to get it at time of hire.

mart541

Pre-hire I was told that after 1 year I could expect to move up. It was complete bs, in terms of title. I steadily took on more advanced work and received raises, but not the actual promotion, for 4 years. Now I'm in the position where my compensation is above my title, which makes it difficult to look for positions elsewhere. Kind of wish I had bailed a while back. Maybe around year and a half.

ande0255

I have always moved companies when it was obvious that there was no room or course for professional growth.

When I was on a help desk I actually had a director call the director of networking regarding a very good job they were prepared to hire me for, and said they couldn't afford to lose me on the help desk to the network department, which I heard from both my managers and the network director himself and it roooooyally pissed me off.

I left that job the following week, and give it the finger every time I drive by the building as my salute

I've been at the same company now for 3+ years and have hated some of my coworkers, but I've gotten away from them and am continuing to gain new skill sets, so I plan to stay until the well dries up in that regard.

Point being, always look for ways to expand your skills even if it isn't exactly your dream job, cause for engineer level jobs I've applied for you basically need to know everything from clients and servers to the network infrastructure.

The money will come with a wider, more advanced set of skills, always look for opportunities to expand them.

EnderWiggin

It depends on a lot of factors. Money, development opportunities, enjoyment of the work, environment, ect. There's no black-and-white answer, really.

For example, the money I make at my current job is definitely less than what I can get elsewhere, but there are great developmental opportunities for me, I enjoy the job, have very relaxed oversight, and great coworkers. So I'd rather stay here than make more money elsewhere.

DatabaseHead

@ Powerfool - Expectations are always set within the first 6 months, if they don't know how can they even attempt to move you up. I found most employers aren't good mind readers. Either way, nothing was promised at hire and therefore I am where I am. The good news is there are POTENTIAL opportunities at my company, once you are there for a year in a specific role so I will pursue that and I'm not against taking risk going external. Thanks for replying..

@Mart - That stinks, I'm coming up on 3 total and 12 months in my current role. That last thing I want to do is become stale and remain a generalist (even in a specialist field). Sorry thinking out loud. I do agree (from my perspective) that not staying somewhere too long is the right play USUALLY.

@Ande That is a story I have never experienced Thank God, but have read in books and blogs. Getting yourself so valuable to the department you they won't let you go. That pain and suffering perceived by the department is to great when thinking about your departure. This most certainly will block you, it does all the time. In fact in a recent book I just read it's one of the main reasons good internal employees don't get jobs. It's the "influence" of your current manager....

@Ender true.... But if you look at your biggest levers, such as cash, promotion potential, benefits etc and filter out the noise, which makes up a tiny percentage of your decision you can make a really informed and logical decision very quickly.

Great insight thanks for chiming in.

kohr-ah

Help desk to a better role. Leap when you can (average a year stay )

Once you get to a higher role stay minimum 18 months as you won't know the environment and such before then therefore aren't gaining much benefit.

If the role was a solid lie and it is he## just work on finding a better one and learn from what happened.

EnderWiggin

DatabaseHead wrote: »

@Ender true.... But if you look at your biggest levers, such as cash, promotion potential, benefits etc and filter out the noise, which makes up a tiny percentage of your decision you can make a really informed and logical decision very quickly.

It all depends on what you consider the biggest factors. For me, it's a sliding scale. All in all, I'd say it boils down to "Do I enjoy this job?" If the answer is yes, I'm not leaving.

RHEL

In my experience, new employees aren't even fully productive until 6+ months... There's onboarding, learning the environment, etc. How much do you expect to learn in 6-12months that would warrant a promotion to the next level?

In my experience, 2-3 years, if you're excelling, is a normal amount of time to be in a role before even thinking about being promoted to the next level. Your skillset needs to have outgrown your current role and warrant a bump to the next level. People don't typically just get promoted for being there X amount of time.

Here's an example from my current role (highly stripped down). In this example, I came in as a III, was promoted to IV after 3 years.

Level I:
• Bachelor’s degree in IT-related discipline (Computer Science, Information Technology, or equivalent).
• Related work experience (i.e. co-ops/internships) preferred.
• Such and such skills required...

Level II – requires similar qualifications as level I, plus:
• Three years of related work experience (UNIX-based operating systems).
• Such and such more advanced skills required...

Level III – requires similar qualifications as level II, plus:
• Five years of related work experience (UNIX-based operating systems).
• Senior level within the UNIX team.
• SME in a subject.
• Ability to interface with all levels of management, other plans and outside professionals.
• Such and such more advanced skills required...

Level IV – requires similar qualifications as level III, plus:
• Eight years of related work experience (UNIX-based operating systems).
• Senior level across multiple technologies.
• SME in multiple areas.
• Knowledge of more advanced things, including outside of UNIX
• Project management skills

Level V – requires similar qualifications as level IV, plus:
• Eleven years of related work experience (UNIX-based operating systems).
• Principal level engineer.
• Seen as a SME across the organization and outside the organization within the community.

DatabaseHead

@Ender - When you say, "Do I like this job"? Are you factoring in current state or are you looking out into the future, as we all know ( or at least should ), nothing is static, all environments including the one you and I work in are deeply dynamic and organic, subject to change.

So if the see a change coming in the future does that influence whether you like the job or not? Just curious.......

EnderWiggin

DatabaseHead wrote: »

@Ender - When you say, "Do I like this job"? Are you factoring in current state or are you looking out into the future, as we all know ( or at least should ), nothing is static, all environments including the one you and I work in are deeply dynamic and organic, subject to change.

So if the see a change coming in the future does that influence whether you like the job or not? Just curious.......

Of course, there are tons of factors that play into it. That's why there's no black and white answer. Everything has to be weighed together to determine whether or not it is time to leave.

si20

It's almost impossible to answer this question. I stayed in my first role for approx 5 years. I knew guys who had been in the same role as me and were on the same pay as me for 18 years. They didn't want more money, they were just happy to have a local job and get whatever pay they could.

I personally moved onwards and upwards and regretted it ever since. Sure, I got more money, but there was no happiness. Money (in my opinion) doesn't equal happiness. Yes, once you've got more money you can do things e.g holidays abroad, buy a fancy car etc. It's a personal thing. Are you materialistic? Do you want fancy cars? Do you want lots of money in your bank?

Nowadays, I just want a long term, stable role where I can keep using the latest technologies e.g Server 2008, Server 2012 and when Server 2016 gets put in, I can jump on that.. That way my skills stay current and i'm getting paid to do what I enjoy. That's how I see it. Everyone is different. The point i'm trying to make is: some people want to progress, have a great job title and more money - and some just want to improve skills and aren't the kind to chase money.

Remedymp

IT is an extremely fast moving market and it's not uncommon to see project oriented contracted resources to move every 3, 6 or 9 months at best since many organizations are either trying to move to another platform within a time frame or some other transition phase technology wise.

So, I wouldn't worry about time, but worry more about vertical progression and development.

ande0255

DatabaseHead wrote: »

@Ande That is a story I have never experienced Thank God, but have read in books and blogs. Getting yourself so valuable to the department you they won't let you go. That pain and suffering perceived by the department is to great when thinking about your departure. This most certainly will block you, it does all the time. In fact in a recent book I just read it's one of the main reasons good internal employees don't get jobs. It's the "influence" of your current manager....

Yep, never heard the term "nailing your feet to the floor" before the director called me from his cell phone, on his day off of work, to let me know on the sideline he was being basically ordered by the person above these directors to not move me.

I would have went from basic help desk password resetting, to full on WAN operations, projects, troubleshooting, etc. I've only experienced this on help desks, and you DO NOT want to nail your feet to the floor if you see possible growth in the company while your on their help desk!

In my experience I left that crap for a network / voip job, and at that level of job duties and need for competency, my managers rewarded my training pay wise and ultimately moved me into a new position with a good step up in higher level IT skills.

So do a good job until you get your chance to make a break away into your IT career, and then do absolutely great in that position, and you will get where you want to be.

DatabaseHead

Ande Great point, "do a good job", but don't go performing heroics that will doom you. Especially in those lower level jobs.....

Relationships are what get you promoted from my perspective, doing a fantastic job is just that, it further solidifies you are right sized for the corporation. Employee X is one of the best password reset specialist I have ever seen. Thoughts of the manager (He's going no where he is right sized; perfect for this corporation).

I once was on the help desk early/mid 2000's and noticed back then the best desk employees weren't getting promoted, sometimes a good one and sometimes a bad one. Looking back on it, those people were better at playing the career game, they leveraged another skill(s) and that was seen as their brand and were rewarded for it. The kid that closed 50 cases a day and banged out 100 phone calls never went anywhere. JMHO

Remedymp

The kid that closed 50 cases a day and banged out 100 phone calls never went anywhere. JMHO

What a shameful industry/market we work in, smh...

DatabaseHead

I'm not claiming to be the moral police but I tend to agree that is a rough job, but when you don't have many skills it's where you start off quite often. I was usually a 30 phone call, 30 ticket guy. I never saw the point in killing myself for 35,000 USD. I would frequently get up and take walks even when calls were in queue. It's how I kept my sanity and the funny part was even though I wasn't a metric monster I got a long well with the management staff.