The longest you stayed at a position and your progression

YZ thread spurred me to write this out.

What's the longest you stayed at a job/position?
Did you get promoted to another level during that time?
If so how many times and what title?

I am just curious.

I'll be honest I haven't had a lot of luck with this. The only time I had a a lot of luck was before I got into IT. I work for the DOD and started off as a GS - 5 and moved up to a 7 in 4 years. Not all the great, but went from HR Generalist to a Supply Chain Analyst, where I found my interested and skill in database and SQL.

Strictly from an IT standpoint I went from a technical team lead, (Co Locating with our customers as a supervisor managing ~ 12 Techs and then was promoted to Service Delivery Lead, managing ~40 people 25 help desk, leads and system admins)

Other than that I have had to go outside the company to move up. Patience is something I need to work on.

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Mow

I am now at the longest job I have ever held. 9 years, this November. I have moved up quite a bit.
I started in IT in a small shop as software sales/support. I lost that job after 9/11 happened. I then got a job fixing copiers and fax machines, while doing some light networking. Kept that job for 4 years, as I couldn't get a foot in the door.

The job I now hold started out as a help desk position. I quickly took on all of the responsibilities of the domain admin, as well. I helped build our 2 man help desk into a MSP. Then I moved into being a field tech. Worked on servers and workstations, mostly. Moved into a jr network position and worked my way up to the VoIP team. I work on R/S, Voice, security, virtualization, wireless, anything that my customers need me to do, I do. Focus is in voice, though.

Now I am still looking for other opportunities. I am trying for a job with a cloud based SAAS company, doing VMWare and AWS deployments, with some SQL scripting, stuff I have never done, but if I can get the offer, I'm extremely confident that I can get up to speed quickly.

GreaterNinja

Longest I've ever stayed at a job is 2.5 years. 2 raises; jumped 40k. As a consultant I plan to only stay at jobs 3-24 months max. If I go perm at an organization, then I might stay 20+ years if it was fun.

I would only stay at an organization if it met at least one of the criteria:
a. innovative
b. helps the world for the better / makes a difference
c. has pension plan or great matching 401k or IPO plan
d. has a really good pay rate w/ benefits
e. great atmosphere + more

E Double U

I was a Customer Support Analyst in a NOC for four years. In less than two years I was given team lead duties and was responsible for going to India to give training. I was asked to go to South Africa and the Caribbean as well, but the timing was off. Our team's director gave me training to become a team manager in the future, but the team was offshored. I had no desire to leave that team because of all the traveling I was allowed to do (I went on vacation four times in 2007).

I stayed with the company another two years as I moved up to the config/migration team and then to the SOC.

Qord

My real longest was the Navy; 8 years (5 active, 3 reserve) and from E1-E5 on active.

Longest in IT is my current (and first) position, a little over 4 years in. Promoted one time, started as Desktop Support and am now a Jr. SYS/LAN Admin.

The pay isn't anything to brag about, and neither are the opportunities for advancement (small shop where we all do everything, and a non-profit), but the work environment and level of exposure is awesome. Even though I know moving up within this org would be very slow, I'm not opposed to staying here for the long term.

markulous

I haven't been doing this for very long yet, so it'd be my current job, which is coming close to a year and a half. It's a helpdesk, however it's at a MSP and I started at the very bottom doing basic end-user issues and got the opportunity to switch positions about every 6 months to take on more responsibilities and now I'm getting to work on servers, routers, firewalls, etc. No reason to move if I keep getting the experience I want. Eventually it'll taper out, but I'll cross that road later.

N2IT

I find these write ups very interesting.

Markulous I love your attitude about the job. No point in leaving if you are growing and moving up. I think one of the best looking things on a resume is showing progression within a company. Starting off as a mail boy and eventually becoming the CEO ALWAYS looks good on a resume. Of course I am using two extremes.

the_Grinch

IT wise my current position is the longest I've been in an IT job (2 years in August). No promotions, just more job responsibilities with no pay increase. Prior to that I was in law enforcement (Federal, though technical I am in law enforcement now as well) and only got grade promotions, which were automatic based off of your time.

joelsfood

I've been with my current company 7 years this month (and another 13 months first time I worked for them). During that time:
System Administrator
Principal System Administrator
Principal System Engineer

Just applied for and missed a management position.

bpenn

I have been in the Air Force Reserve going on 4 years now. But, I will include my civilian job as the primary coefficient. Just hit the 3 year mark this month and I do Help Desk duties along with ISSO/IAO roles. Kind of a JOAT, but limited privileges because I am a defense contractor.

Hope to jump ship soon, praying for a leap to the government civilian world.

TechxWizard

Longest for me was a bench tech. 5 years. i really enjoyed fixing computers. pay was garbage, worked 9-5, school 6-9. got promoted a few times but honestly, management wasnt for me. ended up leaving right before i graduated college for my current position (digital support specialist)

Been here a year. Small company, no room to grow, all we talk about is sales and sales yet our support staff is non existing. I walk in the office everyday, sit in a cubicle with 4 monitors and do custodian work all day (clean up people crap/messes)

rumor has it i will be moved into sales, but i doubt i will make it here another 6 month.

nathandrake

The longest I have been at a company is 15 years (and still here). I've made slight progression over the years. I started off as a help desk level 1 analyst, then to help desk level 2, then help desk level 3, then associate desktop technician, then desktop technician, then finally senior desktop technician (I'm on the borderline of providing Tier 2 and Tier 3 support). If I want to move up anymore for this company, I'd have to move to another state, which isn't an option for me.

I actually spoke to a hiring manager last week for another company and he said that it actually looks bad that I've stayed here this long. Said that I've only learned to support one type of customer base and one environment. I agree with what he said, but I was hoping that it look good and show that I'm loyal and just not going to jump ship for whatever reason.

JoJoCal19

Longest I've been with one company was 8 years. Started in a second level desktop support as a Sr, then after a year and a half I moved into an IAM role as a security analyst and stayed there for the rest of the time until leaving last year. The only reason I was there that long is that I really liked working for the company but was continually stonewalled for other security positions due to a lack of certs. Then I started on my bachelors degree and started a family so I decided to stay put until I was finished. Graduated, got my CISSP and then I jumped ship. Their loss.

markulous

N2IT wrote: »

I find these write ups very interesting.

Markulous I love your attitude about the job. No point in leaving if you are growing and moving up. I think one of the best looking things on a resume is showing progression within a company. Starting off as a mail boy and eventually becoming the CEO ALWAYS looks good on a resume. Of course I am using two extremes.

Thanks! Luckily I'm in a place where my boss recognizes the effort I put in and I get to work with more technology. I could not have asked for a better place to start.

TheProf

Longest I've been at an IT job, was around 5 years. I stated out as a desktop support tech (got to skip help-desk all together) and by the 5th year, I was level 2/3 sys admin working with practically everything. I left for a consulting gig which did not last long, only 8 months. But I've learned how configure various cisco kits and about networking in general. After that I've went on to work for other companies but as a senior resource, mostly senior sys admin roles where vSphere was one of the main responsibilities.

At some point I switched back to a consulting role where now my job is more specialized on VMware and Citrix products.

kurosaki00

2.5 years, one raise but it was an ... I forgot the term, It's when the job is behind market and they do an equality raise for everyone?
Previous job @ that stayed 2 years, no raise. Friend who worked there stayed for like 6 yrs and never got a raise.. so I guess good decision to move on.
Current job has different levels for my position, so hoping in its due/fair time I'll get my share of raise.

kohr-ah

4 years at a MSP.

Started as a printer tech.
Moved up to a NOC engineer
Moved from that to an onsite network engineer
Moved from that to starting to build a cloud services department

Total time 2 raises. Both 5,000 which I had to fight for.

Went from Customer Engineer -> Associate System Support Engineer -> System Support Engineer

Left there to become a "network engineer" title and went up 15k in pay.

Mike-Mike

nathandrake wrote: »

I actually spoke to a hiring manager last week for another company and he said that it actually looks bad that I've stayed here this long. Said that I've only learned to support one type of customer base and one environment. I agree with what he said, but I was hoping that it look good and show that I'm loyal and just not going to jump ship for whatever reason.

you are both right. After 15 years, most people would want you to advance beyond desktop support. However your point is very valid. You just have to learn how to spin that in an interview to address their point and at the same time get your point across

eansdad

Longest was 8.5 yrs. Pay was increase from $35k start to $46k when we were outsourced. Increase varied from 3% every 6 months (1st 2 yrs) to 5%/yr over 3 yrs depending on our contract. Of 2 promotion opportunities the Sr. position was removed and the Network Admin was reduced to 1 and given to someone with less college, less certs, equal exp and scored lower on the civil service exam then myself.

gespenstern

Seven years. Head of services dept in a small MSP company in the end, was a lead of ~7 security engineers. Should have left earlier.

From personal growth standpoint I'd say 5 years in one more or less static place is max. Unless it is a startup with blazing growth speed, it is not worth staying for more IMO.

paul78

I've been with my current employer for about 10 years as the result of various acquisitions. My role has changed a few times. But I have been looking for a new job on-and-off for the last 2 years. The reason for wanting to leave isn't so much about progression or being static.

Just my 2 cents but for me, I do belief that exposure to different businesses in my industry offers variety in experience. There are lots of different ways to run a business and to use technology. If I was to only be exposed to one organization's view of technology, that would limit my ability to be a better technologist. While there are ways to gain insight of technology usage through interaction with peers in industry such as conferences, following the usual trade rags, I do think that being immersed in different company cultures is no substitute.

N2IT

@ Paul I agree you should seek to see different cultures throughout your lifetime, God knows I have done it several times.

I still stand that it's a really good idea that staying at one location for a while is good. Just like you mentioned there is no substitute for being immersed in different cultures, I believe that to be the case for exposing yourself to one environment ~5 years. This helps develops the skill of powering through attrition. Some of the biggest gains I have witnessed have been people riding out an sinking ship only to be brought up to another position of much higher pay and responsibility, along with a new host of skills and crossing into a different arm of the company.

*** I like when people get pissed and quit, it makes me laugh. I know the opportunities start to pile up when people jump ship. I'm good at taking emotion out of my decisions in the work place others I have seen not so much.

My general consensus is to try both.

twodogs62

17 years.
make more than double $$ when I started.

paul78

N2IT wrote: »

My general consensus is to try both.

Yes - absolutely well said. There really is not a black-and-white answer and there are so many dimensions to deciding when to jump-ship. And taking an analytical view versus emotional view is a great way of doing it. What I think can be hard is that we are emotional creatures but if it's possible to include one's mental health as a dimension when making career decisions, IMO that's a good approach.

For me personally, I did once leave a company simply because I didn't want to work with certain people and didn't agree in the management decisions. While the decision was emotionally driven, it was fueled by my analysis that the company was not an economically viable business and I preferred to leave a sinking ship. Similarly, I have stuck it out at a company on the verge because I believe that it was still possible to salvage the business and I wanted to be a part of it.

@twodogs62 - that's a pretty good example and hopefully you also enjoy working there. I am often envious of people who can be comfortable with where they work and want to stay for the long haul.

twodogs62

Thanks Paul, over all it is the best job I have had. Not always perfect, but why they call them jobs.
every three years the work seems to change.
when I was younger, I did have 3 job changes in 3 years.
during those 3 years, I increased salary by $13,000 and now in current job.

N2IT

Paul - Thanks for the follow up much appreciated.

I've left on emotion as well, I completed a 3 month data project and they wanted to bring me on full time. No way that was going to happen, so I finished it up and moved on. Like your situation it was people related, peers and boss. Ugh......

Let me restart something, I do my best to make logical decisions, but if mental health is beginning to suffer then I'll move on as well.

twodogs62

I have left jobs for opportunity and also for mental and also feeling I would be stuck if I had not left.
I have been fortunate to be working on projects from ground floor.
you can get good bosses and bad ones too.
i think key is looking where you want to be in 5 years.
Case, if you stay at helpdesk or desktop support too long then it is hard to move up.
However desktop and helpdesk were not bad for me as I feel like it helped build some skills to move up. Helpdesk can be a very complex job, especially if they give you access to remote and fix problems. As SYS Admin you will need those skills. Just now instead of desktops, you are working on servers.

UnixGuy

Great thread!

Longest for me was my very first job when I finished college, I stayed for about 6 yrs. Started for a jr unix engineer...progressed to Sr Unix engineer...I was doing field support, and got exposed to tons of systems, then I got an onsite sr unix admin position with the same company but onsite for one of their clients.

I moved on because I wanted to relocate. Which is another factor for me, I love traveling and living in different countries.

TLeTourneau

What's the longest you stayed at a job/position? 11 years
Did you get promoted to another level during that time? Yes
If so how many times and what title? I was promoted 3 times, I started as a network technician and was promoted to network administrator before leaving. The last two titles were created for me by the employer (along with pay increases) to give me a progression path. Had it not been for a significant change in management I might have still been there but overall I am happy where I am.

I have no problem staying with a company for an extended period if a person is challenged and has the potential for growth. I currently work for a relatively large organization that provides growth to those that are willing to work for it. I can see myself staying here for some time to come.

xenodamus

Before entering the enterprise space, I spent 7 years doing residential/SMB support with a small Mom&Pop shop. There was really no where to be promoted to in that environment.

Since then, my longest stretch has been 5 years with a large hospital. I spent 1 year as a Desktop Support Tech. I was then promoted to Desktop Support Supervisor where I spent another 2 years. Then I moved to the Network/Systems team where I spent 2 more years.

I left that company 3 months ago for a Pre-Sales Engineering position with Dell. I have to say...sales is where it's at. I can see myself staying on this team for many years to come.....