Finally admitted that job hopping every 18 months was hurting more than helping

For years I thought changing jobs as soon as I got bored was the smart play. I figured more variety meant more skills and faster raises. But after my third move in 5 years, I sat down with a mentor at a coffee shop in Portland and she pointed out that I had zero deep expertise in any one area. She showed me a spreadsheet of my salary growth versus colleagues who stayed put for 4 or 5 years. The ones who stuck around actually ended up making more because they got promoted from within. That conversation hit me hard. Now I am in my second year at the same company and I am finally learning the parts of the business that take time to understand. Has anyone else found that staying put for a while ended up being better for their career in the long run?

2 comments

2 Comments

ryanj601mo ago

Exactly the same thing happened to me. Jumping around felt like progress but I was just collecting a bunch of surface level experience. Settling in somewhere taught me the real stuff that actually makes you valuable.

burns.richard1mo ago

Oh, I have to disagree a bit here. I've changed jobs every 2-3 years for most of my career and it worked out fine for me. Each new place forced me to learn different systems and solve different problems, which actually made me more adaptable and better at figuring things out on my own.