3.3 years. First job out of college. I got the job because I was an intern the year before. I started out as a computer operator. They needed a developer to write a CRUD app and I left because there was no more development.
9 years - I stayed 7 years longer than I should have. My career and pay stagnated - only made 10K more in year 9 than I made in year 2. Never again. I realized I was a good developer but a horrible software Engineer.
2008
3 years - a company working in mobile. This was my first experience with modern software development - DDD, Unit testing, continuous integration, source control etc.
2012
2.5 years - first experience with a large company and working with a large development team. I learned a lot about what to do and what not to do. It came in handy two jobs later...
2014
2 years - it was a horrible over political environment that followed all of the anti-patterns of software development. But I did get a chance to polish some skills that prepared me for my current job.
2016
Current - 1 year. My first job as the "architect".
All that to say. Never stop learning like I did between 2001-2008. I spent the next 9 years making up for loss time.
9 years - I stayed 7 years longer than I should have. My career and pay stagnated - only made 10K more in year 9 than I made in year 2. Never again. I realized I was a good developer but a horrible software Engineer.
2008
3 years - a company working in mobile. This was my first experience with modern software development - DDD, Unit testing, continuous integration, source control etc.
2012
2.5 years - first experience with a large company and working with a large development team. I learned a lot about what to do and what not to do. It came in handy two jobs later...
2014
2 years - it was a horrible over political environment that followed all of the anti-patterns of software development. But I did get a chance to polish some skills that prepared me for my current job.
2016
Current - 1 year. My first job as the "architect".
All that to say. Never stop learning like I did between 2001-2008. I spent the next 9 years making up for loss time.