How many jobs have you had in your working career?

[Anonymous]

I am 42 and have only worked at one place my entire career since I graduated from grad school. I have had different roles (moved up the managerial chain to a Director level) but in 15 years have only worked for one employer. I assume that is relatively rare. Have I missed out on a lot of salary growth by not moving? I will say I have been mommy-tracked as well. I had 3 kids in 5 years. I started my career at $55,000 and at currently at $150,000.

In that time my DH has gone from starting salary of $150,000 to $575,000. So clearly his salary trajectory shot up and mine sort of just slowly climbed but not astronomically.

[Anonymous]

My first job, I was 16, sustained me happily until I was finished with college, I believe I was 21 or 22, when I moved to my second job, related to what I went to college for—and I hated it. I stayed there maybe a year? Had an extremely brief interim job, then worked another place until I was 25, where I found my calling. I had two other small, part-time jobs in the years before I turned 25. So in total, 6.

[Anonymous]

39- 3 jobs. I'm still at the same, very large federal agency, but 3 distinct jobs in very different offices.

[Anonymous]

48. 3 full time. 1 part time during the first job.

[Anonymous]

From 22-52- I have worked for 12 different orgs (private sector, non profit, big corporate, government)

[Anonymous]

I am 50 and have had 4 since college graduation

But I have been with my current employer for 22y. Like you, PP, I have worked my way up the ladder and salary (started at 45k and now 140k.) I like the company. I like the teams I work with. I enjoy the work. I have a lot of flexibility that was crucial when the kids were young and I now have a ton of vacation/sick accrued. I am not interest in starting over.

[Anonymous]

I am 37 years old, and I have worked at 5 different jobs, 2 of them were part time.
My salary is not very good, but that is because of the type of job I'm in (elderly care).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From 22-52- I have worked for 12 different orgs (private sector, non profit, big corporate, government)

I should add that I started at 28K and now make over 10x that. I have had 1 six month stint, 2 six year stints, laid off once, survived two mergers and DOGE'd last year.

[Anonymous]

I was hired out of school into the government almost 15 years ago and I'm still there, though I've moved up within my organization. I like my job, even through the past year, I'm happy with my compensation and for now I'm staying where I am.

[Anonymous]

I'm 43 and have had 5 jobs since law school. Each job has been in a different state (trailing spouse). My highest monthly earnings ever were in my 2L summer law firm internship

[Anonymous]

13 jobs since college. 49 yo woman. Layoffs, volatile industries, frustrating orgs/culture and bad bosses, but also some great experiences. I tell my kids, I’m a survivor. In between various jobs, I always freelanced, so I was never not hustling. I have been at my current org for 4 years, which is the longest tenure so far!

[Anonymous]

51. I’ve had five professional jobs plus a handful of other office jobs before I really started my career.

My salary has sort of stagnated at 150k. I’ll get some increases but nothing big unless I want to move into a higher management role. But it’s fine. We moved to a lower COL area a couple of years ago and it all works out with DH’s salary, which is a little less than mine but he carries the fed health insurance.

[Anonymous]

By 58 I had 7 jobs after college.

[Anonymous]

I'm 50 and I believe I'm on my 7th.

First: 6 months
Second: 2 months
Third: 2.5 years
(then law school)
Fourth: 3 years
Fifth: 3 years
Sixth: 8 years
Seventh: 8 years and counting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am 42 and have only worked at one place my entire career since I graduated from grad school. I have had different roles (moved up the managerial chain to a Director level) but in 15 years have only worked for one employer. I assume that is relatively rare. Have I missed out on a lot of salary growth by not moving? I will say I have been mommy-tracked as well. I had 3 kids in 5 years. I started my career at $55,000 and at currently at $150,000.

In that time my DH has gone from starting salary of $150,000 to $575,000. So clearly his salary trajectory shot up and mine sort of just slowly climbed but not astronomically.

If you look at the overall U.S. you are doing quite well for yourself. That's a very good white collar salary even though it might feel average for DMV.

I'm 56, female, and have worked for the same F500 company with a 3 year hiatus (layoff with severance and rehire) since 2000. My grade level has not changed but I have gotten proficiency adjustments putting me close to the top of the band I'm in. The layoff cost me a manager title and grade that I haven't been able to get back since 2011. The limited promotions in my area mainly go to young, extremely high EQ men. I have 2 kids that were born while I was at the company. I was laid off after my second maternity leave which coincided with the Great Recession.

I started at $85K post-MBA and am now at $165K. I am an individual contributor who would be equivalent to a non-managerial GS-13 or 14. (I was a GS-13 before grad school.) And I'm not in DMV so my salary goes further.

When I look back, I can see that mommytracking vs. playing politics and investing ostentatiously in looking busy probably cost me the chance to rise. I lost a lot of mentors and advocates during the years when I needed to make sure I could manage my workload and keep my kids' lives pleasant and stable. I'm also definitely not a sports watcher or beer drinker type.

As a mom, I wouldn't do it differently if I could do it over. I have zero mom guilt and know my long-term employer could fire me tomorrow for any random reason. Because it already happened once. My kids have had some complaints about personal inconveniences like aftercare and summer camps but I don't expect them to blame me for ruining their childhood or to try to marry SAHMs. So that's okay, I guess?

Regarding your husband's trajectory, that's quite a high salary. Looking at my MBA classmates, there are takeoff points in the 40s in many people's careers who are upwardly bound. That doesn't happen to most. It happens to the ones who make it to a real c-suite level/upper echelon. Whether you think your husband's salary is impressive or not, it looks to me like a social signal that he's passed the filter.

It is easier for men to make it to those higher pay levels. Lots of data on that. But changing employers is statistically known to help career pay growth for both men and women.

So, OP, as a household, I think you should be quite content. Especially if your kids are happy and successful. If you are ready to take on career changes to pursue more rewards, it might work. Just also consider the risks.