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Ask HN: What would you consider “too short” and “too long” to stay at a job?

7 points by tonym9428 ↗ HN
So I recently moved to the Bay area and started a position about ten months ago in the area of data science and ML. It's all right, but was always meant to be a stepping stone to something bigger, better, and more aligned with my intellectual interests. In recent weeks, I'm finding those roles and have started getting offers for in person interviews in other parts of the country. Given this back store, I was wondering what many of you thought about what is "too short" and "too long" to stay at a position.

4 comments

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mr_blobs
too short: less than a year Too long: longer than 5 years
xgouchet
I think that depending on your background, experience and ambitions, your mileage may vary.

All in all, I think that less than a year is too short. Less than a year will mean that you may not have learnt enough at the position you were holding.

As for too long, I'd say 7 years. Starting at the same (or similar) position the same company will mean that you've become too specialised, especially in the way you do things and you'll have a hard time adapting to a new company, environment, team etc...

Of course these can vary if you're particularly active in side projects or communities that will increase your experience, and thus, value.

skylark
Unless you have a consistent history of job hopping, I don't think leaving one job early is an issue. If another offer is compelling, you should take it.
ohgh1ieD
Too short: I still have to learn something at that company that I could use for my own projects.

Too long: There is nothing else to learn at that company.