in reply to Changing Jobs
I've only had 3 jobs thus far. The first for almost 6 years. The next for about a year and a half. The latest, a mere 5 months.
I've never really moved for a single reason; several factors often come into play.
I left my first for a variety of reasons. I was the first programmer ever there and learned Perl on the job. By the time I left there were four more Perl programmers, all learning Perl as they were hired. Despite being the guru of the office, I know I was the high-scorer in the Beer league. Compared to the Perl community at large, I was not nearly as advanced as them. I wanted a little mentoring. Plus management stopped talking to the programmers and made promises and specs and schedules without actually speaking to anyone who coded or knew how to code. I was burning out and not growing. Time to move on.
The second job opened up my Perl horizons. I liked the boss and I learned a lot from him, but I hit a wall. This was a small shop and there was no opportunity to do anything but receive "hand me down" work. I wasn't permitted to design stuff, merely implement. I'd taken a pay cut to hopefully get somewhere where I could move the next level. I also didn't get a raise at all after a year despite assurances. Trust was lost and it was time to move on.
The new job has turned out great. I'm the "baby" of the shop with coders who have a wide variety of skill levels and expertise in different areas. Some people are weaker in some areas than I am, others are not. But there's a whole heck of a lot to learn and though I get told what to program, I can basically do it however I want, so long as I meet spec. I'm also working with people who are teaching me not just new Perl stuff, but new *nix stuff and I'm getting to understand business a bit better as well. I don't anticipate wanting to bug out of here anytime soon so I won't be looking for a job...
... but I'll sure as heck keep an eye on the job listings to see what's happening in the market!
meraxes