Yes, we are about the same age.
I will have to try working on the networking thing. I am not the most outgoing type, so it will be a struggle.
How have you moved from job to job, or maybe I am asking why? I have remained on the same position for nearly 24 years now, which gets boring. Wage increases from grade and step increases.
There are several reasons to change jobs. I am very good at lecturing, mentoring young people at this, not so good at following my own advice!
In business (I'm an engineer, but it applies elsewhere) - there is often very little incentive to give people big raises. The fact of the matter is, most companies want to have the best people they can for the least amount of money. So, the way to get bigger raises is to change jobs.
In engineering in particular, your "usefulness", if you are a good engineer increases a dramatic amount in the first 2-3 years. Of all the young engineers that I've hired, the skills increase dramatically in this time. From "clueless" to being able to design experiments, run tests, write procedures, analyze and present results (you do, of course, need a boss/ mentor to train you on this). After about 2 years, they require MUCH less supervision. Here's the problem: you hire someone at $48k. At 2 years, they are worth $65k (I'm sorry, these numbers are very much out of date and refer to about 2005). How do you reach that number? I asked my boss this very question when he offered my engineer in his 2nd year a raise from $51k to $54k. The answer I got? "I don't know, good point."
Well, he was recruited away from me. They offered him $65k. He turned it down. They upped it to $70k. I told him "take it. You will never get that here."
So, reason #1 to change jobs: big raises. Companies are willing to pay new people whatever it takes to get them in. They are less willing to pay existing people more money. You'll get 2-6% at best. Maybe 10% if you are promoted. Ask me how I know!
Reason #2 to change jobs - varied responsibilities and technologies. Changing jobs gives you the opportunity to work in new industries. In engineering, it means you learn new technologies and are using to "learning new things". In other areas, it may mean new software, new regulations, new groups. It also gives you the opportunity to take on newer increased responsibilities.
So, at 48 I've only had 4 different jobs. That's quite low. That's because inertia is a powerful force for me. I've thought about changing more often (I'd get better pay), but I'm fine where I am. (Many of my friends are similar - have only changed jobs when they got laid off).
So, job #1: Navy. Nuclear. I was required to put in 5 years, so I did. I got great experience in how to work, be methodical, design various parts of nuclear reactors, deal with difficult people, follow procedure. The training was fantastic.
Job #2: manufacturing engineer. Because I needed to do something different, it was the first offer I got. And I thought manufacturing would be fun. I was right. I learned a lot and soaked up as much as I could. Company went bankrupt when I'd been there a few years.
Job #3: Manufacturing engineer again, but this time in a start up. So, I got to learn a new technology, and I got to do EVERYTHING - not just one small section of the process - all of the processes. Then I learned design. Then I learned testing. Then I hired a tech and an engineer to work for me. Then I set up a database. I stayed there for 8 years.
Job #4: Job #3, my specific group got shut down, and they offered me a transfer. But I really wasn't interested in the transfer, so I called an old boss from job 3 who'd left. Got to start up a new manufacturing facility. I've had several different jobs here, manufacturing engineer, management, design, product engineering, and program management. Basically, kept taking on new responsibilities. I'm a "jack of all trades", so if we had layoffs (there have been many) and they needed someone to do "something else", I did it. It all comes from being willing to do "more". In my current job, it's mostly schedules and such. But when big boss says "hey, I hear about an issue with X" I can explain it, because I've done everything and I can keep track of everything. "Yes, we had X problem, which we discovered 2 weeks ago. We are mitigating it with Y and fixing it on future parts using Z."
Some of the job changes have been because of difficult bosses. Some because of boredom. Doing the same thing for 20 years is boring, and makes it much less likely that you'll be hired elsewhere. People start to wonder if you can do anything else.