How often you have changed job in computer-career ?

I'm in my third job in 25 years. Although, only the past 2 jobs have been directly in the IT industry, and that's only been for the past 7 years. Prior to this, I worked for 18 years for the Australian Government, and although there were IT-related aspects to my job, it was never primarily IT focussed.

Has it been useful to you? How the transition goes?

The first transition I made (7 years ago) was tough. And it was quite a shock to the system. After 18 years with the same employer I was definitely in a comfort zone. My job was interesting, flexible, secure, and I had a decent (although not great) salary. I was well along the well-trodden path to a modest (and mediocre) retirement. But I was frustrated. I knew that I had the potential to do better for myself in the private sector, and I'd always had a desire to work in the IT industry, but I'd never managed to work up the guts to do anything about it. Eventually I did. I showed up at work one morning and gave two weeks notice. I think I was just as surprised as everyone else. I had no job to go to and no real plan other than "to find a job in the IT industry". It took me 4 months to find one - a (junior) installation engineer (at age 38), on about 20% less than I was being paid in the job I left. It was tough, and it was a very steep learning curve in a totally new and unfamiliar environment (private vs. public sector).

Has it been worth it? - You bet! In the past 7 years I've relocated to a different country, I've travelled the world, and I'm now being paid more than 5 times the salary I was on back then. I think I've been very lucky, as there have been several opportunities that have seemed to present themselves just at the right time. But I've also worked very hard, and I've been able to recognise and grab those opportunities - rather than let them slip by (as was previously my habit).

Do you regard your previous job(s) as better ones?

That's a difficult question to answer and it really depends on ones criteria for "better". Certainly, changing jobs has enabled me to have a "better" salary and associated "better" lifestyle, with the associated "better" material benefits. But the downside to this is that I work _way_ longer hours, and I have a lot more responsibility than I used to. And I'm also now in an industry that is a lot more volatile, and I have always in the back of my mind that I could wake up any morning and find myself out of a job. I enjoy my work now, but then I've always enjoyed my work, (almost) no matter what I've been doing.

Changing jobs can be good, and it can be bad. I see a lot of people job-hopping (particularly in the IT industry), for various reasons. Sometimes they're looking for more money, sometimes they're looking to learn new skills, sometimes it's simply for a change of environment. I think it boils down to two things: a) your motivation for changing (or not changing) jobs, and b) the overall direction that you want to be heading.

Although the concept of job-hopping is still a little alien (and somewhat daunting) to me, I can see that in an industry such as this - where things are changing so rapidly and new technologies are emerging on an almost daily basis - it's probably a good thing to be doing if you want to progress at a rapid pace.

Cheers,
Darren :)