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33 years, 1978-2011. Then 4 years on/off consulting with same company. Started with ROM-resident BASIC interpreter, ended on Win 7, mostly C++.
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As of Saturday past it was 9 years. Only leave when asked to. 
Mongo: Mongo only pawn... in game of life.
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I like the consultant life when it's actually that.
Long-term missions (2+ years) cannot be considered as consultancy in my perspective, you're in a limbo that you're not an internal employee and not a consultant.
On the other hand, if you are lucky enough to find a good consultancy company, you'll be able to work on multiple projects at the same time, move around a lot, meet a lot of people, share a lot of experiences... and this is awesome 
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Yah I have always worked as a consultant/contractor, the problem is I have been stuck in the same contract for 12 years, refused to go permanent because you are then part of their "family", not something I aspire to!
I used to love it when I could move on after a couple of years, new company, new people, different industry, always fascinating learning about a different industry.
I gave that up for pots of money and a constantly changing environment.
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity
RAH
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"Pots of money" is always an honorable reason 
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I was hired as employee #1 for a startup while I was starting my junior year of college in Jan. 2000. Over 16 and a half years later, I own half of the company. The software we started all those years ago is still going strong.
"Go forth into the source" - Neal Morse
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... what you "prefer" and what actually happens ain't exactly similar...
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
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You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
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When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013
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It's about how long it's still interesting to go to, how much you enjoy your co-workers, etc.
The length of time can be very short, if changes come that make a place no longer appealing for whatever drives you, individually.
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I hate changing jobs going thru all of the paperwork and other stuff, so I would rather stay at the same Job Forever as long as it does not turn me into a zombie or make me mad every day I go in.
I have not found that yet.
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Any entrepreneur developer stays until they sell.
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I prefer to stay no more than 2 years. This is because the only invariant in technological world is that it is different every day. Almost every company I've been in usually adopts one model and stick to it. After 2 years I feel slightly behind new technologies, unless company change. So I prefer to give company a chance up to 2 years to allow to change and grow technologically, otherwise it isn't worth it (no matter how much money I get).
P.S. I've seen what happens to good programmers staying in the same company for 10 years, and it is not good. Yeah, they made through the hierarchy, but they've been locked in that company, and if it fails, they are out of the IT world.
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It's not really a preference..
but staying in jobs an average of 3 years...
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Every second or next survey is about the professionals only, the ones who are employed, the ones who have an office to gossip about. The site clearly says,
Quote: For those who code
Where are "for only professionals who code"?  Students also code, and most students code better than Sr. Software Engineers, at least in my area.
And, answering the survey from a student's point of view, I only change my institute once I have completed my course. Then I look for a better institute, university preferably.
The sh*t I complain about
It's like there ain't a cloud in the sky and it's raining out - Eminem
~! Firewall !~
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Don't be sad, it's only a survey! Why you mad?
Aside that, overall in the vast body of close to full time programmer, students are a minority so.. here you go!
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Quote: Why you mad?
I ain't mad. Its just that I want students to be given their own option to check in like, "I'm a student, you know". 
The sh*t I complain about
It's like there ain't a cloud in the sky and it's raining out - Eminem
~! Firewall !~
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Yes, I do!
No, not really - just the ones that want me to do their homework...
But this is a survey relevant to students, or at least the results should be. Seeing that most professionals expect to stay in a job for several years should prepare you to stay for quite a while when you stop being students. After all, the whole point of being a student is to prepare you for a job in the profession, isn't it?
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
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Quote: just the ones that want me to do their homework...
There are many of them in my University, and trust me, sometimes I really want to report them as spam so that they can be kicked, just the way CodeProject works. 
Quote: After all, the whole point of being a student is to prepare you for a job in the profession, isn't it?
Well, I am an endorsed professional already, even a valuable professional.  C# Corner, then CodeProject, and now Microsoft. So I believe my study is just to satisfy my parents, I'm best and I know it already. Just kidding.
The sh*t I complain about
It's like there ain't a cloud in the sky and it's raining out - Eminem
~! Firewall !~
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No, I envy students.
Those were the most happy days!
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Quote: most students code better than Sr. Software Engineers
Not a chance. But their arrogance and a dash of ignorance makes them think they do.
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iskSYS wrote: Not a chance.
Yes... more than a chance
iskSYS wrote: But their arrogance and a dash of ignorance makes them think they do.
Same can be told about some seniors.
I have seen and been in both sides.
When I was junior I corrected buggy software from seniors, and being senior a trainee of mine showed me something I had buried in my code that could have blown up the application in a chain process if a serie of conditions had met.
I agree that experience is a master and that in a big %, senior means better quality. But there are no absolute values.
M.D.V. 
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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You said that most students code better than sr. engineers.
That can't be true no matter how you spin it. And it is offensive to senior engineers.
Personally, I have trained many students, and I was impressed by maybe ten percent of them, who I am convinced they would do amazing in life.
I haven't met one student who can code better than me, as you say. They are enthusiastic or depressed, intelligent or dumb, hard working or lazy, curious to learn or not, but I have never seen one to code better than a senior. And I am not surprised, because they don't have the training, and usually the discipline to keep a steady work and finish, most often they worry about the next party, or getting drunk. Short attention span.
That makes it hard to believe that in your area most students code better than senior developers.
But, I recognize there is a chance that the brightest and hardest working students on the planet converged in your area, and the worst senior developers happen to work in your area, too. The chance for that happening in real life is too low to consider,t hough.
Is it common in your area to use hyperbole to express a feeling?
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First of all... I think you are answering to the wrong person, or you did not read correctly what I said.
I didn't say that most students are better. I answered to the previous message: Quote: Not a chance. But their arrogance and a dash of ignorance makes them think they do.
When I was junior, I could not code better than my senior, but I got over him pretty fast. He was lazy, no maintenance of the code, Copy+paste and then block / comment sections instead of cleaning up, variable names without any convention and many other more... and he was senior.
He could still solve more problems than me due to knowledge and experience, but I could code better than him.
IanArhip wrote: That makes it hard to believe that in your area most students code better than senior developers.
I never said that. I just said, that there are students than can be better, not that all / most are. It is a substantial difference.
IanArhip wrote: The chance for that happening in real life is too low to consider,t hough.
Then I have broken several statistics, because I have already met some terrible seniors (sadly not only one or two)... by customers / suppliers and so on, and not only in my area of expertise or in technical departments, I found them in other departments (finances, marketing, HHRR...) as well.
M.D.V.
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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I met terrible seniors too, I think everybody has.
The original post claimed that all juniors are better than all seniors, and I thought you were supporting that.
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Quote: most students code better than Sr. Software Engineers, at least in my area.
Read the content fully, excerpts don't make much of a sense, and cause a confusion. 
The sh*t I complain about
It's like there ain't a cloud in the sky and it's raining out - Eminem
~! Firewall !~
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