This week I had my 6 anniversary at Goodgamestudios.
That also means that it is already 6 years I moved more than 1000 km away from Milan (Italy) to Hamburg (Germany).
It has been an amazing journey and I am really thankful for this experience. It gave me the opportunity to work in a modern, young and innovative environment and to live and raise my kids in a green, tidy, bike-friendly, hip, lively city.
Even though we went through some hard times - 3 years ago there were 2 tough waves of massive layoffs - I am so glad I am still here.
I learned so much here! I grew up more as a Software Engineer in these 6 years than in the previous 10! I had the opportunity to work with amazing people, make incredible and inspiring friends, and challenge myself in different areas and languages: frontend - backend - web - mobile - ActionScript - Unity3D and Javascript, Serverless.
And this is probably the reason why I am still here (yeah, well besides the fact that I live exactly 7 minutes away by bike :-) ).
In the past I always felt the need and the urge to move on, to change the company and look for new people and new challenges. There is nothing bad in staying in the same place for long, but
especially in IT I always felt that if you don't move on, you likely risk to get stuck and become outdated.
Luckily for me in these 6 years at GGS I worked on 4 different projects and teams, so it really feels as if I worked in 4 different companies.
What is your experience? What are your feelings about working in the same place for a long time? Is it just that I became lazy and don't want to take new challenges? Or did I finally recognize that if I am happy where I am there is no need for constantly searching elsewhere?
Photo by twinsfisch on Unsplash
Top comments (18)
I think that as long as you still have things to learn in a company you could stay there. I’m currently working for a company almost 2 years, and I still have new challenges every day and other projects that I can work in to improve my skills. But I agree that changing company can open your mind of other methodologies and business models that would be nice for you in the long run.
7 years in October. I've switched teams every few years, and the company has gone through so much change, its felt like 4-5 different companies which is why its been fun (different tech stacks, different culture, different people/teams).
I joined as a junior mobile dev for Android, worked on a custom Android tablet with a forked Android OS, worked on apps to manage Android devices remotely, did devops setting up CI servers, worked on a huge path to production re-write, led a team to manage internal tools, and now working on front-end performance problems on our flagship app. Wild ride :)
You also kind of "stepped down" from managing devs to developing again? how did you find it?
I'm in the middle of that ride. It's more of a step sideways than it is a step down - salary didn't change 😀
At this stage in my life, I've got the energy to be heads down cranking out tickets, concerning myself that we're building things right. We have a lot of hairy technical problems that are a lot harder to solve when half your week is spent managing projects. I get to focus on that for like 90% of my week now.
I hired a new manager to replace me, and I'll report to him, and it's now his responsibility to make sure we're doing the right things, working with stakeholders, managing performance of individual team members.
Once I have some kids in a few years, I'll transition back into management.
Last company I worked there for 9 years. First as a developer, then staff scientist, then managing the Software and IT departments. Loved that job, but it was time to take on something new so I started a new job in quantum computing in June.
wow. and how did you find the transition from managing to being "in the fields" again - on something new?
I found it refreshing. The transition was a bit abrupt and a big changes. It did mean I get to work on code a lot more now, which was nice and a. little intimidating.
I definitely prefer coding to days full of meetings, working groups and calls.
I think too working actively on solutions is more interesting than meetings and political management stuff.
I always find interesting hearing stories of people "downscaling" from people management back to coding. Thanx for taking the time to comment.
7 years. Constant growth and the meta-game of evolving development processes as the industry changes always keeps things interesting.
Started as an entry level software developer, now lead software architect.
Congratulations to you for this great feeling!!!
Well, next February I will reach 9 years at my current company. I have to say that I pass through several steps, goods, and bads, but now I'm facing a new challenge that is making me crazy a little bit learning and doing new stuff I didn't think I could do it.
yep. kinda like here. a rollercoaster of feelings and experiences. but having to learn costantly new things is a big plus for me. sometimes it feels daunting, but when you manage it's very rewarding!
In my old career I switched jobs roughly every 1.5 years... Always got itchy feet, and it's part of how I knew I wanted to change career.
After learning to code I went straight into my current workplace and I'm still here 2.5 years later with no desire to leave!
I think as long as I'm still getting fresh and different challenges, and still being valued and encouraged to explore where my curiosity goes, I'd be happy to stay for a good long time 😁 I work for an agency so I really identify with what you say about feeling like you actually worked for different companies during your time - I love the transition to a new project; fresh challenges, frameworks, requirements to get excited about!
Congrats on your workiversary and I hope it continues to be a great fit for you 🙂
thanx for your comment. yes, new challenges, new projects, fresh cool things to do are the secret to never get bored :-)
7 years a research at university (shut down in 2012). 10 years as a freelance consultant part-time in an automation company (ongoing). All others: no more than 3 years.
Motivation and new topics are the triggers for a change.
Once a CTO who I used to work for said,
absolutely.
I also wrote that in an old post of mine (What makes a 10x developer).
At some point if you really want to progress and grow, you really have to change "league".
record to date 7 years, current job 2 years
8 Years \o/