# Year Five

DevFeed: [Year Five](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/year-five-31897.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<http://blog.jayfields.com/2013/04/year-five.html>)

Author: Jay (noreply@blogger.com)

Published: 2013-04-30T12:00:00Z

Content type: opinion

Language: en

Sources: [Jay Fields](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/jay-fields.md>)

Topics: [Job](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/job.md>), [Software Engineering](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/software-engineering.md>), [engineering-culture](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/engineering-culture.md>)

Tags: [clojure](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/clojure.md>), [developers](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/developers.md>), [employment](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/employment.md>), [experience-report](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/experience-report.md>), [job](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/job.md>), [retention](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/retention.md>), [software-engineering](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/software-engineering.md>)

## AI overview

This experience report discusses why software developers may leave an employer after roughly three or four years. It describes perceived limits, familiarity with one's existing code and opportunities elsewhere, compensation differences, and the appeal of new challenges, while noting that the premise is speculative and based partly on personal observation.

## Source excerpt

The average lifespan for a software engineering job is 4 years. Okay, I've never actually seen proof (or contradiction), but that's the general feeling in the groups I associate with. Perhaps that's selection bias - my employer has generally changed on year 3 or 4. Perhaps this is the exception and not the rule, in that case feel free to simply read this as an experience report. However, I do think it's somewhat common for developers to leave around year 3 or 4. This entry contains speculation on why they leave, and offers one idea on what employers can do to break that cycle. My 4 year employment cycle generally looks like this Year One: "I'm in over my head. My semi-bluff was in-fact a bluff. They're going to fire me any day." Year Two: "It's nice to feel like a productive team member" Year Three: "This is fun, and I'm not bad at it. It's satisfying to pass on knowledge to teammates." Year Four: "This feels repetitive, that grass over there sure looks greener" I expect that I, like many programmers, probably undervalue my contribution in the early days and overvalue my contribution in the latter days. In Year Three and Four at DRW I spent some time thinking about how I felt, and observing the behavior of some colleagues that were also on year three and four. A few things stood out to me. A company you don't work at always seems to have infinite possibilities; however, after a few years with an employer, it's extremely clear what your options are. More importantly, it's very clear what limitations will likely always be there. A company you don't work at contains no code you're responsible for. Conversely, any company you've been with for 4 years probably has plenty of code you're not proud of. If you're responsible for that code, it's a constant reminder of your previous limitations. If you're not responsible for it, your co-workers aren't likely to let you forget about it anytime soon. There's always someone willing to pay you more than you're worth. After several