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by napsterbr 1829 days ago
I have this weird feeling that I'm making the same mistake right now.
3 comments

If you feel that way, you probably are.
If you've been there longer than 3 years, then yes, you're making the mistake.
This is a strange attitude; if you change jobs every three years, then how much are you going to get done, really? If everyone took this approach, then would any large project ever get finished?
Well, OP is talking about their first job, so my advice is targeting that specific situation. As a general rule, engineers see a fairly large bump in pay when going from their first to their second job, particularly if they did a poor job of negotiating their first salary. So yes, in terms of career development and realizing your earning potential, you should not stay at your first job for more than a few years.
Why wouldn't six months be more than enough time to ship a project?
It can take time to build political capital to be trusted to lead/ship a project.
Depends on the project. I just launched something last week I'd been working on for the previous 18 months.
Not every company works only on small software products.
At the company, or in a specific position?

I'd say continuity is fine, if the firm is large enough to offer a career path.

In many startup product companies, the specific knowledge about the product is not interchangeable with other tech companies. The tech skills and the soft skills are, but a large part is know-how about the product and the market.

It makes sense to stick around longer if you see yourself as a "knowledge worker" rather than as an interchangeable techie. It certainly makes sense from the company's perspective to keep knowledgeable people around.

It's very likely. 2 years seems to be standard, and I'm moving jobs after 1.5 next week. 20% raise for very similar work, there's no reason not to move.
I was recently told I was "long" with the company for moving after a bit under 2 years (I'm leaving 31st July, I joined on 15th september).

I can't help but think that it's pathological to consider that "long" :/

I wish it wasn't. Many companies simply make it too difficult to move up and grow internally.