# What % of your adult life at your current job?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-of-your-adult-life-at-your-current-job/733834
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [October 7, 2015, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-of-your-adult-life-at-your-current-job/733834 "2015-10-07T17:19:41Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2015, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-of-your-adult-life-at-your-current-job/733834/1 "2015-10-07T17:19:41Z")
I’m defining ‘adult life’ as the moment you first started supporting yourself (or being supported by a spouse?).
For some that may be after they graduated from college and got a job; for others that would be when they got out of high school and never looked back.
What I’m looking for is:
Years of adulthood as defined above.
Years at current job.
Adulthood number divided by current job number.
So in my case; I graduated high school at 18, and moved out that summer. I’m 53 now; so I’ve been living the ‘adult life’ for 35 years. I’ve been with my current for over 11 years. So for me, I’ve spent about 31% of my adult life with my current employer.
I’m guessing 31% is pretty good; although I know there are a few others on this board who can crush that number who are older than me. The younger generation can crush it too, if they’re on their first employer.
Thanks
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### Author:  [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2015, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-of-your-adult-life-at-your-current-job/733834/2 "2015-10-07T17:26:20Z")
I’m 54. Been at current job for 24 years. 66%. I think that’s kinda sad really. But it’s a good job, great pay, and I love where I live. So what the heck.
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### Author:  [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2015, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-of-your-adult-life-at-your-current-job/733834/3 "2015-10-07T17:51:47Z")
I was self supporting at age 19. I am now 62, so my working life as per the OP is 43 years I started working for the company when I was 25, so I have spent 86% of my working life at this company.
Edited to add: This also equates to 60% of my total life
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### Author:  [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2015, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-of-your-adult-life-at-your-current-job/733834/4 "2015-10-07T18:04:48Z")
In medicine (Med student and MD) for 62% of my life, and 93% of my adulthood.
At my current position for 20% of my life. 30% of my adulthoood
With my current employer for 23% of my life. 34% of my adulthood.
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### Author:  [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2015, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-of-your-adult-life-at-your-current-job/733834/5 "2015-10-07T18:10:07Z")
I’m 36. I started my own company when I was 20 (still in college), with a friend, and we’ve been here ever since. 100%
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### Author:  [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2015, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-of-your-adult-life-at-your-current-job/733834/6 "2015-10-07T18:19:45Z")
91% here.
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### Author:  [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2015, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-of-your-adult-life-at-your-current-job/733834/7 "2015-10-07T18:43:55Z")
I’ve spent 83% of my adult life at my current job (although with many position and title changes).
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### Author:  [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2015, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-of-your-adult-life-at-your-current-job/733834/8 "2015-10-07T18:46:56Z")
Technically, it’s 100%. I’ve always been self-employed. I did have side jobs for several of those years, and I made a major shift in the kinds of services I offered back in 2005… so you could argue that what I do today is only about 50% of my working life.
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### Author:  [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2015, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-of-your-adult-life-at-your-current-job/733834/9 "2015-10-07T18:58:06Z")
If I use when I left grad school and came to the DC area in 1993 as my starting point, and I’ll be in my current job 19 years at the end of next month. that’s–what? About 86%, if my math isn’t horribly messed up.
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### Author:  [@kk\_fusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kk_fusion)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2015, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-of-your-adult-life-at-your-current-job/733834/10 "2015-10-07T19:33:07Z")
About a third (2y8m out of 7y4m).
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### Author:  [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2015, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-of-your-adult-life-at-your-current-job/733834/11 "2015-10-07T19:33:32Z")
I’m the curve breaker. My present job is at 5% and that’s about typical for me. Longest I’ve ever been in a single job was 7 years. I’m a job jumper. I get bored, or I look around me and see that I’ve accomplished everything I can in my current situation and I move on. I think I got into this habit early on in life because my husband got relocated frequently in the early years of his career, so I had to make pretty frequent job changes, too.
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### Author:  [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2015, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-of-your-adult-life-at-your-current-job/733834/12 "2015-10-07T19:37:31Z")
1/10 of 1%.
New job. I’m 48.
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### Author:  [@Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Fun_Ball)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2015, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-of-your-adult-life-at-your-current-job/733834/13 "2015-10-07T19:53:26Z")
I am also an outlier. My current job is at ~14%. My longest job (7 years) was about 24% of my adult life. I did spend about 28% of my adult life in college and graduate school (self supported). I am 46.
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### Author:  [@aktep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aktep)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2015, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-of-your-adult-life-at-your-current-job/733834/14 "2015-10-07T20:11:25Z")
I’ve been “adulting” more or less for 16 years.
I’ve been at my current employer for 17. So… 106%?
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### Author:  [@Fear\_the\_Turtle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_the_Turtle)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2015, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-of-your-adult-life-at-your-current-job/733834/15 "2015-10-07T20:28:33Z")
66% (20/30) or 83% (25/30) depending on how you define “current employer”. I switched from DOD US Army (civ) to DOD US Air Force (civ) 5 years in. Still Federal Government either way. 53 years old, graduated at 23 and started working for Feds at 28 (slightly rounded).
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### Author:  [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2015, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-of-your-adult-life-at-your-current-job/733834/16 "2015-10-07T20:50:09Z")
About 15%, but not all in a row. I left for a couple of years, then went back. Just about 8% if you only count the current stint.
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### Author:  [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2015, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-of-your-adult-life-at-your-current-job/733834/17 "2015-10-07T20:52:20Z")
100%
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### Author:  [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2015, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-of-your-adult-life-at-your-current-job/733834/18 "2015-10-07T21:15:09Z")
74%
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### Author:  [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2015, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-of-your-adult-life-at-your-current-job/733834/19 "2015-10-07T21:31:40Z")
34.39%, starting from the day I turned eighteen.
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### Author:  [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2015, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-of-your-adult-life-at-your-current-job/733834/20 "2015-10-07T21:35:38Z")
By the defined terms I guess about 60%.
I was born into my trade and was on job sites with my father as young as 8. High school I worked for him summers and part time during a school year between him and a friend in a related business. After high-school I decided to go off on my own for a bit I worked other full time jobs, only occasionally working for my father if he was on vacation or needed really extra labor. Ten years ago I got back into it full time.
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