How long should you stay at a job?

The conventional wisdom says two years minimum, and it exists for a reason: a resume full of 9-month stints makes hirers wonder if the pattern is you. But it is a heuristic, not a rule. One or two short stays explain themselves easily, bad fit, reorg, better offer, and recruiters increasingly read tenure in context, especially in tech and startups where shorter cycles are normal.

The better test is trajectory: are you still learning, gaining scope, and being paid near market? Job switchers historically out-earn stayers in raise percentage terms, which is a real argument against loyalty for its own sake. Staying a decade somewhere that stopped developing you costs more than any resume optics.

Two tactical notes: vesting cliffs and bonus dates are worth timing an exit around, and leaving for something beats leaving from something; the story you tell next always goes better with a destination.