The work anniversary: Working toward the gold watch?

Facebook reminded me today that I am celebrating an anniversary. 

I joined Dell two years ago and it has been a great two years at that. I'm thankful for my boss, her boss, his boss - and the talented team members I have. For me, it's the perfect storm to stay and work toward the proverbial "gold watch."

It all started me wondering about the work anniversary. My dad worked at Xerox for most of his career - moving up progressively as a mechanical engineer at their Rochester, NY headquarters and then moving us to Plano, TX to help Xerox open their offices here. He worked for over 30 years there and took early retirement getting that gold watch on retirement. 

Today, at 87, he is still having the time of his life in his "encore" career - traveling the world with non profits and fostering cultural exchange as he goes. 

Me? My generation and after? I don't know that we will have the perfect storm of pensions, social security and retirement savings (what he called the "three legged stool" that gets you to retirement) that will allow us to leave the workforce as young as 57 -- unless we strike out on our own and are lucky enough to have a thriving business.

So, what is happening these days with us all working toward the gold watch? 

Are we job hopping every two years - or are we riding the ups and downs of corporate America to grow with our jobs? 

About two years ago, I read this great book by LinkedIn chairman and co-founder Reid Hoffman called The Startup of You. It talked about taking treating your career like a start up organization and gathering up the skills you need - taking progressively more challenging stretch assignments - to grow your skills with each position - even if you stay at one company for the long run. 

I also read that the generations after me are not really job hopping, that statistically, young people today are less "professionally itinerant" than we were. Here's an article on a recent Bureau of Labor Statistics report that shows that their job hopping is a myth. 

How do you look at your career? Stay for the gold watch? Reinvent yourself like a startup every two years and move on? In some corporations (like mine) you can do both - moving from role to role - often with encouragement like we have of training in new marketing jobs, etc. 

How many of you are aiming for the gold watch?