Ask HN: Want to leave my job with nothing lined up

I would listen to your friends, stick it out until you find another job. In the mean time, try to make some changes like not working 10 hour days, maybe take a short leave of absence, etc… but quitting your job and not having another one lined up is almost always a mistake unless you a very large sum of money saved up or some other source of income.

Hope this helps and best of luck!

It's very tempting because (I'm guessing) you just want to get out of your current situation ASAP, and of course the final decision is still yours, but this is the advice I would give my past self:

- You might not be in the best state of mind right now to make a good decision. I agree with others saying you should take time off, the more the better. Definitely more than one week.

- Try going for 1-2 months of time off if possible, even if unpaid. If your country has something like "leave of absence" that allows you to take a long period off, like 6 months or more (usually unpaid), but still be able to come back to your company after that period (or at least get priority during hires for the similar position), then try to look into that first, and consider it a "trial period" of how well your job search will go.

- You might feel good about leaving your job for the first few months, but after that you're running on a time limit. This will be on the back of your mind, and you'll have to learn to live with this worry, and not let it affect your performance on interviews.

- You'll get rejected. You'll get ghosted. You might think it's you, and part of it will be because of you, but you don't know which rejections are legit and which ones were just farming your info. This will also take a toll on you, and you will have to learn to not let this affect your performance on interviews.

- The more time you've been unemployed, the larger the gap on your resume, the better you'll have to be at explaining that gap in a convincing way. And this is without letting the previous point affect your performance on interviews.

- Remember that when you apply for roles, when you reach the last stage (the vibe check), you'll be competing against people with no gap, who might be able to perform better than you if only because they have less worries (no ever-increasing gap, no ever-decreasing money, a rejection for them doesn't affect them too much because they still have a job).

- Even if you think you have a good network that could help you get a job quickly, consider their location. Assume you'll only be able to get some help from contacts in your current location (within commute time). Even if you're looking for remote jobs, assume your network will only be able to help, at most, with on-site jobs.

- Even if you do freelance work, consider those as part of your employment gap. You might get interviews for companies that don't mind it, but assume that most companies default to treating it as an employment gap.

- If you feel bad right now at work, assume that's similar to how bad you'll feel after being unable to get a job for 1 year, but with less money on top of that. And you'll have to learn to not let this affect your performance on interviews.

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That's what I would have liked someone told me before I left my last full-time job. I'm aware I'm just some stranger on the internet exposing how much I suck at life because I wasn't able to just get a job quickly like others, and I underestimated a lot of shit.

So I think what I want to say is, "think carefully".

> the positives have been so huge

> your life is worth more than money

I agree with you, and I really wish that everyone could make that decision unbiased. Unfortunately, most people’s reality force them to consider money. Someone else mentioned to triple your estimate of how long you might be without a job, and sometimes not even that is enough.

In the end, it’s mostly about your safety nets. Can you quit, stay 6 months away, and if it turns into 18 months, what then? Can you move back into your parents’? Are you _realistically_ able to take a non-dev job (cashier at McDonalds) just to put food on the table?

Nowadays, affording a decent life AND the job not sucking is almost a luxury already. Shouldn’t be that way, and every toxic startup out there is a failure, regardless of their valuation.

Questions you need to answer before quitting:

1) is there anything they can do to keep you - you need to be prepared to answer this, not emotionally but with logic and your sanity in mind

2) is your resume ready? If not when will it be ready.

3) how do you answer the question: Why did you leave? The simple answer of 'They were toxic' sounds too much like BS. It could be interpreted as you are toxic and not willing to see your own problems.

4) are you able to spend 6 months to a year unemployed? Can you cover all expenses. Including medical.

5) if you are out of work long term, how do you explain what you have been doing? Best answers are: learning new stuff (with details, possibly a degree), volunteering. Worst answers: finding yourself, just relaxing, doom scrolling youtube.

6) if you have unemployed friends, set up a group. See question here where someone was asking how to handle long term unemployment.

7) What are your criteria for the next job. Clearly not toxic but how are you going to ensure that does not happen. Prioritize your list. Having wants is fine. Having absolutes is fine. Knowing the difference is critical. For me, not moving was an absolute until I had been out for 6 months... then I found a job :-)

I wish you the best of luck.