Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs without anything planned. How did it go?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

261–270 of 320 posts

Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs without anything planned. How did it go?

#261

Post by gaws »

josh2600 wrote: post #89

Note: I am not an engineer. I’m mostly skilled in telling stories. I got fired from every job I ever had before I started working for myself. Each time I left I ended up in a better job until the last time when I got laid off from a telecom PM role. I went to look for another job and never found one. At the time I was living paycheck to paycheck (barely) so this was quite scary. I did have a small severance but that…

> I got fired from every job I ever had before I started working for myself.

Why?

Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs without anything planned. How did it go?

#262

Post by gaws »

swimorsinka wrote: post #208

I'll add another cautionary tale.... At the start of my career, I worked as a SWE at one of the FAANGs. After 3 years, I couldn't take it anymore. I hated everything I worked on, nothing was meeting my lofty expectations, and I thought about quitting constantly. Eventually I pulled the trigger to go and "do my own thing." I didn't have a backup job - instead I worked on my own projects with a cofounder and tried to t…

> This continued for 2.5 years. Eventually, I had had enough, and I knew something had to change. I went and tried to get my old FAANG job back, but couldn't - probably due to my entitled attitude when I was there.

lol @ thinking this was a viable option. Who returns to a company nearly three years later thinking he or she will get their old job back? By that point, they've likely filled the position several times over.

Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs without anything planned. How did it go?

#263

Post by gaws »

nanidin wrote: post #196

I left my job in February 2021 due to being overstressed and eventually burning out. I was in a role where I was essentially on call 24/7, with the only calls actually coming in at early AM hours on holidays. This made it impossible for me to relax during time off, which contributed to the burnout. Around the same time, my SO was finishing cancer treatment, so work stress was not the only stress I was dealing with. I…

> I also recommend that if you're going to quit and you like your job but just need some extended time off - talk with your manager! Mine wasn't very agreeable to a sabbatical on the timeframe I wanted, but

Securing that much time off is nearly impossible at many places.

> my SO was able to secure 6 months of PAID time off just by talking to her manager about what was going on with her and her plans to leave (keep in mind her case may be unique due to cancer and working for the company for 8+ years).

Don't be fooled by management's "kind" gesture. Your SO's cancer, while horrible, got her the six-month paid leave, not the eight years at the company.

Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs without anything planned. How did it go?

#264

Post by gaws »

drudoo wrote: post #218

I quit my job of four years because I got a green card and wanted to try to work in the US. I am from Denmark and got the green card through marriage. Moved to Orlando (as my wife had a job there) and applied to roughly 300 IT jobs but only got 2 interviews. Nothing really came of it, as they either wanted to pay me pennies or I didn’t have enough experience. I had about 4 years of project management experience with…

> Moved to Orlando (as my wife had a job there) and applied to roughly 300 IT jobs but only got 2 interviews.

> Maybe I was picky but coming from a $95k/y salary and going to a $20/h hourly position wasn’t what I wanted.

Nah. Orlando, and Florida in general, is a terrible tech market. Orlando is also a god-awful city. You might have better luck if you were in San Francisco, Austin, New York, or Chicago.

Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs without anything planned. How did it go?

#265

Post by randomopining »

barthom wrote: post #119

I quit my job 3 months ago, in late August. I didn't have a plan but I was feeling pretty burnt out (the work culture was pretty toxic) and a bit depressed so I wanted to take some time off to figure out my next steps. I also have a lot saved up so I knew my financials wouldn't be a problem short-term. The first month or so was tough. It felt weird not working on something. Which I think is part of a healthy process…

How much saved up do you think is a lot? Just wondering

Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs without anything planned. How did it go?

#266

Post by robocat »

yetihehe wrote: post #28
MichaelBurge wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Money isn't the same thing as a plan. If anything, it's the exact opposite: You have the freedom to do many things, so there's more uncertainty than someone with less money.

Such differences can be called "academic", useful if you don't have a plan, not really useful for people without money. If you have money, you don't really need a plan, so whole discussion is then moot.

That comes across to me as being thoughtlessly dismissive.

Money helps, but there are a huge number of other factors that are just as important. That is demonstrated by the number of answers here by people that quit without having money, and the variety of stories and outcomes.

I quit my job a few years back, and I believe I have the financial runway to do so, but I am still unsure if it was a good idea.

Not working is weird because most of my peer group works. I have found there are social costs to not working. I find that not working has other significant issues, even though I have had plenty of chance to learn mitigations (I have had multiple job sabbaticals in my life e.g. travelling when I had little money).

I would be happy to work again, if it were a job that invigorated me rather than slowly killing me. Our time is our most valuable asset, and every second our remaining balance diminishes.

There is a certain amount of mystical or wishful thinking while working, about quitting work and relaxing or refocusing for a while. I have found reality turns out to be more mundane.

It is still my ongoing choice not to work, but the consequences of that decision are not quite so clear cut.

Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs without anything planned. How did it go?

#267

Post by andi999 »

badtension wrote: post #222
andi999 wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not speaking from experience, but I believe you should start every day with sales. Demo doesn't need to be ready, get potential customers, feedback etc. Even the big ones start sales before the product is ready. Also if you see there is interest it will help you to finish. You cannot skip the sales part, so instead of after finishing put it in front (it is also the hardest part for developers).

I have talked to a few people (yes, friends) that said it would solve some of their problems but nothing like selling up front or contacting random people. I am a programmer and have a hard time "inverting" the process. This feels like a fraud or maybe is just a part of the imposter syndrome. I want to start with something that is at least a bit "interactive" to see how people behave using it. I think this may show a…

If you have time and think it might be good maybe read 'lean startup' , and maybe 'crossing the chasm'.

I believe sales doesn't get easier even if you have a fully fledged out product.

Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs without anything planned. How did it go?

#268

Post by nanidin »

gaws wrote: post #263
nanidin wrote: post #196

I left my job in February 2021 due to being overstressed and eventually burning out. I was in a role where I was essentially on call 24/7, with the only calls actually coming in at early AM hours on holidays. This made it impossible for me to relax during time off, which contributed to the burnout. Around the same time, my SO was finishing cancer treatment, so work stress was not the only stress I was dealing with. I…

> I also recommend that if you're going to quit and you like your job but just need some extended time off - talk with your manager! Mine wasn't very agreeable to a sabbatical on the timeframe I wanted, but Securing that much time off is nearly impossible at many places. > my SO was able to secure 6 months of PAID time off just by talking to her manager about what was going on with her and her plans to leave (keep in…

In my case the duration was acceptable (I asked for 6 months of unpaid leave), but burnout was telling me I needed out in two weeks. Management wanted me to stick around for two months before taking extended leave. At the time it wasn't an option I was willing to consider.

As for SO, I suppose you could be right about the cancer (they also gave her 3 weeks of time off earlier this year that didn't impact her PTO bank), but even before cancer her job was super accommodating.

Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs without anything planned. How did it go?

#269

Post by instaheat »

I mean, I will preface this by saying I have a significant sum in the bank which allowed me to take the risk of leaving my job in the first place. I've got maybe a 3 year runway before things start getting scary. (As in homeless and eating ramen)

I have traveled for the past 6 months and haven't really found myself yet. I want the freedom so I could do what I want, but now I feel like I don't have a purpose.

I have been taking voice/acting classes and taking singing lessons, and reading alot.

I don't want to go back to a W2 job, unless I absolutely have to.

Re: Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs without anything planned. How did it go?

#270

Post by JohnClark1337 »

ryandrake wrote: post #252
mlac wrote: post #87

After skimming half the thread and only seeing one view (DO IT! It’s GREAT!), I’m going to throw this out there: - You will have heavy selection bias here (people who did not succeed might be working at a crappier job and unable to comment at this moment) - You will also have confirmation bias among those who willingly quit (“of course it was the right move”) - You are asking a very unique set of people with very val…

Both times I have quit my job with nothing else lined up have been stress-filled disasters with a dreadful financial countdown timer. I would never do it again. The second time, our savings left us about 1 month away from my wife and I living in our car. This thread has been unreal! I don't know who these people are who can just leave their jobs and go off to windsurf in Ibiza, but congratulations on how fortunate yo…

Kids straight out of college whose only responsibility is to themselves, rich people, or people with rich friends.
Post reply on HN