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Ask HN: Am I committing career suicide?

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Re: Ask HN: Am I committing career suicide?

#41

Post by skurry »

obviouslygreen wrote: post #31

5+ years bankrolled on savings from working full time? Well done. I mean damn, well done. You are not crazy to give it up. I can't speak from experience; I am in my early 30's and gave up a lower rate about six years ago to good result, but that's just anecdotal. It seems to me you have a very strong position: You have serious industry experience and, from your description, very strong financial responsibility. It's…

You summed up my inner dialog perfectly.

I used the retirement calculator my brokerage firm has on their website. According to their Monte Carlo simulation, I have about 10 years to financial independence (90% chance that my money doesn't run out before I die), income, savings rate and expenses remaining at the same level. That happens to be around $1 million in savings in today's dollars. It's tempting on the one hand, but on the other hand: 10 damn years!! I don't know if I can do it.

It's weird, I'm hoping that the decision is somehow made for me. My company being acquired or forced to downsize, offering severance packages... But alas, it doesn't seem to be in the cards.

Re: Ask HN: Am I committing career suicide?

#42

Post by jakedahn »

If you've got that much money saved, you should be working for yourself, making awesome applications and changing the world.

Don't worry about a gap in your resume, you'll probably make something notable on your own that could carry your career/life into a new direction.

Re: Ask HN: Am I committing career suicide?

#43

Post by skurry »

shepbook wrote: post #37

I may be echoing others, but I to say to go for it. As for the "gap", this is simple. Start a business. If you're going to be making and selling mobile apps, you'll want a basic corporate entity behind you anyways. Now, instead of being "unemployed guy building apps" you're "Founder of Mobile App Development Consultancy" or something along those lines. Given what you stated about not liking the corporate world, that'…

That's exactly what I'm already working on. I have a domain name secured, an app in the Android app store, and if I do make the jump, I'll change my LinkedIn to "Founder, LLC" or something like that.

I could use my C# skills to port the app to WP7/8, and I might even buy my first Apple computer and learn Objective C. Exciting prospects!

Re: Ask HN: Am I committing career suicide?

#44

Post by benatkin »

jpgvm wrote: post #33
obviouslygreen wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps good advice for HORRID reasons. Anyone spouting "YOLO" or any such thing should be ignored out of hand.

"You only live once" used to be perfectly fine before a bunch of kids gave it bad connotations. Once upon a time it used to be a way of saying that you only have finite amount of time on earth and you should make the best of it. Somewhat similar to "Carpe Diem" and "Momento Mori". The fact that a bunch of kids that use it as reasoning to smoke alot of dope and do stupid shit doesn't change the original meaning in the…

The Lonely Island did a parody song/video about YOLO where they made it about living well, but they took it over the top. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5Otla5157c The YOLO phenomenon isn't limited to getting crazy, but it sure seems to be the most common use of it.

Re: Ask HN: Am I committing career suicide?

#45

Post by eru »

bearwithclaws wrote: post #16

Do it, and come to Malaysia. Savings that lasts 5-10 years in the states would lasts you at least 20-30 years here. Most people here speaks English fluently, and the startups/hackers culture here are vibrant and growing. My good friend quit his cozy programming job in Canada and spent a year travelling and hacking in Malaysia + Singapore. He left with more money than when he started (took very very few consulting job…

Also Singapore is just around the corner, if you need some (very!) First World living for a change. There are also plenty of high paying corporate jobs available in Singapore, in case you ever need to fall back on one. And start-ups.

I moved to Singapore from Britain last year.

Re: Ask HN: Am I committing career suicide?

#46

Post by eru »

skurry wrote: post #23

Some more data points and thoughts: - I have 23 days of PTO per year, which is generous for the US. I did several two week trips the past years, mostly to Asia. My job is fairly low stress, I work less than 40 hours per week. But still, as soon as I set a foot into the office, it feels like all life energy gets sapped out of me. Maybe it's the fluorescent lighting? The crappy HVAC that oscillates between freezing and…

> The constant sitting?

Try to get a standing desk. It worked wonders for me.

Re: Ask HN: Am I committing career suicide?

#47

Post by richerd »

kinkora wrote: post #38
bearwithclaws wrote: post #16

Do it, and come to Malaysia. Savings that lasts 5-10 years in the states would lasts you at least 20-30 years here. Most people here speaks English fluently, and the startups/hackers culture here are vibrant and growing. My good friend quit his cozy programming job in Canada and spent a year travelling and hacking in Malaysia + Singapore. He left with more money than when he started (took very very few consulting job…

I have to agree with Cheng. Malaysia is probably your best bet for somewhere in between if you are looking for a balance between the developed world and stretching your savings. KL is a pretty laid back place to be with awesome food! And with AirAsia being based in Malaysia, you could pretty much travel anywhere in Asia for cheaps. And if you ever decide you are running out of money or are bored, there are a multitud…

I occasionally did some consulting jobs. Put it this way, some people make about $500 a month in Malaysia (which is more than enough to survive comfortably on). When you charge $100+ an hour you can make more in a day than the locals make in a month.

Re: Ask HN: Am I committing career suicide?

#48

Post by skurry »

TeeWEE wrote: post #29

I only have 4 years of experience in the field. ~3 years at a big social network in europe. We got beaten by Facebook. Then I switched to Consultancy work, yes the J2EE weblogic corporate mangers-all-over-the-place kind of work. But after a year I stopped and joined a startup in the mobile industry. I coudn't be more pleased. To you: - Do it! - The gap doesnt matter, if you can explain properly - Dont start working f…

> You should think twice about what your motivaions are, do you want to become an entrepeneur? Or you just want to be happy with your job? Dont make the wrong choices for the wrong reasons.

This is a great question. I think my main goal would be autonomy. Being able to go hiking in the morning and then work through the night. I never understood why we're forced to spend the days pent up in office buildings.

The other thing: Since I was a kid with a Commodore 64, I've been wanting to develop games. Just small, quirky, but fun and captivating games. This might be the chance to go after that childhood dream, as silly as it may sound.

Re: Ask HN: Am I committing career suicide?

#49

Post by hkmurakami »

kinkora wrote: post #38
bearwithclaws wrote: post #16

Do it, and come to Malaysia. Savings that lasts 5-10 years in the states would lasts you at least 20-30 years here. Most people here speaks English fluently, and the startups/hackers culture here are vibrant and growing. My good friend quit his cozy programming job in Canada and spent a year travelling and hacking in Malaysia + Singapore. He left with more money than when he started (took very very few consulting job…

I have to agree with Cheng. Malaysia is probably your best bet for somewhere in between if you are looking for a balance between the developed world and stretching your savings. KL is a pretty laid back place to be with awesome food! And with AirAsia being based in Malaysia, you could pretty much travel anywhere in Asia for cheaps. And if you ever decide you are running out of money or are bored, there are a multitud…

I think those "very few consulting jobs" was enough to offset the expenses

Re: Ask HN: Am I committing career suicide?

#50

Post by sliverstorm »

I can't tell you where to go or what to do, but if you just hate what you do, might as well try to find something different.

Many people in this world do not enjoy their jobs, but you appear to have the resources and the freedom to try to find the job you like.

P.S. Here's an idea. Have you considered going back to school for a Master's, if you don't already have one? That could give you more personal time to explore side projects (as well as hopefully working on something cool for your degree), handily explains 2-3 years of gap in employment history, and you come out with a degree. Thus allowing you to hedge your bets in case you have to rejoin the corporate world later.

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