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

Ask HN: Should I quit my job?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

121–130 of 130 posts

Re: Ask HN: Should I quit my job?

#121

Post by ViktorV »

Grustaf wrote: post #115
ViktorV wrote: post #43

It saddens me to death to hear words like: "To not stick to a schedule/routine once I am solo" from hyper-motivated people. It makes me hopeful to see that you're self-aware enough to mention other people's optinion as a fear factor. This kind of social conditioning from the school system / society combined with never letting people do what they really want because they have "responsibilities" from the age of 5 is wh…

No, having responsibilities like school does not turn people into slackers, the social conditioning from school etc is what makes us able to slog through hours of boring work because we know there it will lead to something good. This is one of the main reasons we have schools, to teach people discipline.

I think you misunderstand me. I'm not saying that you shouldn't have any responsibilities, but I'm saying that there should be a balance. In my country an average 16 year old's schedule only consists of "responsibilities" ( I would say that a responsibility can only be something that you choose, and not force into, so involuntary schooling can't be one, but anyway... ), and has almost 0 own time. I think the balance would be better at 50-50: 6 hours of school ( with homework + commuting )...

What I mean is not that school makes slackers, but school makes people believe that they are slackers, because they never had the chance to experience that they can perform without external pressure. Some people do need pressure to do things, but many people don't. I don't. I mean even if I feel pressure, that's coming from within, and not because my parents/peers would disapprove if I get a C.

But I generally agree with you, school makes people accept that they can't change their life, they need to be slaves/pressured into working ( otherwise they would slack off ).

Also, I would not say that accepting what is forced upon you is discipline. The most disciplined people I know discipline themselves without being force, and that's not something that you can learn in school.

Re: Ask HN: Should I quit my job?

#122

Post by losthobbies »

If your side business is teaching "How to save enough savings to survive for five years" sign me up...

Could you take a sabbatical from your company? Say a couple of months or a year to work on your project. Then you could always return if things don't work out.

Re: Ask HN: Should I quit my job?

#123

Post by wnkrshm »

haolez wrote: post #103
userulluipeste wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"You’ll survive and learn a lot." That's textbook survivorship bias right there.

You are probably right, but maintaining a day job is not a walk in the park either. You have to devote a lot of time and energy into it, and things might suddenly turn against you and you may find yourself in a tough spot.

I often think about that. There are no guarantees for job safety as an employee, there is only the fact that you work within a statistical ensemble of other people having a very similar job and can use them to tell how well you're doing.

If you find paid work on your own, you learn different skills that could prove to be better for survival, since you're less dependent on an external entity.

Re: Ask HN: Should I quit my job?

#124

Post by rossdavidh »

ramblerman wrote: post #116
rossdavidh wrote: post #23

This will sound odd, but hear me out: assuming that whichever way you choose, it will be wrong, which would you choose? If you quit this job to pursue your side project, and that doesn't pan out, will you forever regret having given up this job? Or, if you don't quit this job, will you forever hate your career because part of you is wondering what would have happened if you just "went for it"? Figure out which mistak…

I am obviously in the minority, but I find this terrible advice. If you suffer a lot from 'regret' perhaps this approach makes sense. But it completely sidesteps your inbuilt missile guidance system. A human being with a goal is a powerful thing. Just seeking to avoid the worst of 2 scenarios is a little sad. Unless your goal is just to seek comfort, which is fine, but then be up front about that choice.

The idea is that the correct choice is the one that you will feel good about choosing, not matter how it turns out. Plenty of people who feel good about having done a startup, even though it turned out badly. But, plenty of other people who only did it because they thought it would make them rich and successful, and for any startup there is always a good chance of that not being the case. Most startups "fail", in the sense of they don't make anyone rich and eventually get shut down. So, only choose the startup if it's what you want to do, regardless of whether or not it will succeed.

Re: Ask HN: Should I quit my job?

#125

Post by apohn »

I used to work for a well known automobile company as both an employee. I've also worked for other auto companies in as part of a consulting job. Auto companies are typically big, slow, and focused on selling a product that takes years (e.g. 3+ years for mid-model refresh, 6+ years for new car model) to take to market. Decisions are very consensus based because all decisions (even marketing) are longer term decisions.

All of that is reflected throughout auto companies. Even the latest technology such as telematics for predictive maintenance and electric charging are highly dependent on the market, suppliers, and government forces that drive infrastructure changes.

The IT org and most technical jobs exists to support that slow moving structure. If you are the person who wants to move fast and be entrepreneurial you are probably going to struggle in an auto company. Just something to keep in mind as you decide if you want to stay in a job or start something on your own.

Re: Ask HN: Should I quit my job?

#126

Post by Grustaf »

ViktorV wrote: post #121
Grustaf wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, having responsibilities like school does not turn people into slackers, the social conditioning from school etc is what makes us able to slog through hours of boring work because we know there it will lead to something good. This is one of the main reasons we have schools, to teach people discipline.

I think you misunderstand me. I'm not saying that you shouldn't have any responsibilities, but I'm saying that there should be a balance. In my country an average 16 year old's schedule only consists of "responsibilities" ( I would say that a responsibility can only be something that you choose, and not force into, so involuntary schooling can't be one, but anyway... ), and has almost 0 own time. I think the balance…

It helps your discipline to do things you don’t like, even if in some sense you are forced to. You are not strictly forced to do them of course because there is no law against slacking off in school, you just need to attend. And high school generally is not compulsory.

I don’t know where you are from, Korea perhaps? But when I was 16 I had oceans of time for mischief, parties and endless amounts of skateboarding and just slacking.

I’m not saying that people can’t change their lives, or that they have to be slaves. I am saying that school teaches people to sit down and concentrate and do something that’s maybe not very interesting and probably a bit difficult but has a reward waiting down the line in the form of good grades and graduation. Deferred gratification is the most important life skill of all.

And people can definitely change their lives, in most countries there is no outside force stopping you from doing almost anything, starting a company, begging, travelling or whatever. But most people are neither very interested nor capable of doing anything out of the ordinary. Most people just want to swim with the current. And that’s a very good thing because we couldn’t have society and civilisation if everyone was an iconoclast.

Re: Ask HN: Should I quit my job?

#127

Post by stevewodil »

bmat wrote: post #54

Similar story here. 29, had been working at a big tech company for almost 4 years. Didn’t really enjoy the work, definitely didn’t enjoy the 1 hour commute. Tried to convince my manager to let me work remotely but was rejected, so I decided to take the leap and quit* . I didn’t have a specific plan for what I wanted to do. I just knew I wanted to do some traveling, work on passion projects, and cultivate some new hob…

I always feel like I'm waiting for the "right" idea to come to me before I go all in and then quit my job, but maybe that's just a fallacy

Re: Ask HN: Should I quit my job?

#128

Post by tzs »

Kifot wrote: post #113
tzs wrote: post #100

With the current internal political tensions in Europe, and things also looking uncertain in much of the rest of the world, it might not be the best time to deplete your savings. Personally, I'd try to continue building savings while waiting either until the world gets through the current tensions relatively unscathed, of until the recovery starts if they lead to a serious economic downturn.

Do you think these tensions and uncertainty are going to affect people who work in relatively stable fields such as IT?

During the 2007 recession, a lot of places did reduce IT staff, and a lot of places that did not reduce staff stopped expanding.

The current tensions are more political than financial, it seems, so maybe if things turn bad because of them it won't have as big an effect on business. I'm just saying it is something that OP should think about before doing something that will severely deplete their savings.

Re: Ask HN: Should I quit my job?

#130

Post by kharak »

ViktorV wrote: post #43

It saddens me to death to hear words like: "To not stick to a schedule/routine once I am solo" from hyper-motivated people. It makes me hopeful to see that you're self-aware enough to mention other people's optinion as a fear factor. This kind of social conditioning from the school system / society combined with never letting people do what they really want because they have "responsibilities" from the age of 5 is wh…

I wish, for the future, that we'll be able to extend the (healthy) human life span. Imagine being able to start a new, education heavy career later in life. Heck, you are pretty much locked-in whatever you do if you're already in your 30ties.
Post reply on HN