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

Ask HN: Quitting Big Tech, what is it like?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

141–150 of 418 posts

Re: Ask HN: Quitting Big Tech, what is it like?

#141

Post by pmoriarty »

I burnt out decades ago. Unfortunately, I kept coming back to tech when I could half-stomach it again and desperately needed money instead of doing what I really knew I should have done, which was to make a career change to something drastically different. This is one of my greatest regrets in life.

Now I'm old, my skills are out of date because I really don't give a crap enough about tech to learn the latest buzzword technology out there, and that and the gaps in my employment during my severe burnouts make for a CV full of red flags, which means that even in this nearly ideal seller's market for people with tech skills nobody wants to hire me. I don't blame them. I wouldn't want to hire me either.

So if like me you're burnt out and feel you're really no longer suited to the tech field, it might be better for you to permanently get out sooner rather than later. Consider doing whatever it takes to make a career change to something drastically different, even if it's risky and maybe you don't know exactly what you'd rather do. Taking such a risk will be a lot easier when you're younger.

Re: Ask HN: Quitting Big Tech, what is it like?

#142

Post by ctvo »

Redoubts wrote: post #73
DVassallo wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m sure they are differences, but I doubt any high-paying big tech job is going to be low-stress. I don’t mean necessarily working long hours, but you get the kind of work where you need to be figuring out ambiguous problems, always convincing other stakeholders, dealing with some level of drama, etc. Things that require expending a lot of energy. It’s unlikely you’d be just converting Jira tasks to code at these le…

I wouldn't call that stressful, just interesting.

What would you call stressful?

Impact (on others, on myself permanently) correlates very well to stress for me.

High impact decisions cause more stress: getting a project defunded, letting go of people, critical mistakes in execution that cause the company reputation or finance damages, etc..

At the very far end are life and death decisions that impact others and the very low end day-to-day decisions that only impact you (what tasks to complete, what shoes to wear).

With the above framework, it's unlikely highly paid Googlers made low impact and thus low stress decisions.

Re: Ask HN: Quitting Big Tech, what is it like?

#143

Post by paggle »

One thing that you should be aware of is that the skills to be promoted to a high level in a FAANG are not the same skills to succeed as an entrepreneur. Sure you’re smart diligent and technically capable, but you should expect results, on average, to look like professional football players trying baseball.

Re: Ask HN: Quitting Big Tech, what is it like?

#144

Post by mantas »

sriram_malhar wrote: post #53

I quit full-time work in 2001, after being burned out in the dot com boom. I did well for myself financially after the startup I was in got bought. The phrase "well" is of course subjective, considering that no colleague of mine quit. I left a whole lot of money on the table, but never once have I regretted it. I decided that the name of the game is to optimise quality of life. That means, infrequent brutal deadlines…

I'm in somewhat opposite situation. Spent a good chunk of my 20s like that. Keeping my costs low, working more during winters (but still nowhere close to full time), spending most of the summer time riding bicycles and visiting music festivals.

Ended up doing 180 on this due to "adult life" responsibilities but I plan to turn this into 360 sooner or later.

Could I have easier time now if I would have been working more a decade ago? Probably. But if I travelled back in time, I wouldn't change anything for less than guaranteed very cushy fuck-you money.

Re: Ask HN: Quitting Big Tech, what is it like?

#145

Post by donkeyd »

ignoramous wrote: post #109
donkeyd wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's also big consultancy, which allows you to see all kinds of companies, work on different types of projects and still have a bit of consistency at your firm. It's not for everyone, but if you value some consistency, decent pay and working for different types of projects and companies, it's definitely worth checking it out. It's not the type of job to find a 'mission' though, usually.

I've seen consulting being suggested freq as a viable gig to support yourself when you run out of money to pay the bills. How does this work? Register on Upwork or fiverr? What if your capabilities as a consultant are inadequate? What if you struggle more than you actually did at a full time job? How do you position yourself for the gig?

I wrote 'big consulting', because there are many large consultancy firms that would be happy to hire anyone with FAANG experience. Capgemini, Accenture, Deloitte, PWC, etc. Many of them work with companies that are being disrupted and are trying to stay relevant. This creates interesting opportunities.

Re: Ask HN: Quitting Big Tech, what is it like?

#146

Post by alexgmcm »

taneq wrote: post #100
OnlineGladiator wrote: post #8

> First, what is the environment like for exiting high-level former-FANG employees? For most employers, it will be a positive. There may be a handful of very small startups that see it as a negative, but the reality is a very small startup is so different from a giant tech firm that the hiring team is probably correct in assuming you've never had to do something incredibly arduous without enormous support (I once had…

> (I once had to spend 6 months reverse engineering a video output because our customer refused to tell us what it was [...] so I then had to build a fucking circuit to decode it). This sounds like fun, tbh. Maybe I just have a weird sense of fun. > it's not going to be anything like a giant tech firm, where you don't realize they actually do 99% of the job for you 100% true. I've gained a huge appreciation of all of…

It'd be fun as a side project - with tough deadlines in a start-up and having to continually explain why it's still not finished this sprint... not so much.

Re: Ask HN: Quitting Big Tech, what is it like?

#147

Post by JDiculous »

I never worked at a FAANG and have way less experience then you, but here's my 2 cents for whatever it's worth.

If I were in your shoes making a "ridiculous" compensation, then I'd calculate how many more years you'd have to work to get to FIRE (financial independence). If you're only 2-5 years out, I'd consider just sticking it out. As far as I'm aware, nowhere outside of the FAANG pays anywhere close to $500k comp. I'm guessing most startups generally don't pay more than $250-300k, which is like a 50% paycut meaning you'll have to work at least twice as long to retire.

At the same time, life is too short to be wasting it doing things you don't enjoy and being bored to tears. Just be careful of "grass is always greener" syndrome / FOMO. You might find startups to be way more work and way more demanding, and then regret having taken a steep paycut to give up a cushy job.

Or maybe you'll find yourself working on projects you're much more passionate about, start your own company that goes on to be successful, and be both personally and financially better off. It's hard to say as everyone's experience will be different.

I'd seriously consider the sabbatical route, and definitely wouldn't recommend quitting without a plan. The beauty of making so much money is that you can afford to hire people for your projects which you'll be doing anyways as a founder, and if things fail it doesn't matter because it's play money.

Re: Ask HN: Quitting Big Tech, what is it like?

#148

Post by sriram_malhar »

rhlsthrm wrote: post #139
sriram_malhar wrote: post #53

I quit full-time work in 2001, after being burned out in the dot com boom. I did well for myself financially after the startup I was in got bought. The phrase "well" is of course subjective, considering that no colleague of mine quit. I left a whole lot of money on the table, but never once have I regretted it. I decided that the name of the game is to optimise quality of life. That means, infrequent brutal deadlines…

Are you a consultant then? What type of projects do you do and how do you find clients? This is something I'd love to do once my current gig is done.

I consult, I teach (distributed systems) at a university, I sit on a few technical advisory boards for a few companies. I don't really go out of my way to find clients; word gets around and I get referrals. If the problem interests me, I'm happy to sit with the potential client and give pointers and advice (for no charge) even if I don't want to take that project (cf. rule 1 -- never pack my calendar). It is a win-win.

I've also gone and worked for a postdoc salary (at Berkeley, on the Bloom language) because the project was so interesting. Once you own a home outright, and health insurance is taken care of, the other expenses are completely manageable. I don't need to earn a lot to lead a rich life.

Re: Ask HN: Quitting Big Tech, what is it like?

#149

Post by nvarsj »

These kind of posts keep making me think I should go work for a FAANG so I can actually retire one day. Anyways, as someone on the other side, who has never worked for or applied to FAANG, I have a few reactions.

First, your salary is absolutely ridiculous. I know hard working people who have built their own businesses with blood and sweat, and they still don't make as much as a slacker engineer at FAANG. So I'd say try not to take it for granted - you will find it difficult to even make a fraction of your comp if you leave FAANG.

Second, in my experience working with ex-FAANG - these engineers, while they all tend to be very smart, tend to be borderline junior engineers in the real world. They simply don't know how to build or operate something without the luxury of the mature tooling that exists at FAANG. You may be in for a reality shock when you leave the FAANG bubble. On the other hand it could be a great challenge if you're bored, and will broaden your engineering experience greatly.

If I was in your position, I'd look into FIRE and then you can just relax and do whatever you want without worrying about finances.

Re: Ask HN: Quitting Big Tech, what is it like?

#150

Post by 72deluxe »

pmoriarty wrote: post #141

I burnt out decades ago. Unfortunately, I kept coming back to tech when I could half-stomach it again and desperately needed money instead of doing what I really knew I should have done, which was to make a career change to something drastically different. This is one of my greatest regrets in life. Now I'm old, my skills are out of date because I really don't give a crap enough about tech to learn the latest buzzwor…

That's a shame, what would you have done instead?

Also, at what age cut-off would you consider it being easier than being labelled "old" ?

Post reply on HN