Quitting my job has been the best thing I've done for my career • Hacker News Board

Re: Quitting my job has been the best thing I've done for my career

#121

Post by tmpAccount9001 » Sat, Oct 13, 2018, 5:00 AM UTC

lovelearning wrote: post #72

A "gap" seems to be almost like a crime no tech worker should dare do. I have seen otherwise rational coworkers reject resumes only for having a "gap". Most want to relax, but the same people also punish those who do just that. I thought it was a quirk of the society I live in, but from comments here, it looks like it's the norm in all countries.

It varies.

I took six months off after being fired(!) (four months truly off, ~6 weeks prepping, looking for new role and interviewing). During my time off, I traveled, got healthy after years of neglect, created a couple of mildly interesting side projects, read oodles, and generally was just a man about town.

I told recruiters in month one that I was taking some time off but that I'd love to speak to them around month four. When the time came, I still had very good choices and landed a fairly coveted position.

I did have one particular worry that I guess aligns with what you're saying. I felt that if the three or four good companies I'd hit snooze on in month one all fell through and I had the explain the six month gap after the fact rather than prior to, the onus would have been on me to prove that I hadn't just been applying everywhere for six months with no takers.

Re: Quitting my job has been the best thing I've done for my career

#122

Post by dougmwne » Sat, Oct 13, 2018, 5:09 AM UTC

vegetablepotpie wrote: post #110

dougmwne wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel like not being sure what you would do with your time if you weren't working is one of the surest signs you're really truly burnt out. For the intellectually curious, the world has an endless supply of fascinations to explore. For the civic minded, there's countless causes and people who could use your help. For the pleasure seekers, there's a rainbow of experiences left to live. And what better time then when…

I'm intrigued by your sign of burnout. I have over 100 hours of vacation time left that I need to use before 2018 ends. I've been indecisive on how to use it. I don't know if it's because I'm a workaholic, unimaginative or burnt out. I feel like not knowing what to do with free time could be a sign of any three, I don't know how you would figure out which though.

I only realized in retrospect that it was burnout. I "felt fine" at the time. I remembered being passionate about things in college but it seemed like I was just too busy for that kind of thing anymore. Sometimes I'd sit and think, "hmm, strange that nothing seems to excite me anymore, maybe that's just what getting older feels like."

I knew I felt weary, but everyone around me seemed to feel the same. I was honestly surprised when the color came back. I was almost too busy to notice it was missing.

Now that I know how my own burnout symptoms manifest, I can keep an eye on my stress and work-life balance to make sure I don't get so far gone again.

Re: Quitting my job has been the best thing I've done for my career

#123

Post by nikkwong » Sat, Oct 13, 2018, 5:18 AM UTC

txcwpalpha wrote: post #34

dunkelheit wrote: post #17

Recently quite a few articles appeared on HN about escaping the rat race for a while and taking some time off. As someone who has a little savings and who is a bit burnt out I've been toying with the idea myself quite a bit. My biggest fear is that because I have only a vague idea of what I want to do with my time, I will fritter away my sabbatical, not accomplish much and end up pretty much at the same point (but wi…

I did this, and unfortunately your fears became reality for me. Like you said, I only had a vague idea of what I wanted to do (including traveling, starting my own company, continuing education, side projects, etc). Almost 2 years into it I ended up just barely dabbling in each. I traveled for a few months, worked on some side projects, and learned some new things, but didn't really do anything "big" or traditionally…

> those same people have literally picked up their drinks and walked away.

I think it might be attitude personally. I am 26 and have been making it on my own for the last two years, and I think I'm so excited about what I've been doing and sharing it that people always seem curious enough to listen. Be able to hype up what you do! Whatever it is. That's a skill for sure.

Re: Quitting my job has been the best thing I've done for my career

#124

Post by dougmwne » Sat, Oct 13, 2018, 5:32 AM UTC

newnewpdro wrote: post #10

jhu247 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Appreciate the feedback @acconrad. I understand that I'm extremely fortunate, and I try to point that out in the introduction of my article. Like @whack commented, I'm sharing my personal experience---both the good and the bad---and all the better if there's an element to it that a reader can relate to. As for your other point, does the best thing for a career have to make it _materially_ better? For me personally, t…

The jury's still out on if this was good for your career. The title is borderline clickbait due to this word choice. I don't doubt taking a sabbatical was good for you in various ways, but your career is probably not one of them as of now. I've taken numerous lengthy sabbaticals, and find them the only way to maintain anything resembling a fair work:life balance. But I am under no delusions of them being good for my…

You both seem to be making the exact same point from different directions. Being a burnt out husk is terrible for your career and work performance. You both feel like the sabbaticals are restoring the life side of the work-life balance. Therefore taking a break is actually enhancing your career. Just like sleeping at night helps you accomplish more during the day.

Re: Quitting my job has been the best thing I've done for my career

#125

Post by kadendogthing » Sat, Oct 13, 2018, 5:39 AM UTC

09bjb wrote: post #79

lovelearning wrote: post #72

A "gap" seems to be almost like a crime no tech worker should dare do. I have seen otherwise rational coworkers reject resumes only for having a "gap". Most want to relax, but the same people also punish those who do just that. I thought it was a quirk of the society I live in, but from comments here, it looks like it's the norm in all countries.

This is the kind of mindset that discourages people from taking healthy risks. There are any number of legitimate ways to explain a gap, such as, "No, I was not actually playing video games and surfing reddit the entire time! I actually wanted to invest more time in ____. Can I share with you what I learned?" Disclaimer: my CV has often been a horrendous mess of 3-6 month "gaps" (during which time I learned many of m…

>"No, I was not actually playing video games and surfing reddit the entire time! I actually wanted to invest more time in ____. Can I share with you what I learned?"

I consider this a self-reflective question on the interviewer's part. If your interview can't sniff out the gap in their experience, then there are two possibilities.

A) The most likely one: your interview sucks and you're not as good as you think you are

B) The gap doesn't matter.

Re: Quitting my job has been the best thing I've done for my career

#126

Post by tonyedgecombe » Sat, Oct 13, 2018, 5:57 AM UTC

keeptrying wrote: post #33

dunkelheit wrote: post #17

Recently quite a few articles appeared on HN about escaping the rat race for a while and taking some time off. As someone who has a little savings and who is a bit burnt out I've been toying with the idea myself quite a bit. My biggest fear is that because I have only a vague idea of what I want to do with my time, I will fritter away my sabbatical, not accomplish much and end up pretty much at the same point (but wi…

A lot of people confuse the pursuit of entrepreneurship woth just wanting a break. They are two different things. Entrepreneurship means killing yousrefl with more work than in a day job. If you’re looking to take a break, then just do that like the OP. Take a break and do some light coding only if you want to. If you want to do entrepreneurship Then you need to cut down the risk when you are going full time. So have…

"Entrepreneurship means killing yousrefl with more work than in a day job."

It doesn't have to, a lot of the people I know started their business because they wanted to get away from that culture.

Re: Quitting my job has been the best thing I've done for my career

#127

Post by leksak » Sat, Oct 13, 2018, 6:08 AM UTC

Reading most of these comments, and the article itself, I can't help but think that the rat race is just replaced with another race as it seems imperative to work on something for a lot of you that have written here which I find curious, even though I can relate and understand it.

At the moment, career wise, om not in a position to go down in hours but that is what I'll explore in the future. A 6 hour workday, working remotely more often and/or trying to split my workday up by going to the gym during work hours. This is tough though with meetings and all that.

Re: Quitting my job has been the best thing I've done for my career

#128

Post by hex20 » Sat, Oct 13, 2018, 6:22 AM UTC

jgamman wrote: post #107

in NZ (and Aus i guess) we call this an OE (Overseas Experience) and it is incredibly common for someone in their 20's to up sticks and bugger off to the UK (and others) for several months or years. They/we aren't, for the most part, privileged - they land in London with 50 quid, buy an A-Z at the airport and doss with friends under the kitchen table till they land a job doing whatever. Save and party until summer an…

Very true. You also see it happening the other way around now, with people from Germany and the UK coming to NZ/AU to do an OE of there own.

Re: Quitting my job has been the best thing I've done for my career

#129

Post by patcon » Sat, Oct 13, 2018, 6:26 AM UTC

I've taken a couple breaks in between jobs, and I've come to realize that I have my very best work-life balance while unemployed. It's uncanny.

I work hard on my community projects, and then actually go out and socialize when I'm tired of working. Sometimes that's every night, but sometimes (if I'm feeling invigorated by a task), I will work nonstop for a week, before I need a social recharge.

Obviously, that is a single person's perspective of it, but I feel like it would be comparable if I'd been in a relationship :)

Re: Quitting my job has been the best thing I've done for my career

#130

Post by BuckRogers » Sat, Oct 13, 2018, 6:27 AM UTC

bitexploder wrote: post #111

ehnto wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not the asker, but I am always interested in how people come to be wealthy, mostly because it's almost always interesting. Even "worked at google" is interesting because I am personally from a region with no tech unicorns, so it's novel to me.

Not 1%, but it tends to be some element of luck, risk taking, and a lot of hard work. Luck can be such a huge factor. Some times a lot of all three.

I agree but would like to add to that it's true, for the generation that built the principle. Another generation may build out that initial wealth or business. Usually by gen3 or 4 it's gone. At a point unless it's massive wealth (I'm thinking billionaires), there's a clueless generation raised that has no idea how lucky they're the descendants of that initial generation that worked hard and smart during good times, and loses it.

That part is key. It's really a combo of working hard in some way during strong economic times. You can do it in a down market but it's much more difficult. Building generational wealth in the 1950s was much easier than in the 1850s or than it will be in the 2050s, for example. If this isn't true, I'd like to institute a 100% inheritance tax and see how well someone like Meghan McCain or Paris Hilton fares against the rest of us.

My credentials in this.. my family did the exact story described here. Post-WW2 American family that built out an excavating company into a multimillion dollar empire that now includes a chain of banks and other side businesses. My wife's family, same thing but in the textile industry in Latin America. We were both tossed out, because our families are full of psychopaths and horrendous behavior, and we're actually decent folk who won't murder you for a larger inheritance (yes, it's happened in our families). So we never received any assistance, in fact, far less than even a normal, loving family of meager means would give their kids. She's out of her father's will because he blames her for his divorce, a 13 year old daughter at the time of his infidelity, and I'm expecting my brother and aunt to rob my parents blind. We have our own small side businesses but I'm currently hunting for a fulltime job and my wife is a public school teacher. From what I've seen in my life so far, I've never seen money do any good for anyone outside of basic needs. Maybe in the hands of a really wise, smart individual but that's tough to find and a fool is born every minute.