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

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

#81

Post by 09bjb »

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…

As someone who has "taken a lot of time off" to spend time _on_ the things I think are important, may I suggest answering the work question with "I'm currently working on _____" or "Right now I'm spending a lot of time on _____". There are a hundred ways to direct the conversation somewhere productive and fun, but "I don't currently work anywhere and am taking some time off" does sound like an embarrassed euphemism for "unemployed." Don't be embarrassed.

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

#82

Post by 09bjb »

dominotw wrote: post #69
txcwpalpha wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> "I don't currently work anywhere and am taking some time off", those same people have literally picked up their drinks and walked away. Wow. Really. Fuck them. Whats so great about talking to ppl with office job.

Seriously. What a great filter for people you wouldn't want to grow close to anyway. "If we can't talk about corporate servitude, why talk at all?"

/s, hilarious.

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

#83

Post by bradneuberg »

I've been in the industry nearly 20 years and I always take breaks between jobs. I've worked for startups, Google, Dropbox, non-profits, etc. Between jobs I've pursued personal growth, traveled extensively, re-tooled my CS skill sets in new directions, gotten healthy, done extensive open source work, and more. I highly recommend it to others in the industry if you have the ability to do so; it's only helped my personal and professional career not hurt it.

Live your own life and don't let others tell you how you're supposed to exist.

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

#84

Post by 09bjb »

Just came here to say that I think protecting your CV at all costs from any kind of "gap" is some of the most overrated career advice out there. Take risks, show some self-direction and self-respect. Companies and colleagues will help you, but only you can steer the ship of your career trajectory. Follow the currents underneath you at your own risk.

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

#85

Post by txcwpalpha »

colanderman wrote: post #68
txcwpalpha wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's funny you ask that, because I was just in the middle of writing an addendum to my comment about how people will react to observations I have about my sabbatical due to my "privilege", and "how dare you complain about being financially secure", etc. It's interesting to see just how mean/jealous some people get when they hear that I'm able to financially survive without a current source of income. Like the author…

Even financial peers may nonetheless view your position as privileged, because they may not be able to give up whatever it is you did to be able to leave their job. Perhaps they are burdened with debt, or have a family to support, or may simply lead an expensive lifestyle that is not socially tenable for them to curtail. It could even just be that their partner – or potential partners if they are unattached – would b…

Your point is well taken, but when I mentioned people that "I know for a fact are better off financially", I was taking all of those things (debt, family, lifestyle) into account. Again, I'm sure for some interactions, those things apply, but I've had similar interactions with people that have no debt and have no family to support (and in fact, actually receive monetary support from their family/parents).

>To put it another way – who wouldn't take a two year sabbatical if they could?

It seems a lot of people, actually. Again, I can't speak for everyone, but even many of my close friends, who I know a lot about their financial situations and have actually had this conversation with, have even said that they could take time off just as I did and have no financial issues at all, but still would not do it because they feel too pressured by societal expectations to always have a job.

>I also don't think it's necessarily a judgement of privilege. Consider the reverse scenario: a party of people enjoying their sabbaticals, and one person with a desk job. No-one's going to hold a conversation for long with that person, simply because their day-to-day experiences are not relatable. The sabbatical crowd will want to talk about long-term travel, how to stave off boredom, and the interesting startup ideas they're working on. No-one wants to hear this one guy's stories about scrum drama, getting a promotion, and taking their kids to the recent company outing. His stories may be positive or negative, boring or interesting, but no-one else can commiserate with their own current experience. For anything topical you're left with sports and the weather.

There is far more to talk about than just sports/weather and work-related stuff. Even when I was employed, most of my friend group was not in the same industry and we were still able to have lengthy conversations even though most of the group didn't even know what "scrum" is, or never had to worry about a promotion, or never considered startups.

My experience has been that the topics of conversation or ability to commiserate isn't the issue. I've been in situations where I have had lengthy, wonderful conversations with a person where we clearly connect and can relate to each other, but as soon as I drop the "I am currently unemployed" bomb, their entire attitude toward me will change for the worse. (FWIW, I've also been in situations where their attitude has changed for the better, but I find those to be rarer)

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

#86

Post by adrianmonk »

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…

About accomplishment, maybe the thing you wanted out of escaping the rat race was to take a break from feeling like you constantly did have to accomplish something.

As long as there isn't something seriously wrong (such as depression that leads to inability to enjoy pursuits), maybe that is OK. It could be important to be able to accept that you don't always have to accomplish something, and that your life doesn't have to be about maximizing how much you can accomplish. (Which is a different thing than saying it's OK to never accomplish anything or OK to consistently accomplish very little.) You don't recover from burnout or whatever else by driving yourself crazy with worry and guilt over how you aren't living up to some standard.

About the weird reactions, I've been through that after making a similar choice, and I've found that with some people, they are just not even slightly open-minded about it and they are going to judge you instantly. You can't do much about those people.

But with other people, their reaction will depend on how you present it to them. You've just told them you're doing something far outside the social norm, and they're going to be thrown for a loop and wondering why and how to understand it. They don't know if you're a lazy, broke, aimless loser or a person who has a plan and is doing this for some kind of purpose and real benefit to making their life better overall. You're going to get a whole different reaction depending on whether you say "Uhh... so yeah, I'm not working anywhere right now" or "I was fortunate enough to be in a good place financially, and I really wanted to take a year off, so I am". The second one signals that you're in charge, you're content with what you're doing, and your successful enough to give yourself the opportunity.

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

#87

Post by txcwpalpha »

dominotw wrote: post #69
txcwpalpha wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> "I don't currently work anywhere and am taking some time off", those same people have literally picked up their drinks and walked away. Wow. Really. Fuck them. Whats so great about talking to ppl with office job.

I thought the same thing! And I'm tempted to say that if that was their reaction, I probably wouldn't get along with those people very well anyway. Still, it was very jarring when it happened, because it was clear that it was my statement of unemployment that turned them away.

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

#88

Post by sizzle »

Cursuviam wrote: post #46

I've been treating my sabbatical time post graduation as basically summer vacation and honestly, it's been pretty nice. For the past 4 years, I've been researching, in school, or working an internship, so I haven't had a period of time to just be carefree for quite sometime. I'm very happy right now, but mostly that's because I have a roommate who's unemployed right now, so most of the time I'm not alone in the house…

1%'er you say? You've piqued my interest, mind sharing what your family did to get there?

Can anyone guess how many 1%'ers are on HN?

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

#89

Post by burlesona »

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.

I haven’t found this to be true. All I’ve seen is that people ask “what were you up to” and if you say “I wanted to take a sabattical and now I’m fully recharged and really excited to get back to work,” people’s reaction is “wow that’s awesome!” And it’s not a knock against you.

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

#90

Post by Ancalagon »

txcwpalpha wrote: post #55
stephengillie wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because these are all the excuses people give when they were fired and couldn't find another job. Especially after 2 years, when the unemployed person has likely given up on the search. But seriously, if you enjoyed the job so much, why leave? Why not just take a quick vacation and keep enjoying the job?

>Because these are all the excuses people give when they were fired and couldn't find another job. Especially after 2 years, when the unemployed person has likely given up on the search. Yea, I'm aware of that, and I don't necessarily blame the recruiters for that, but it does suck for me. >But seriously, if you enjoyed the job so much, why leave? Why not just take a quick vacation and keep enjoying the job? I didn't…

Honestly sounds like Amazon.
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