Ask HN: How to quit the job you hate? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: How to quit the job you hate?

16 pointspzzld19 comments

I want to quit the job I hate so much. I have been way too long on the same job (more than 10 years).

I have savings enough for 1+ year. But I am fucking afraid. What is the best strategy? Just jump out of the ship?

Should I look for another gig while being on the job? The whole idea of finding new job makes me sick. I am tired and don't look forward the job where I have to learn b/c I grew a little sick of programming in general. My current job kills the love to coding!

Ideas?

View on HN

You're burnt out. I'm in a similar situation so I decided to leave my job without any backup plan but my savings. I do have personal projects, things that I've always wanted to work on (lack of time and energy). I also plan to visit the people I appreciate in life for the next month or so.

I was working in the hottest company in the game. Landed an onsite to the 2nd hottest company in the game :-) when I was quitting. They contacted me in the first place and decided to bring me onsite without doing any phone screen. I cancelled everything last minute and didn't even show up. I was simply burnt out.

I'd say, the rule is much simpler than you think: life is short and you're unhappy. Your job is not to work for anyone. You're job in life is to make yourself happy no matter what it takes. Quitting could be the best think you could do right now. Don't be afraid. We're coders and everyone is looking for coders... do what you like!

I got this off of a post from someone else on HN:

Fuck working hard for people who don't care about you.

Fuck working hard for another dollar to spend impressing people who don't care about you.

But, when you find those things that are their own reward, then, work hard.

In general, it's easier to get a new job while you still have the old one (because potential employers usually prefer candidates who have jobs). It sounds like almost anything would be preferable to staying where you are, so why not put together your CV/resume and apply for a couple of things that look not-terrible locally. If nothing else, you'll get some interview practice and learn a bit more about what's available and what you're interested in.

I see from a comment that you're about to become a father. I moved jobs two weeks before that happened to me; as long as you're up front about needing the time off, a new employer should be fine about it. If they're not, that's a sign that you probably don't want to work for them anyway.

>The whole idea of finding new job makes me sick.

Don't look for a job, look for people you can help.

Get out of your bubble. Start attending meet-ups, workshops, conferences. The more, the better. Find out who is doing interesting work, what problems are they trying to solve. Who might need someone with your experience and skill-set. The job opportunity will find you.

Spot on.

Whilst I don't know how's the job market where you are from, 1+ year savings should be more than enough to quit without fear (if it's not then you might want to consider why). You can take a break to regain your love for coding and to think what you want to do next. If you feel restless while on the break you can take courses or do some personal projects. Once you feel more refreshed you can start looking for a job with the right mindset. Don't leave it for the last minute, though.

You can obviously look for another job right now and just swap, that would be fine, too. But consider your current state of mind, which is due to your current job being so horrible. If you interview right now you might be nervous, more focused on getting out of there than finding a job you will really enjoy and thrive in. And that might not end well.

As a disclaimer, I will say that I've been in both situations and the first went better than the second (not that the second was terrible; simply not as good as the first). What I just wrote in the paragraphs above is me looking back and rationalising both outcomes.

Whatever path you choose, good luck!

Thanks for sharing your experience!

I think that not having fun (I know this is rough simplification) is terrible. What worries me is more that I have weird sadness in the evening when I have finished my work and have not touched any side project or did some learning. I don't have any energy for learning and that makes me feel worse...

Side projects are not mandatory, don't feel bad about not doing any if you can't.

Also, not all learning or your spare time has to be related to programming. Take a hobby that takes your mind off coding completely (I suppose your baby will take care of this :)). You know what they say: "you can't miss something if you never go away". It truly helps to disconnect now and then.

An old co-worker of mine jumped ship in the way I wished I had. He had something like 16 or 17 days vacation, and he took every Friday off from September till the end of the year. He used those Fridays to look for new jobs and interviews.

First, before you leave your current job write down your plan. I see you still love coding so it should not be too difficult to find a new job

Go to meetups in your area to get a clear view of the current tech landscape, look at firms you are interested in on linkedin/github. Also, get your resume/github/portfolio updated You could also take the consultancy route and start building applications for people. These involves doing a lot of handshaking, talking and marketing. If this is your thing by all means go for it.

Life is too short to do what you hate. Either follow your dream or you'll work for someone else to build theirs. You're in control.

As cliche as all of that sounds, it is totally true. I fired a bunch of toxic clients last year and don't have savings. Screw it.

amen

If you have savings for 1+ year and have been more than 10 years on the same company, you'll probably be allowed to get a leave. You could get a 3 months, 6 months leave or whatever you feel like, to think your next movement, explore options of what you would like to do, maybe experiment with new technologies and start some side projects to see if you still like coding but you don't like your work, or if you don't like coding at all, maybe experiment with other areas of work, even do some courses. Then go back from the leave refreshed, probably with new skills and a new view of things.

By then you might have a better idea of what kind of job you would like to do, so you can start looking for another job while you still have a job (which is always good in terms of negotiating power).

I am afraid to realise that 6 month of leave will not resurrect my passion for programming. But you are right, I should do it.

One thing which brings chaos into equation is that I am going to become a father in 5 months. This brings some emotional instability in my thinking. I am planning to take leave in 4-5 months.

Some part of me still has a hope that it can be solved without quitting the job...

Ok... then I think you should consider switching jobs before being a father... otherwise you'll probably not do it for at least the first year. Also, it's great that you take 4-5 months of leave when the baby comes but don't think you'll have much time then to explore technologies, etc I know because I have a 5 month old baby...

Also, consider that if you switch jobs you probably want to tell the new employer that you plan to have parental leave in 5 months, otherwise they might opose, being a new hire...

Unless you did freelancing of course, but if you currently don't have much love for programming I don't think that is a good option.

So you should consider, with your current knowledge and skills, and not enjoying programming, if you would enjoy better maybe being a software development manager, or a technical recruiter, or technical sales or business analyst?

My advice is to be realistic about how much change you should handle all at once. You've been at this place 10 years so a job change alone would be a huge change for you, bring stress, uncertainty, doubts, regrets, etc. And you are going to be welcoming a child at the same time. This will be physically and emotionally exhausting for you and your partner.

I went through almost the exact same situation except we had twins. I had a very tempting offer on the table when my wife disclosed that she was pregnant. I ended up staying and received paid leave and was able to stabilize myself after about 10 months such that I could move on to a new job.

It depends on your circumstances, but as someone who just jumped ship with some savings... it is much less stressful to get a new job first. I'd strongly suggest getting a new job before leaving! Even if it is one where you are underpaid: a consistent paycheck is very valuable.

Thank you all for sharing your experience and thoughts. That gave me some insight.

find another job first.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com