Ask HN: Moving on before a year is out? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Moving on before a year is out?

8 pointsanon23424 comments

I’m working as a software engineer at a small early stage startup. I’ve been working there for about 4 months, but feel bored and burnt out. I’d hoped that joining the company would reignite the enjoyment in my craft, but I’ve quickly found myself bashing against technical debt, and going home frustrated.

It’s my dream to build my own business, but right now I can’t see a clear path to that yet. I’m worried that making a switch to anything else now reflects poorly on me, but at the same time it seems wrong to continue with something I don’t enjoy.

I’m not sure if a move to a different role could bring the satisfaction I’m missing, or if it’s the desire to ‘go it alone’ that I really need to address.

Does it reflect badly to leave my role before a year is out?

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Talk to your supervisor (or theirs) first!

They've spent the time to hire and ramp you up one their processes and code. Unless you're terrible at your job, they don't want you to walk away. So tell them that you're feeling burnt out because X, Y, Z and that you want to see if there's a way to make things more satisfying for you.

It's really sad when a good engineer leaves a team without having shared their concerns ahead of time. One of the most important and satisfying roles of a manager is to help in situations like this, but they can't do that if you don't give them a chance!

I am not advocating staying in a job you hate in lieu of other options. I am however inclined to point out that startups should have technical debt and that understanding why and learning how to cope with it is a valuable skill if you want to live in the world of startups.

Technical debt is leverage...the analogy is to capital access. Kludges today allow the company to grow. The second worst case [1] is that the growth requires unkludging the code base for continued use. The best likely case is that unkludging is avoided because the whole architecture is wrong for the larger scale design necessary to handle the growth paid for with technical debt...that is even the best engineered small scale system can't handle the larger scale success brings. YAGNI.

Good luck.

[1]: The worst and most likely case is that the startup fails. The good news is that the future forgives the technical debt when that happens.

> Does it reflect badly to leave my role before a year is out?

No. I think 4 months is long enough to know whether a position is a poor fit. Resign with this reason, work your notice and move on.

The problem here I think isn't the fact that you are leaving within 12 months, this happens all the time, the problem is that your next position is likely to be the same.

There's no perfect software job. Poor practices and technical debt is everywhere. Even these big name startups will have to grapple with these problems. Most people are not motivated enough to go above and beyond to fix these problems, because it's not their company. Why would I reduce the test suite runtime to below the current 90 minutes? Why would I refactor or pay off technical debt? After all the features have been shipped. The boss is happy.

I've often felt as you do, wanting to start my own business to implement what I see is the best practices I've come across. The only thing stopping me is a lack of a good idea and that I need to make rent and take care of my wife which is making me very risk adverse.

If you're worried about leaving a startup early because it's not the right fit for you, don't. Your life, your choice. Plain and simple. Suggestion: review the employment agreement you signed to make sure you won't be penalized for leaving early. If you received a signing bonus, you may be obligated to repay all/portion of it if you leave willingly before you complete your first year.

If the concern is applying for new jobs, then that will depend on the companies you're applying to. Startups are volatile by nature; they'll be more interested in what you did during your time than how long you were there. Traditional corporations or long-standing businesses however may weigh duration more as they consider you.

Best advice to you is to be prepared to explain your reasoning for leaving, and also demonstrate that you were effective in the time you were with your current employer.

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