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Comment by peacemaker | Hacker News Reader

Life is short and precious and you could die tomorrow. 7 months IS a long time if you are hating every day.

I think you're giving bad advice saying "Quit being a baby". That's the kind of advice that gets people stuck in crappy jobs their whole life being unhappy.

The OP needs to get out now before the unhappiness ruins his passion for the work and potentially his entire career.

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One really needs to consider the probability of dying tomorrow versus the potential gain of seriously shooting themselves in the foot both financially and resume-wise. Plus those 7 months aren't just gone - the OP can be preparing for his next step in the meantime. PLUS, that 35k represents time you have to spend earning elsewhere.

Resume-wise he can just not put the position on there, it's easily explained away by a break traveling/freelancing etc.

As for financially, I agree with you for the most part. I'd still rather take the hit on the money and get out ASAP, you can always earn more. The best situation would be another sign-on bonus that paid the original one off - as long as the new position was good enough to last the year.

But, if he's getting a $35k sign-on bonus he must have quite a good skillset and be earning a high salary wherever he lands. Paying it off will be unfortunate but is totally doable.

I come from another engineering field, so maybe I'm out of the loop. But I've never had a signing bonus offered, sub-six figure salaries are the norm early in your career, 6 months job searches are expected, and there is always monkey work.

How long have you been in industry? Because I'm sure it wasn't always as good as you and the OP make it sound.

15 years now and no, back when I started I wouldn't have expected a sign-on bonus or such a large salary. If you're in one of the major hubs though you can expect six figures early on, within 2-4 years depending the skillset and your negotiation abilities.

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