BubblyRaccoon

I am very confused and lost. Planning to quit my job without an offer in hand. Need suggestions.

Hello good folks of grapevine, I am very confused with my situation right now. I am currently working at a consumer tech unicorn in a strategy role but really burnt out with the working environment. I have no clarity on my roles and responsibilities which keeps changing every week. I am not learning much either. I am planning to quit without any offer in hand (notice period is 2 months, I have enough to survive 5-6 months). I am an IIT-IIM graduate (old ones). Total YOE ~ 4.5 years across strategy consulting, project management and strategy at current startup. Please suggest. Folks who have quit without any offer in hand, how did it work out for you?

21mo ago

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QuirkyPotato

Stealth21mo

Hey @ShowySpank82. I answered a similar query a while back, so just posting it here.

Having taken 3 such career breaks in my 10 years of work experience, with the most recent one being 6 months back, I feel it has worked out for me every time. Each break was for a different reason, but i ended up relaxing, unwinding, upskilling and making better jumps in career. I don't regret any of the breaks I took.

But as advised by others, keep a few things in mind.

Have a good runway ( 1 year min) so that you don't get pressured into taking the next available offer. Have the leverage to walk away from an offer if it doesn't match your expectations.
There is an oversupply in the market currently so you might not get lot of good inbound offers in the near future. But referrals are still decent. So having a good network will make it easier.
Don't tie your self worth to your occupation. You should be okay to not have any income, and comments from family/friends/mohalla uncles and aunty's shouldn't bother you or make you feel worthless. Have absolute clarity on why you are taking a break.
Make sure you have a plan for the break. You don't need to plan out every single day, but broadly you need to have clarity on how long will you take time to unwind, travel, chill out? By when approx you will start any upskilling program? What kind of upskilling you would want to do? If you don't do this, there is a high chance that you will end up not utilising your break properly, which will bother you towards the end of your break ( was guilty of this in my first break of 9 months)

Modern day jobs are mentally exhausting. We deserve to take breaks to recharge ourselves. Career is a marathon not a sprint.

FluffyTaco

Stealth21mo

Or.. career is a sprint. Run it and then retire early. :)

SleepyDonut

Viewo21mo

Unfortunately there is only one Usain bolt in every race. (To retire early)

WigglyBanana

Stealth21mo

Hey @ShowySpank82

I’d quit the first startup I was at, without an offer at hand. My reason was culture as well as business fundamentals were very off. Ultimately, things worked out well.

I’m not sure about your savings, but honestly, with that pedigree there are very limited downsides to quitting - it’s very hard to fail, you only limit how successful you would be.

That said, this might be a difficult market, and given your runway, most ideally you can start applying to get some things going and then quit. I’ve also found that once you start applying and interviewing, it gives you lesser BT at work, because you know there is an alternate path you’re carving for yourself

Bunch of mixed stuff, but just laying out there.

All the best!