Anyone ever left job without having another job lying around for their mental peace?
I am thinking of leaving my current job and focus on myself, getting to know myself better etc. Currently I have enough money saved for my expenses for next 6-8 months. Everyone I have asked about this say don't leave your job if you don't have another lined up, in this tech winter. I understand their view point. It aligns with what my parents think as well. Is there anyone who has had done this in the past? Do you recommend this route? Are the consequences far too severe? Does anyone have a different opinion from one stated above?
I'm in the same boat, on the verge of quitting, and will most probably take the leap next month.
Thanks for the thread. A lot of insights. It has made me confident that I'm not doing anything stupid.
Thanks man! Thought I am the only one thinking at extreme of what current multiple people are suggesting that I do.
Physical and mental health are important.
Life's a marathon, not a sprint. It's ok to allow down a little in between, or maybe take a rest. It'll help us in the long run.
The goal is to enjoy the life, and not come first by slogging the hardest.
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Doing the same here. Got tired of the shitty politics, working with people just hungry for credit. I am gonna focus on learning, and try some freelancing. Almost everyone around me is saying not to, but a break where I work on myself is better than enduring politics for some more time. One friend put it the right way, "life's too long to say thoda aur jhel lete hain". This was not a battle worth fighting for in my opinion, hence gonna figure out something better. :)
Same here! Can totally agree with you!
Just 1 thing, shouldn't it be "life's too short" instead of too long?
Depends on the perspective :)
If life's too long (given life expectancy has increased), then how long are you going to say thoda aur jhel lete hain, knowing there is no certainty that you will get to live that long. I think what my friend meant was to think long term rather than looking at the short term loss of employment/money.
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If you are not leaving just because of money.. then you can earn enough after leaving via freelance etc. peace of mind >>> money(only if you have okaish enough)
I am not leaving bcoz of money at all. Couldn't care about money. It's just an after effect and like Harvey Specter would say, represents what I do!
PricklyFax34
Stealth
a year ago
Haha Loved this comment. I did resign without an offer and when my skip manager was probing whether I wanted more money, I used this Harvey spector quote. Made my day😂
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I got laid off in Feb, and haven’t been able to find anything yet. I am going to tell both the sides.
Pros:
1. You have more time for yourself and really helps you to focus on stuff, which otherwise you wouldn’t have.
2. You can get started with that idea you were thinking of, get started working on your hobby as a career.
3. Learn lot of stuff(whichever you like).
4. Look with a totally different perspective to life.
5. You will genuinely find out who are your best friends(whom you can trust)
Cons:
1. Always have this constant fear of what might happen in the future(money does play role).
2. A lot of people will disconnect with you and avoid you.(except a very few).
3. Recruiters will negotiate a lot with you and not give you the required compensation.
4. Most of the hiring managers will take you for granted(unless you have a really strong edge).
But, personally, I do agree that life is a marathon, and there are lot of things to do in life. If you had asked this question more than a decade ago, would have probably mentioned to stay at job. There are lot of things which can be done right now in the present situation. Lot of avenues to earn money(takes time but is doable).
P.S. : You might have some days when you would feel low(I went through those).
Thanks a lot for this answer @Stillgrowing . Great points put forward! Curious to know how do relatives take the news of we not having a job? My father would clearly not be happy though, I am sure of it
You don’t need to tell your relatives. You can, however, share it with your parents, if you want. I wouldn’t recommend though. It’s unnecessary burden to your parents, unless your parents are dependent upon you for daily survival.
That being said, I did tell to my parents, as I was paying their monthly bills. So that they are prepared. My parents aren’t dependent on me, but I made it a point to pay my parents recurring bills every month ever since I started working.
One more thing, which you should definitely do is to get health insurance as well as top up(should be at least 50 lakhs).
Apart from my mom and dad, no one knows, not even my sister and in-laws. It’s not required to tell everyone.
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Yes. That too in 2021 (during covid). It was a health care startup (focusing on women’s health, menstruation, etc.) Pathetic work life balance, started at 9 am used to end up working till 2 AM sometimes. It was WFH but still very stressful. Inhumane, annoying, know-it-all, manager. Decided to just quit in 2 months - didn’t have another offer, but had the luxury to stay put with my parents given it was covid. Found something in a month’s time. So basically I was without a job for a month (however had savings worth 2-3 months in case). 30 days gave me enough of 3-4 hours a day of non-stop applying to jobs and giving interviews. I think hanging on to toxic jobs suck out the life from you. Next 30 days we’re truly reliving. But the market is different now, yes. Not enough HRs calling you back, only referrals are working from what I’ve heard.
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Yep. Mental (and physical) health over a toxic job/relationship/family always!
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human
Stealth
a year ago
I have done it twice till now. Once in 2019, and another time in 2023. I've learnt not to do it again for a long time.
Continuing or Leaving is your choice, depending upon how bad your mental health is right now, but if you choose to leave, please have something planned for your vacation months. Like a few things that you plan to focus upon when you're on leave.
I'll list down the cons of doing it here:
1. HRs become obsessed with your gap. IDK what's with them but Indian HRs don't get the concept of a mental health break. Be ready with a good explanation, and no, truth doesn't work. It has to be some boring seemingly legit reason.
2. In this market, it'd take you around 6 months to get a job. If you have 8 months of backup, you can probably have 2 months of vacation and then it's back to job hunting.
3. Fear of running out of money is real. For many people, having a regular cash flow translates to mental peace too. If you're one of those people, your break for mental peace might break your mental peace.
4. Keeping up with your job skills is a bit overwhelming after coming back as you did nothing for many months.
5. Parents worry a lot. Similar to Indian HRs, they also don't understand the concept of taking a break from work.
6. There's definitely an opportunity loss of money + you start again with 0 savings. That stings.
I don't think a < 8 months break would result in anything severe, but yes if it looms around 1 year or beyond, it gets hard to explain it to HRs.
Love the take on parents outlook. My dad was a lifer in his organisation. 38 years plus in a single org. The first time I quit my job without a backup to take a well deserved break he had a mental breakdown basically. Couldn’t fathom living without a monthly pay check. Couple of years later he is completely understanding and looks forward to our trips together during my sabbaticals.
GrimBeard75
Stealth
a year ago
Left my precious org without an offer in hand. But I had a decent runway (6+ months) and was getting incoming offers from some startups. So I was sure to land a new opportunity sooner than later. Got another offer in 1.5 months
Why did you leave your previous offer?
Also, assume you are at a juncture where you leave your current role, wait for time and then apply for another role. Do you think in this tech winter, one should do this?
GrimBeard75
Stealth
a year ago
I saw my role becoming redundant in the near future, so I left early to tell recruiters that I'm switching for "growth", this gave me some leverage in negotiations.
I'd suggest only leaving only if you are confident in your abilities and somewhat prepared for interviews. Eg. If companies are reaching out to you, that's a good indication that you'd get good offers soon.
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I had done that, frustrated of working for 18 hours a day, including weekends and holidays for more than a year. But then, I did not had EMIs like home loan, car loan, personal loan. I was married and staying on rent. My wife was also frustrated with my work schedule and she too agreed with my decision.
I resigned from my job, stayed at home for 2 weeks straight, then went for sea shore trip with my wife for a week , came back, updated my resume and was hired in first interview on day one...
All my praises will go to my wife, she stayed with me in budget hotels, homestays , travelled by public bus and all. She just wanted my time.
Now, I can't dare , because of my liabilities... But yes, a lot of people do leave jobs, but it depends on what support you have and your financial liabilities
Did just that and if money runs short planning to contribute to open source and free lancing.
If you could share, why did you do it? What was your role there and what kind of roles are you looking at?
I switched my job and the new org was not what I had expected so I decided to quit and focus on myself I had saving for 1yr and very low expenses. I was senior swe back end and I am looking in same domain java / back end . I have experience in multiple business domain CRM email servers cms systems ERP systems so I had quite a few options . Lot of open source projects are available in java so that’s a plus
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corporate_pawn
Stealth
a year ago
Didnt had another choice, org was shutdown🙂🙂
I left a very good job without having one in hand at the beginning of this year. In my head it was going to be a 3-4 month break but ended up being a 7 month break due to the market conditions. Luckily I had planned well financially and I hadn’t taken any financial decisions that tie me down (loans, cars, etc)
This was the best decision even though it was a difficult one. If you have full conviction in yourself go for it. Be patient, be wise and most importantly be absolutely clear on what you want to achieve from the break.
Also recommend reading Designing your Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans. It will really help you.
I also wrote about my break and what I learnt here -
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-do-i-work-does-matter-anuj-khanna
It’s a lengthy read but it might be very relevant for you for where you are.
If you need more help, comment here, can connect with you personally to share more :)
Whatever you decide, believe in yourself and keep working towards your reasons with or without the break
I want to take break to focus on backend engineering learning and have more peace in general than the toxic boss and the company I am in where when I look back, see shitty growth
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Wanderer
Stealth
a year ago
I have done it before (due to stress from Covid).
The work wasn’t tough but I was simply not into it and looking at Covid deaths around added significant amount of stress. It was a large MNC (top 10 Fortune 500) and they were kind too. But decided to just go and figure it out later.
I’d recommend only if you can manage finances which you can given your savings.
I see. Did the decision affect your current job prospects in any way?
Wanderer
Stealth
a year ago
Not a lot I’d say. A director at a “large MNC ride hailing app” did reject me based on this (he worked with his previous firm for 15-16 years and then joined ride hailing company)
But such people will reject anyway.
Most companies were happy because I didn’t have notice period and I got 2 offers within three weeks of starting job search.
I’m into Project Management & not a developer if job family is relevant to your situation.
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Ryan_Howard
Stealth
a year ago
Did that twice now, in 3 years of work ex. Lol.
Not so proud this time since getting a new one is hard
Yes it is, but do you still look back and say you made the right call?
Ryan_Howard
Stealth
a year ago
Oh absolutely. I quit my corporate job last year because it was very stagnating (especially since I joined during covid and it was all remote). I wanted to move into start-ups. Took a 2 month break to chill and figure things out.
I realised I wanted to try working with some start-ups before moving in full time. So I took another corporate job and was working part time with start ups too. Finally realised this year that Corporates are not for me. So I quit again. Now I am just searching for some products which excite me and I want to work on, cuz I don't want to get into a wrong start-up and rinse repeat again.
So yeah, kinda struggling right now with no job since 3 months, but I think I made the right call.
I hope it makes sense in the long run. 🤞🏻
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Yeah I did. I was promised dev but got QA, completed bond period and quit.
Consequence, well remained unemployed for almost 1 year. I won't advice it, if env is toxic then remain tone deaf and keep applying.
But since you are at workplace so just do consider your mental peace...
All the best
I need time to do backend work and then apply. Am not getting enough time right now for backend as my job sucks all the time
UpsetUnicorn
Stealth
a year ago
Is it possible to reduce the number of hours you give your current employer? If your manager asks you to finish something in a day, try and push back. Say it will take atleast 3 days. If they want it completed in one, they need to hire more people. Don't be too direct, but do try pushing back. 9 am to 2 am is way too much. And see if you can automate anything or get more efficient using tools.
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Why not take sabbatical and think what you want? This way you have a job to go back and you get leave as well.
Check your company policies
Good idea. But I am sure that I don't want to continue in this org under my manager for sure. Does it still make sense to have a sabbatical?
You have the answer manager is the issue. When you are ready to leave the job without offer you have good risk capacity then straight go to your skip manager and ask for team change if they reject you have nothing to lose as you were already resigning
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SaveBugs
Stealth
a year ago
I did. TL was an a**hole ... Next day when I told him, he was shocked that I resigned without offer in hand.
I can totally understand this shit! Do you look back and see you made the right choice? Do you have a job now?
Badbunny
Stealth
a year ago
Yes I did the same for my last organisation. I quit and got job in a months time. My old manager checked my LinkedIn profile lol. It felt good.
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Droidcon
Stealth
a year ago
I did this recently and honestly at the initial time I thought I made a mistake and because of the market situation may be I won’t get anything and it kind of broke me but that trusting on yourself and working on your goals makes you feel confident that you will eventually get a job late after some time.
Droidcon
Stealth
a year ago
Yes, I have one offer in hand. Another one is in process and still giving interviews.
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Market ko dekho, phir joh karna hai karo. Just because you have 6-8 months of expense, doesn't mean you spend it just on living, you could use it elsewhere to make you happy
@lolnevermind , I see, would want you to explain a bit more. What do you mean? Where else should we invest it? Is money really everything in life?
Just want to understand your perspective, what would you do if you were in my shoes!
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I resigned from emeritus (edtech startup) after working there for 2 weeks, in 2021 it was my campus placement i didn't have any offers and was blocked from campus placement also due to this act. But sometimes these kind of decisions can't be put down in text to justify,
As you've mentioned have arranged for expenses for the time being, just resign you're not accountable anyone else, do whatever you feel best, everything eventually works out.
Thanks! Needed to hear this. People had convinced me I was making a huge mistake
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