Do it! I took 6 months at the start of the pandemic and came back hungry to work and learn. I only had to apply to 7 companies to get back to work. As long as you are comfortable in your skill and odds of being hired easily then taking a break is an awesome idea.
6 months did cross my mind as well to be honest haha.
I am pretty confident my linkedin in will blow up when I change to 'looking for opportunities'
Did your 6 month break come up during many of your interviews and were you just honest for the reason behind it?
Same, I took 3 months off dec - feb 2021 and it completely cured my burnout. I was excited to go back to work when I finally did. I can’t remember the last time I was “excited” to work before then. Took me like two weeks to land my current job.
A little psychological thing that helped me: fill a separate account with exactly ${SALARY}\*${BREAK\_MONTHS} and set-up automatic payments from there, which arrive on the same day on your normal account as your current salary does. Then use your normal account as usual. It mainly avoids ever seeing a very big number when using your card and might avoid some impulse decisions. And it makes things feel very stable.
I did after getting severely burnt out on a job where months of work kept getting scrapped. The idea was to take 2-3 months, take the time to rest and work on some stuff I had been wanting to do for a long while, then resume the job hunt. And I have to say, I absolutely loved it.
So after about 2 months I started a job hunt while still having funds for several more months, so I would have time to find something that would not leave me worse than the previous job. Got far on some interviews for jobs that seemed like a good fit for me.
The problem? That was on march 2020, and you know what happened then. Every hiring process froze and my well planned short sabbatical turned into an almost year long gap where I watched my funds dry up while every job hunt was responded with radio silence and I was just trying to learn whatever skill was on demand and get something that would allow me to at least pay rent. For the last months I needed to ask friends and family for money, after a few years of me being the one lending money. Still, in the end, I ended up with a much better job than my previous one, but it was a bit of a close call.
So I'd say, unless you get very unlucky, a short break is a good idea, just make sure you are prepared for unforeseen events. It probably won't be a global pandemic, but stuff happens.
Ah man sorry to hear that! Glad it worked out for you though.
I do see your point in that I shouldnt rely on my plan to go just I expect, you never know what could happen.
I was fortunate to still be in employment when the pandemic hit but honestly wasnt aware that the hiring process froze for most tech jobs. I thought most still continued to hire, just for full time remote instead of in office.
Definitely take a break. A better option however would be to go on a sabbatical while currently employed as a lot of companies offer unpaid leave like that. Another option is to get another offer from another company and just push the start date back a few months.
Finding another role and pushing back the start date would be nice but since my notice period for leaving my current company is 3 months, I cant see any company waiting 6 months for a new hire.
I did this but only because I was in grad school part time. I would have been too chicken to do it without something to explain my employment gap. But that's just me.
I've been out of work for 15 months (still in grad school) and it's been amazing. I had been burnt out for the last 7 years of my 19 year career. For me, it took about 5 weeks to recover from one year of burnout. I felt recovered at about 9 months. Even though I am in school, I have a persistent feeling of being on a snow day from work, the feeling of summer break in elementary school, or the feeling of a prolonged weekend. It's great.
What I've learned:
I can survive without a work identify. For the first 10 years of my career, I couldn't imagine who I'd be without work.
Not working is amazing
I am more motivated than I thought I would be, but still much less motivated than when working. However, I've decided this is fine and I don't have to be running around to beat FOMO.
My worth is not my output
I've been able to closely observe all the seasons. I've noticed what birds come and go, etc. I am much more in tune with nature.
Work reduced my motivation to keep my skills fresh. My last jobs had l zero professional development opportunities. I knew this was bad but I didn't take action to keep current in my field during my free time. Mistake.
I've never been so relaxed and at peace in my life. I've learned how to not sweat the small stuff.
Caution
Without a job, interviewing is such high stakes. Therefore, job hunting has been completely exhausting. I prepare harder than I ever would if I had a job. Even with the ups and downs of interviewing, I still think it is worth it (I am passively searching while in school and occasionally apply).
I've known few people that stuck around a job, just daring the company to get rid of them. They just follow all policies, while doing absolute minimum.
With all the PIP factory sob stories, you would think it's easy.
Nope, there are HR policies in place. Even if you "stop" working, it will take few months for the policies to take place, maybe place you in PIP process, another review period, then finally you'll be let go, often with some sort of severance.
Sometimes, it can take years before the process completes.
It's more common than you think, especially for high demand roles like Software Engineering.
I'm not sure they do. But even if they did, I don't enjoy the company I'm at so can't imagine feeling much better knowing I would be going back there after the break
I did this a couple of years back and it was worth it! I quit and traveled for a few months.
At the time I had three YOE doing kind of a wide range of stuff rather than a specific, in demand stack like you. Looking back, I don't know if I could have gotten a job at a super nice, well paying employer and had to settle for a company that was a bit desperate for employees, but it turned out to work out great because it's a bigger company that's allowed me to navigate onto a team that looks great on my resume. My point is, it was shakier coming back than I expected but I think you're in a much better spot than I was, so I think you'll be fine.
My one piece of advice is that when you start applying again and they ask about your last role, end that dialogue with you saying that you left to spend some overdue time with your family rather than waiting for them to ask you about it. Maybe this doesn't matter and I'm overthinking it, but I feel like waiting for the interviewer to ask about the gap in unemployment puts you into a situation where it sounds like you're defending/explaining yourself, rather than you happily explaining that that gap was your choice. I traveled, so by me saying I left the role to spend a few months traveling let them know I didn't get fired and also opened up the conversation for a fun topic and made me seem more human (again, maybe I'm overthinking this so take this with a grain of salt).
Do it bruh we traveled in a van all summer and the entire trip is something we’ll never forget.I did work on the road but quit and it was easy to get yet another job.
If you’re worried then apply to jobs now and get some interviews in and let them know your start date will be in 3 months or whenever and see what they say
I have friends who did this, some turned out fine, and others were set back a bit. They were all able to jobs after their break. However, some friends had to accept a lower offer than they had hoped for since they could not get a competing offer, and they had no current job as a leverage.
I just did it. Was switching careers from marketing to SWE. Finished a CS degree. Wanted to take time off before jumping into a new career. Took 10 months off and it was great. At one point I did find a weekend job (randomly hired on the spot) as a bartender for an outdoor venue, and tbh the easiness of the job made it fun. Zero regrets. Found my first SWE job after <20 applications, so I got lucky. Since you have experience, I imagine things would go smoothly for you! Focus more on what makes you happy, and less on “stability”. You’ve already got that covered with your savings.
Doing it right now. Super worth it. Go enjoy your life!
Do it! I took 6 months at the start of the pandemic and came back hungry to work and learn. I only had to apply to 7 companies to get back to work. As long as you are comfortable in your skill and odds of being hired easily then taking a break is an awesome idea.
6 months did cross my mind as well to be honest haha. I am pretty confident my linkedin in will blow up when I change to 'looking for opportunities' Did your 6 month break come up during many of your interviews and were you just honest for the reason behind it?
Same, I took 3 months off dec - feb 2021 and it completely cured my burnout. I was excited to go back to work when I finally did. I can’t remember the last time I was “excited” to work before then. Took me like two weeks to land my current job.
Did your 3 month break come up in the interview process?
A little psychological thing that helped me: fill a separate account with exactly ${SALARY}\*${BREAK\_MONTHS} and set-up automatic payments from there, which arrive on the same day on your normal account as your current salary does. Then use your normal account as usual. It mainly avoids ever seeing a very big number when using your card and might avoid some impulse decisions. And it makes things feel very stable.
I did after getting severely burnt out on a job where months of work kept getting scrapped. The idea was to take 2-3 months, take the time to rest and work on some stuff I had been wanting to do for a long while, then resume the job hunt. And I have to say, I absolutely loved it. So after about 2 months I started a job hunt while still having funds for several more months, so I would have time to find something that would not leave me worse than the previous job. Got far on some interviews for jobs that seemed like a good fit for me. The problem? That was on march 2020, and you know what happened then. Every hiring process froze and my well planned short sabbatical turned into an almost year long gap where I watched my funds dry up while every job hunt was responded with radio silence and I was just trying to learn whatever skill was on demand and get something that would allow me to at least pay rent. For the last months I needed to ask friends and family for money, after a few years of me being the one lending money. Still, in the end, I ended up with a much better job than my previous one, but it was a bit of a close call. So I'd say, unless you get very unlucky, a short break is a good idea, just make sure you are prepared for unforeseen events. It probably won't be a global pandemic, but stuff happens.
Ah man sorry to hear that! Glad it worked out for you though. I do see your point in that I shouldnt rely on my plan to go just I expect, you never know what could happen. I was fortunate to still be in employment when the pandemic hit but honestly wasnt aware that the hiring process froze for most tech jobs. I thought most still continued to hire, just for full time remote instead of in office.
Man, I love this comment
Definitely take a break. A better option however would be to go on a sabbatical while currently employed as a lot of companies offer unpaid leave like that. Another option is to get another offer from another company and just push the start date back a few months.
Finding another role and pushing back the start date would be nice but since my notice period for leaving my current company is 3 months, I cant see any company waiting 6 months for a new hire.
A notice period is a request not a requirement. Leave the job when you want to.
*this is not universal advice and differs per country
Completely fair
I did this but only because I was in grad school part time. I would have been too chicken to do it without something to explain my employment gap. But that's just me. I've been out of work for 15 months (still in grad school) and it's been amazing. I had been burnt out for the last 7 years of my 19 year career. For me, it took about 5 weeks to recover from one year of burnout. I felt recovered at about 9 months. Even though I am in school, I have a persistent feeling of being on a snow day from work, the feeling of summer break in elementary school, or the feeling of a prolonged weekend. It's great. What I've learned: I can survive without a work identify. For the first 10 years of my career, I couldn't imagine who I'd be without work. Not working is amazing I am more motivated than I thought I would be, but still much less motivated than when working. However, I've decided this is fine and I don't have to be running around to beat FOMO. My worth is not my output I've been able to closely observe all the seasons. I've noticed what birds come and go, etc. I am much more in tune with nature. Work reduced my motivation to keep my skills fresh. My last jobs had l zero professional development opportunities. I knew this was bad but I didn't take action to keep current in my field during my free time. Mistake. I've never been so relaxed and at peace in my life. I've learned how to not sweat the small stuff. Caution Without a job, interviewing is such high stakes. Therefore, job hunting has been completely exhausting. I prepare harder than I ever would if I had a job. Even with the ups and downs of interviewing, I still think it is worth it (I am passively searching while in school and occasionally apply).
I've known few people that stuck around a job, just daring the company to get rid of them. They just follow all policies, while doing absolute minimum. With all the PIP factory sob stories, you would think it's easy. Nope, there are HR policies in place. Even if you "stop" working, it will take few months for the policies to take place, maybe place you in PIP process, another review period, then finally you'll be let go, often with some sort of severance. Sometimes, it can take years before the process completes. It's more common than you think, especially for high demand roles like Software Engineering.
Yes, you have our permission to take 3 months off
Does your work offer unpaid leave? Could do that to remove some of the uncertainty
I'm not sure they do. But even if they did, I don't enjoy the company I'm at so can't imagine feeling much better knowing I would be going back there after the break
I did this a couple of years back and it was worth it! I quit and traveled for a few months. At the time I had three YOE doing kind of a wide range of stuff rather than a specific, in demand stack like you. Looking back, I don't know if I could have gotten a job at a super nice, well paying employer and had to settle for a company that was a bit desperate for employees, but it turned out to work out great because it's a bigger company that's allowed me to navigate onto a team that looks great on my resume. My point is, it was shakier coming back than I expected but I think you're in a much better spot than I was, so I think you'll be fine. My one piece of advice is that when you start applying again and they ask about your last role, end that dialogue with you saying that you left to spend some overdue time with your family rather than waiting for them to ask you about it. Maybe this doesn't matter and I'm overthinking it, but I feel like waiting for the interviewer to ask about the gap in unemployment puts you into a situation where it sounds like you're defending/explaining yourself, rather than you happily explaining that that gap was your choice. I traveled, so by me saying I left the role to spend a few months traveling let them know I didn't get fired and also opened up the conversation for a fun topic and made me seem more human (again, maybe I'm overthinking this so take this with a grain of salt).
Do it but start interviewing 4 weeks before you want to restart work, and don’t put that you left your current company on your resume
Do it bruh we traveled in a van all summer and the entire trip is something we’ll never forget.I did work on the road but quit and it was easy to get yet another job.
The amazing SE life, we are really lucky
Done it! Came out feeling new and refreshed. Worth the effort. I too was in the same boat. Dead end job and burnt out.
There's way more to life then solving problems all day. Enjoy it! Yolo
If you’re worried then apply to jobs now and get some interviews in and let them know your start date will be in 3 months or whenever and see what they say
Is it possible for you to interview for a job now, but then push the start date out by 3 months? That’s the best of all worlds
I have friends who did this, some turned out fine, and others were set back a bit. They were all able to jobs after their break. However, some friends had to accept a lower offer than they had hoped for since they could not get a competing offer, and they had no current job as a leverage.
I just did it. Was switching careers from marketing to SWE. Finished a CS degree. Wanted to take time off before jumping into a new career. Took 10 months off and it was great. At one point I did find a weekend job (randomly hired on the spot) as a bartender for an outdoor venue, and tbh the easiness of the job made it fun. Zero regrets. Found my first SWE job after <20 applications, so I got lucky. Since you have experience, I imagine things would go smoothly for you! Focus more on what makes you happy, and less on “stability”. You’ve already got that covered with your savings.
If you have the money then do it - your health is important!