I currently have a WFH job with lot of freedom and very little structure. My job is stress free with 20-30hrs per week average. Outside of joining meetings, i keep my own hours and as long as I delivery some work I am left alone. I live in the south with $153k TC which affords me a pretty comfortably life while saving around $40k a year. I also have a pretty great support structure here with a big circle of friends, family, house etc and a very relaxed, familiar and comfortable life. But I turned 30 this year and I have this nagging feeling that I am not living up to my potential and I should be out in CA/NYC/Seattle working for a FAANG company or startup doing challenging work and making that sweet TC gains. I feel like my life has gotten stagnant and I could use a major change like moving to the other side of the country. My job is interesting on paper, but boring day to day; lot of that has to do with working from home, which leads to very little interaction or partnership with coworkers. I am definitely not learning new skills and I am not motivated enough by my job to learn new stuff even tho I have plenty of free time for it. And the absolute lack of management and structure makes it so easy for me to do bare minimum and still look like a great employee. I am terrified about leaving all this behind to potentially working 60+ hr weeks, living in a tiny apartment in a new city with no friends or support structure and just regretting my decision if I leave this “dream” position just because I’m bored or whatever. But on other hand, what if I just waste 3-5yrs at this job cashing in the easy checks while my skill set deteriorates and I solidify bad habits that basically ruin rest of my career? Anyone been in a similar situation or could maybe give me an outsider perspective on this? Am I being an idiot by trying to make my job/life harder?
There’s more to life than your career. You work so you can earn money to support your life. Some of the happiest people I met were those who spent their careers at Fortune 100 companies, coasting in 30 hour work weeks, 100%+ 401k matches, and generous vacation days living in low COL locations. All owned homes, drove sports cars and were millionaires by the time they retired because of house/401k while have lived a fulfilling life spent with their spouse and friends.
You're making $150,000 wasting your life on something you don't enjoy. Your twenties and thirties are the prime of your life. Why the fuck are you not here in NYC or SFO working with the best people on this Earth for a common cause? Salaries without equity are just the ransom a company pays you to chase someone else's dream.
Because there’s more to life than work? Because there’s hobbies and passions to pursue, and friends, spouses, and family to spend time with. Not everyone wants to spend the prime of their lives working 60 hours a week. OP has a large circle of friends, family, and is comfortable while saving $40,000 a year. Can you say that about yourself?
I don't work 60 hours a week - maybe 36 hours, good friends/a healthy family in Europe, and very well compensated. My money works for me. Americans could learn a lot from a healthy mindset and working smarter, not harder.
It might be harder than you think to land a job at FANG if you’re admitting to not having learned much for a while. It also depends on what you mean by living up to your potential. Personally, your arrangement sounds amazing and if I had it, I wouldn’t bother with FANG and would rather take that $40k and all my free time and start something myself, tech related or not. I would take 150k at 20-30 hrs a week over 300k at 50-60 hrs a week, all day.
Leave on good terms and try out something new, then come back if you don’t like it
Seriously, if i were you i would just move outside of the country. Move to Phillipines or somewhere like that and you're literally the king.
I'd give myself five years. Let's try it, and if I wouldn't like it, I'd go back to comfy southern style.
That's what I'd want to do when I'm 40 or older. I came to SF in my early 30s and my only regret was not coming here sooner.
Try a part time contract job first.
If its because remote work is boring you, I can understand since there's no social interaction, so quit it once you get offers If it's because of prestige, uninstall blind
You got one life. You do you boo. What will you regret more when you are 70 - having moved and finding out that FANG is not for you, or never moving and not finding out? If I were you I wouldn’t quit right away. Use the flexibility at your current job and the free time to prepare for interviews, get multiple offers with high TC and give FANG life a good two years.