Been working since 2008 with no breaks. Feel exhausted. If money is not an issue, would taking a 6-12month break be a bad idea in the current market? For those who have done this, how easy/difficult was it to come back?
yes, do it. time it with upskilling of some kind during your sabbatical.
I've been my only source of income since 2012, so I gotta keep on swimming. But following so I can be jealous of everyone who has gotten to do this. đ
Iâm my only source of income too and I did it. This alone is not the reason you canât. If youâre on an H1B or have kids that makes more sense. Not saying this to shoot you down in anyway. Just saying I thought like this for a while too. Wasnât until I started prioritizing it the way I prioritized making money itself then I saw ways to cut my monthly expenses in half which extended my savings and emergency fund and I was able to pull it off with less stress than I thought it will be.
No worries, I don't take any offense! Thanks for sharing! I'm not H1B and am blessedly childfree. And your advice is good! I did actually go through my finances about four months ago and have been living off about half of my monthly salary so far this year. That was just me battening down the hatches in case of a layoff, but it's going really well and I'm not feeling deprived or sad, so I plan to maintain it indefinitely. But my thing is what happens if I actually legitimately need my emergency fund down the line and I don't have it anymore because I wanted to live the life O'Riley for six months. You just never know. It just seems like the worst possible idea to voluntarily burn through my savings because I'm tired. đ If I were in a way lower cost of living place, if the economy were better, or if I could even move home for a while, it would be a different story. But the way my anxiety is set up, there's just no way. I wouldn't sleep at night. đ
I think given the market is bad right now, it might actually be a good time for the break. That way, hopefully by the time you resume your job search a year from now, things would be on the way up.
Thatâs the part that worries me. If market doesnât improve and there are more layoffs, the come back with a gap would become harder. And Iâd feel like a fool to have quit
If OP quits now, itâll look like he was riffed
I'm thinking about a big break and then feeling the contractor market in 7 years, when my kid reaches 10 yrs old and goes to the middle school and I'll have more time on the side.
Dude, I havenât had an actual vacation since I started working 25 years ago. Have too many obligations now. Also my NW is low because I only recently joined FAANG.
You can do it but don't do nothing on your break. Have something to show for it at the end. Travel, learn new languages or frameworks, get some certifications. Or even losing weight if you have a lot to lose. Don't be lazy and have a good story to tell.
Makes complete sense.
I disagree on "learn new languages or frameworks, get some certifications" but that's cause I actually burnt myself out further stressing about making sure what I was doing during my break was vocationally minded/applicable. Just take a break! You can tell recruiters you took a career break, it's fine. Agreed with the focusing on health / fitness / travel though, read what you want, etc. you definitely need something to do.
Following too. Interesting coincidence I asked a similar question here as well, thinking about doing the same: Check out this post! "In this job market for SDE, should I take short-term disability leave? (Health & Wellness)" https://www.teamblind.com/us/s/j11omSuR
Why canât you first try to do both vacation and unpaid leave?
2 week Vacations feel too short. Helps temporarily but then exhausted soon after restarting work. I have a highly demanding job in terms of hours and stress levels. Havenât considered unpaid because I have a team reporting to me and it would be hard to keep them hanging while Iâm on leave of absence
Iâm sure your team will be fine, you need to look out for yourself. If LOA makes sense for you then do it. Plus I think you keep benefits while on leave
I did it for about 3 years. Was a little behind but had no trouble finding a job again. Just learned as I went but came up to speed quickly. Highly recommend to take a break if you feel the need Life's short... not all about $$ You will be okay.
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