Is 5yoe too early to take 1 year sabbatical?
Have been SWE for 5 years, the last 2+ years at Amazon. I recently turned 30 and thinking of kids and settling down in a few years, so I want to experience more of life before I no longer have the opportunity. I am thinking to take a 1 year gap away from work, where I do nothing work related. No upskilling, no coding projects, no interview prep. This is non-negotiable because my goal is to completely dissociate from work and get back in touch with my old self. SWE work has made me feel like a shell of myself. At the end of the year I will begin interview prep again and start looking for another job. However I am worried I will not be able to re-enter the market given how many layoffs are going on. My concern is with 5 yoe they will consider me too early career to take a risk on, after a year of no work. I would be ok not getting into top companies like FAANG but would still want to be able to clear F500 interviews. I would be spending the year doing productive things I want, to expand my horizons. Mainly traveling all over the world to places I have always wanted to see. I might take a few shots at business + side hustle ideas that I don't have time to work on with a full time job. But probably nothing overlapping with tech or SWE. Financially, I have enough saved to last me the entire year as long as I live frugally (which Amazon have taught me well). I am only concerned about re-entering the SWE job market after. So, it 5yoe too early to take sabbatical? YOE 5 TC 180k
I quit Amazon at only 2 Yoe and did nothing. They took me back a year later with double the TC. Obviously the market is nowhere as good now but hopefully it will improve by next year. If you have a good reputation in your org and with manager it helps. I joined a totally new team though.
did you still have to do a full loop?
yeah if it was the 2021 job market I would feel no doubts to take a career break. I think the market will be a lot better in a year but who really knows. My reputation at Amazon is decent I guess, manager likes me, I'm a solid contributor but def not top tier
3 weeks in Amazon isn’t too late to take a 1 year sabbatical
not too late for me, but idk for the job market
Sounds like a great idea, life is short and I'd actually love to do it myself. Don't worry about the career break, if you have the skills, nobody would think twice to hire you afterwards.
I believe I have the skills, but not sure if other companies will be able to see that
I recommend that you don’t take a sabbatical so early in your career. The first few working years are important for establishing good sustainable working habits. It seems like you haven’t quite done that yet, and it might be harder to accomplish this if you take an extended break and lose your momentum. If you’re unhappy at work, you could take some PTO or other leave. You could also look for another job that suits you better.
5 YOE at faang is not that early career in this day and age.
@baleen thanks for the input. I feel I do already have good habits, but just feel like my opportunity window for extended travel is slowly closing. Unfortunately PTO, 3 month leave, or finding a new job is not enough for me to fully dissociate from work, which is my greater goal, since I would still employed.
if you are fully remote for lower tier companies you can work like <20 hrs a week and take a sabbatical lol
Somewhat off topic but curious if you could expand on this “SWE work has made me feel like a shell of myself.” ?
Basically I am giving the majority of my time and energy day to day to an end goal I don't particularly care about. I accept that is the price we pay for high salary, but I have dreams and curiosities that are growing more faint each day. So in that way I feel like I've lost some degree of self in exchange for working. And I'd like to give myself time and space to devote to those dreams and curiosities to reconnect with myself.
Got it, thanks - I was curious if it was tech specifically or if you’d have the same issue in another career
You are burnt out or not meant to be an SWE. Spend some time to figure out which of the two. If it is the latter, try to pivot to something else. No one is forcing you to be an SDE.
You may be right. I view this as an opportunity to explore other interests and see where they might lead me. If that's away from SWE, so be it
Networth? That’d help make an informed decision
Live your life. Your career will be just fine.
thank you