Is it OK to quit to nowhere from MSFT?
Is it hard to find a decently paying job with a good working environment after quitting to nowhere from MSFT? I'm thinking perhaps I should take some time to mentally recover after everything I experienced here and spend some time to prepare for interviews before applying. I'm willing to take a (not too large) pay cut for a better working environment. I'm level 63, my reviews (if they matter) are still good. Or would you recommend to keep the current job?
Nobody would bat an eye at a month or two. 6m-1y might raise questions.
Nobody cares about what you did in the gap. You are "not" expected to keep working in a continuously deterministic cadence till you retire. Albeit interviewing becomes harder as you lose touch. Get side projects running when ramping back up after your break. You ll do just fine.
Woah OP. What’s wrong with work? Just too stressed out? Maybe you can take a nice vacation?
There are too many assholes, liars, too much politics etc. I'm not stressed about the work I do, but too many people and things around me piss me off and make me want to quit. I'm not sure I'm in a good mental state to go interviewing right now to be honest, but I can probably wait for some time to get better, yeah.
Wishing you the best OP. Hope things get better. Wishing you a nice holiday break
If you can still handle to wait it out, start your applications now, do interviews, and receive offers then jump ship. If you can’t wait that long, make sure you have enough savings to get you through the job hunting process. It might take weeks to months.
Go on leave instead. It leaves more options open, you can rightfully say that you work for Microsoft and you can go back if nothing better comes your way.
Absolutely talk to HR and take a personal leave especially if this is being driven by mental health problems. That ways you can interview when you’re ready but you still have a job to come back to and you’re still employed.
I doubt they'll let me take a leave. If I was important to the company I would be treated better. I don't think it has anything to do with mental health problems, just multiple layers of shit are piling up. If getting a new job isn't straightforward, I'd rather wait for myself to start feeling better and start interviewing some time later. Don't want to end up complaining about how shitty everything at my job is during interviews.
Look up FMLA. Get a doctor's note and invoke FMLA. They legally cant stop you I think.
Do not leave your current job without at least one job offer in hand Do not leave your current job without at least one job offer in hand Do not leave your current job without at least one job offer in hand Do not leave your current job without at least one job offer in hand You’re a 63, you can have a new job offer that pays better than here worst case in 3 months. Be patient and do not quit until you have a job offer.
Where are you based? If you’re in the Bay Area or Seattle you should be able to find a job within a month. Can you take 1 week vacation to clear your head and then a lot more PTO to interview? Fwiw I know many people who hated their jobs at Microsoft. Too much politics and horrible wlb. They left for Amazon, Facebook, etc and now much happier, work less, and get paid more. Of course with any big company everything is very team dependent. Imo if you can afford to do so, take the time to focus on your next job, whether it’s PTO or quitting altogether. It’s much easier to interview with many companies when you’re not also thinking about work. That way you can pick the right job and not the first one that comes along.
Stay!!
Quitting my job with nothing lined up turned out to be the best career decision I ever made. But it is an extremely high risk manoeuvre and I would not recommend it to everyone. It was very stressful not to have a plan, and led to a lot of self doubt. If you can see a way out that isn’t quite as drastic, I would explore that first. The most important thing is to have light at the end of the tunnel and know that things will get better.
You can just relax at work, go on cruise control, and start interviewing. When you already have a job, your confidence level is much higher when you interview.