How do I return to the industry after a two-year sabbatical?

Question

I took off two years to travel around the world. I learned so much from visiting every continent and meeting people from all walks of life.I truly am a different person now, and I think I learned so much about life to help me be a better person.However, I didn't do much coding or software work in that time.I couldn't pass a leet coding interview if my life depended on it. I'm very out of practice and out of the loop.What should I put on my resume? What should I try to learn or do to get back to work? Now seems like it is the worst time ever to go back. Is my career in big trouble?I mostly did frontend work (angular) with some node or python backend work.

imtavi · Accepted Answer

Welcome back! Sounds like it was very worthwhile. I did something similar a few years back and felt similarly out of the loop.
What worked for me was briefly brushing up on my data structures and algorithms, and then bombing several interviews. After eventually not bombing a few real interviews, I felt like I was back in the game.
On a resume, I would list your time as a sabbatical if you did no coding during that time, and I wouldn't give it more than a sentence of space. If you did even a little coding, I would focus more on what you coded.
Your decision to travel doesn't mean that your career is in trouble! You may or may not run into obstacles finding work during this time. Just be sure to prepare for a possibly lengthy process.

AnimalMuppet · Answer

We hired a guy who had been out of software for a decade. It was a risk to do so, because what if he can't do it anymore? What if he's so rusty that he's worthless? So we hired him to a three-month trial period, at a reduced salary. If he worked out, we would keep him and give him a substantial raise; if he didn't, well, it cost us three months of reduced salary, so the risk wasn't all that high. He worked out, and we kept him.
I think that structuring things like that might help if companies are reluctant to hire you because of rust.
As for leet code: There's plenty of places that don't interview that way. I couldn't pass one, either, and I've been coding professionally for 35 years. Don't worry about those kinds of questions. If you're and angular programmer, leet code isn't really what your job is, and therefore it really isn't what interviewers should be asking. If they are, that's their problem, not yours. Go somewhere else.

dyeje · Answer

Just grind leetcode and start applying. There's no trick here really. I don't think your career is in trouble, it just make take a while to get that first job back. Maybe reach out to former colleagues and see if you have an in somewhere.

HAL9OOO · Answer

Are you me? In the exact same boat, 'stuck' in Thailand right now. Curious to see other people's replies but as for me I've been trying to work on some hobby projects to build up some confidence again. Also have a gut feeling with my personality I need to work for myself somehow, but that scares me.

HelloKittyMan · Answer

I'm in a similar bind. Quit my job to go traveling then that ended up transitioning to a stay at home extended vacation / do what I want all day kind of thing when the pandemic hit, and now I've started looking for jobs again after a year.Had a number of interviews, 2 onsite, but all have been failures where I've failed out at one stage or another on the way. Sometimes I have a good idea why, other times it feels very opaque. Somewhat depressing experience. Looks like I'm gonna have to do another round of resume submissions / recruiter screens and so forth from there for a second interview loop.

softbiz · Answer

I took 3 years off to pursue a non-technical business. On returning, I researched new technologies I was interested in, and created my own hobby/open-source projects in those areas. This allowed me to ramp back and learn something current, and also I was able to share these example with potential employers.

throw51319 · Answer

What were your top 3 favorite spots?You prob just gotta get fresh with a frontend framework if that's what you want to continue to do. Then also grind out leetcoding stuff/interview trivia. Own the fact you took off if they bring it up. Set the tone.

seige · Answer

I am in a similar boat as you though I am at a year's mark. I've been hacking on a project to get back to the game.If you or anyone else in this thread is interested in a side project, holler at me.

How do I return to the industry after a two-year sabbatical?

Just grind leetcode and start applying. There's no trick here really. I don't think your career is in trouble, it just make take a while to get that first job back. Maybe reach out to former colleagues and see if you have an in somewhere.

Are you me? In the exact same boat, 'stuck' in Thailand right now. Curious to see other people's replies but as for me I've been trying to work on some hobby projects to build up some confidence again. Also have a gut feeling with my personality I need to work for myself somehow, but that scares me.

What were your top 3 favorite spots?
You prob just gotta get fresh with a frontend framework if that's what you want to continue to do. Then also grind out leetcoding stuff/interview trivia. Own the fact you took off if they bring it up. Set the tone.

I am in a similar boat as you though I am at a year's mark. I've been hacking on a project to get back to the game.
If you or anyone else in this thread is interested in a side project, holler at me.