HACKER Q&A
📣 emthrowaway123

Am I crazy to take a career break?


I started a new gig ~6mo ago and I'm basically getting bullied out by people below/beside me. I'm not happy with how my manager or the execs have handled it and while it's technically resolved, I don't want to stay in an org that allows such behavior.

I going to trash about 400k in equity to leave and that's acceptable to me (nothing is vested), but with hiring and salaries being crazy right now, is it insane to take a 6mo-1yr career break? I have savings, but I've only been making 150k for the last few years and I'm worried the opportunity cost here is too high to ignore.

  👤 w4llstr33t Accepted Answer ✓
You don't want to stay in an org that allows such behavior, or you're wanting to take a career break? Maybe it could be good to decide which of those it is?

If you just don't want to stay at that company, maybe find a new job first, before quitting? 400k in equity is a pretty decent amount. Also, although hiring and salaries are crazy right now, so are the interview processes.

👤 muzani
Is it really an opportunity if you don't enjoy it? Bad jobs also lead to bad teams, no matter how well paid. In other fields, you might have to just slog through it. But there's abundant opportunities in tech.

You might not even need a career break. It sounds like a notable company that's a good resume item. Why not just move on to another company? There are plenty of well paid tech companies that value their staff. The good one will usually have very long interview processes though, as a lot of them will look for trust (i.e. you're not toxic) so it might be better to search while employed.

👤 Minor49er
Wait, so you were being bullied at a new job, and even though it wasn't handled the best way, the issues were resolved? And the response to this is that you should take a career break rather than talk to the management/offenders, or even take another job somewhere else? More context or details would be really helpful in giving you the right kind of advice.
👤 kowlo
From someone who has just done the same thing - do it.

Life is too short to imprison yourself.