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Ask HN: Have one month break (switching employers) – What should I do?

6 points by smg ↗ HN
As the title says - I have one month where I am not employed. The new and previous jobs are well paid Bay Area tech jobs (living expenses are not going to be a concern). I am looking for advice on exciting new tech I should pick up during the month. I am a backend engineer. Should I learn crypto or should I go for ML/AI?

15 comments

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jimmyvalmer
GNU Make sounds like a good fit for your background.
jjgreen
The Graph DB scene is quite interesting, might be worth considering.
smg
Are there specific Graph databases you would recommend? I have played with Neo4j about 5 years ago. Has there been anything revolutionary in this field since then?
jjgreen
Oh if you've seen it ... Cypher seems to be spreading: standardised and adopted by DBs other than neo4j, so I thought a good slow month to pick it up, play with a few of the DBs, toy project ... but not if you know it already.
Tepix
Have you considered sailing or learning a new language such as french (or doing both)?
smg
I am fluent in 3 languages. I grew up in India where just about everyone ends up learning at least 3 languages. A month is too short to really pick up a language.

Sailing or outdoorsy stuff like hiking is not my cup of tea. I work out (cardio and weights) to keep myself fit. Not planning on making any changes to my daily routines during the month

rmk
It really depends on what you love doing. Do you know how to swim? It's a useful skill to have, not to mention a fun cardio exercise. If you spend an hour or two every day, you can actually make pretty good progress on learning how to swim.
satvikpendem
ML and AI is a fun field currently. Check out Two Minute Papers for the current state of the art.
btzo
Pick an open source project that interests you and spend a month on it. I would do it with the linux kernel if I had time
smarri
I had a month of between jobs this year, and as it was peak covid I couldn't travel. I ended up hiring a WeWork so I had somewhere to go, and working on personal projects. If there's something you've wanted to build and didn't have the time it's a great thing to do. However, I think there's a strong case just to take the month off and relax! Rest, eat well, get some exercise. We don't always have to be productive.
raptorraver
What about take deep breath, have a little rest and find some adventure. Maybe roadtrip hike, or if possible go visit abroad.
p0d
Go outside. Life is about balancing work with the wealth we make. We won't always have the health to do so. I love tech but it is experiences that we remember.
junon
Seriously, this. However, less for the "experiences" and more for the "have a fresh palette going into the next job" approach.

You'll be less likely to refer to old projects/employers/coworkers/etc. in negative light, you'll have a fresh, clear mind and newfound patience for the new (probably awful) codebase, and you'll be relaxed and ready for your new team to make good first impressions.