Ask HN: Quitting Job, need some outside opinions
I graduated College in May 2011, and joined a consulting company right after. While I had multiple job offers at the time this one looked like the best. It was to be a Java developer, I was sent to a one month Java training session, mostly review (for me at least). Finished it then spent one month "on bench" waiting to get staffed on a project (all paid time). Started working on VBA (For Excel) project where I have to code macros, and support users (around 50-70) . This was about 6 months ago, Fast forward to now: haven't coded in any other language other than VBA, and they will need me in this position for almost another year.
For the past 3 months I've been looking for jobs and had some phone interviews some recruiters reach out to me etc. I am so fed up with the project and feel like all my other skills are rotting (Java, among others). I am learning nothing new about VBA at this point and about 50% of time is spent on support. Now VBA is a nice skill to have but I think of it more as a "side dish" skill rather than an "entree" skill. I feel like my time would be better spent if I quit and was coding my own hobby projects for experience rather than doing the VBA for excel. I have a decent savings bank account from this job and have no debt what so ever.
Tomorrow at work I will probably give in my two weeks notice. What do you guys think?
20 comments
[ 3.4 ms ] story [ 51.9 ms ] threadI considered just quitting, working on my own projects, and being happier. But for financial reasons, my first choice was to find a job that would pay me to work on projects that I wanted to work on. I was extremely lucky to find such a job and now instead of slaving at a job that I hate and working on the types of projects I want to, I get to work on similar projects 40 hours a week and get paid.
I also moved to Boulder, CO, because of their startup community, since my long term goal is to own my own company.
So my advice is to keep interviewing and stay strong!
Sometimes you draw the short straw in consultancies. Question is, is this a permanent short straw, or something that could change 3-6-9 months down the road? Working on interesting projects is where everyone wants to be, and there's a thing we call "paying your dues" ;) Have you paid yours?
My advice: First, have the above conversation. Assume for now that the situation is fixable -- from what you've said I can't see why it isn't. Next, start interviewing. Talks with recruiters are nice, but they'll blow smoke and make you feel like the most in-demand guy on earth with nothing to back it up. Get a few interviews and an offer in before you bail. No debt is great, but cashflow is king. I would hate to see you Office Space your curent situation and then discover that a fresh grad with 8 months of VBA experience isn't as marketable as you thought.
Bottom line -- be smart, take steps to get where you want to be, and keep cash flowing in.
Here is my suggestion: take it up as a challenge to code start coding for 1 hour every morning. Just pick a language, ruby or python or java & start building something. Just make sure you do it all without copy/pasting. Just create something and brush up your skills.
I have been in similar situation where the feeling that I am not learning new has lead me to look for options elsewhere immediately and the offers I received weren't better than the current one without improving the skills.
So, my advice is focus on your skills and do not look at the job as the only place where you can brush up on those. Try working on something creative by the side which will open up interesting opportunities for you in the short run itself. All the very best.
Best of luck my friend ... whatever you decide!
Have the other job in hand, before giving any sign you're going.
Your current employer might then offer you a better deal (meaning better work, I take it, as opposed to more pay) -- but, keep in mind how they've already treated you.
I did some important work with marginal technology. Management was very grateful, for a while, but when the position ended, I'd basically gained proficiency in a poorly/unmarketable skillset while my other skills did not progress (what I did was rather draining and didn't leave a lot left over) -- and therefore looked more out-of-date.
Just sayin'.
But don't do anything until you have a place to land, unless you just can't stand it anymore. Especially these days, you're more marketable if you're currently working. And especially at your presumed age; you don't want a bunch of questions/suspicion about why the last job didn't work out.
Or, as a see now with respect to hobby projects, a job end followed by a bunch of idle time.
Now take all the above, and run it through the filter of your own personality. If you are one of those unusual people who can always make a situation work out or convince another party of your argument, that may lead to a different choice.
I know you wrote a disclaimer, but as a general sentiment, this bugs me a lot. Avoiding possible shallow HR issues in the future is not worth constraining your one and only youth.
Some people have a personality compatible with your perspective -- and a personal marketing position that will allow them to succeed from it. Others don't -- have that kind of personality or credentials that get past some of the current crap in the hiring process.
For myself, I wish I'd listened to less "career counseling advice" and "HR speak" when I was starting out. It really screwed me, to some extent.
I hear/read about a lot of younger workers really struggling to find work, at present. I don't know whether that might apply to the OP, especially if they take some "time off". If it were a startup effort, I might be more positive -- in part because that would look like no/less of a gap in the resume.
The OP currently has what seems all to familiar to me as akin to some of the corporate positions I've held. If they are not permanently exiting that environment, meaning marketplace/ type of employer, some of the concerns I expressed about finding the next job might be relevant.
Anyway, I'll further qualify what I said before as "food for thought". And also say that I screwed myself by being too attentive to others' suggestions (e.g. "pay your dues", "get along"), when I was young.
P.S. Thanks for your reply. I hope it has helped/spurred me to (at least somewhat) better qualify what I said.
P.P.S. Personal aside: I think I need to just shut up for a while and work on some of my own problems.
Even if your career ladder does take a hit, is it such a big deal if you've managed to enrich your life in the process? Maybe I read too much HN, but it seems to me that unless you have dependants, debt, or equity, employment isn't really worth being a central pillar of your life.
To also talk personally, I feel that I used the stability of my latter education and the first phase of my career to defer tackling other aspects of my life. That was a mistake.