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by formalsystem
2489 days ago
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> I miss the time in uni where I was learning new things every week. I'm thinking of taking a year off just to learn new things. Even at the senior level I don't think you'll get what you're looking for. Unless you're leading new research efforts, it won't make much sense to move you away from a system that you only understand. A friend convinced me to quit my job a year ago and I'd highly recommend it. If you can afford it, quitting your job to learn new things can be a really valuable investment. There are so many new fields and textbooks out that could each easily turn into an interesting OSS project and some income. You can write a book about all the new stuff you're learning which which will help raise your profile. It takes a couple of days to really to the gist of any CS/Math field if you have access to the right resources and the right amount of free time. So taking time off doesn't have to be a career hit, you need time to explore new fields (all the interesting ones are initially hard to grok) but you'll have a unique skillset by the time you're on the other side and will probably make more money if you decide to get a job again. This has only really been true post-internet. If you wanna chat, email me, it's in my profile. |
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My own experience has been pretty different. I took time off of my work to run a business. we even wrote a book [1] - Now, uh, I needed to run that business, on an emotional level, I mean. but it was a hugely bad idea financially.
When you show up to an interview after spending years running your own company? I mean, I'm sure it's different if you are management, but as an IC? Even though I had written a book[1] it was like I was unemployed for that time. There's no way my wages are anywhere near they would have been had I spent more of that time working for other people.
I mean, my own case would have come out differently if I was able to sell my company to someone big, which may have come down to a few obvious unforced errors of mine?
I mean, sure, sometimes it's still worth it to take time off of work to do something else... but don't say it's not a career hit. It is a huge career hit and you need to include that in the equation.
[1]https://www.amazon.com/Book-Xen-Practical-System-Administrat...
(When doing the "is it worth it" math on writing books, consider the shelf-life; that shelf life doesn't just apply to sales, it also applies to the reputation boost. My own recommendation to my younger self would have been to get a job while the buzz for the book was at it's height.)