Ask HN: Should I quit my job?

6 points by dajomu 5 years ago | 6 comments

I'm a lead developer in my late 30s working full time in London.

I have a one year old son with my girlfriend and a mortgage for the next ~18 years.

I’ve been working in the same role at a late(r) stage start up for the last two and a half years. I’m ready to move on (partly to do with boredom in my current role, but mainly to do with a change in the company culture that is making it hard to work there any more).

At work I've been offered a part time contract role that should allow me to spend more time with my son at roughly the same wage I'm on at the moment. The trouble is that it was a few months ago (when they wanted to cut down on expenses a bit and it suited them) and I've not heard anything since. I've asked my boss a few times and they say that they are working on it, but I'm not sure I really believe it.

I would apply for other jobs (preferably contract) but I have a three month notice period and it seems like it’ll get in the way of a lot of applications.

I’m considering waiting for my next pay day then handing in my notice. I figure that I can cut down on expenses a bit and have another month’s cash to live on after my three months are over.

That gives me four months to apply and interview. I can also say to my current work that if they want to keep me they can give me the contract role.

What do you think? I wouldn’t even have worried about doing this a year ago, but with current economic conditions (especially in the uk with brexit coming up) I’m concerned that it might be a mistake.

So HN, should I quit?

peppery-idiot 5 years ago |

Three month notice periods are relatively common in the UK, don't worry about it -- and don't quit before you have another job lined up.

Your proposed course of action is predicated on a hypothesis, that no employer wanting to make you an offer because of your notice period, that has no supporting data. Anecdotally, nobody worth working for (and plenty of companies not worth working for) care about a 3 month notice period.

I'd say put the feelers out there and interview casually for a while before writing yourself off because of your notice period.

Also, I don't know if other commenters are based in the USA where it seems common for employers to practice retaliatory firings.

In the UK if you have more than 2 years of service at your current employer, it's very very unlikely that they can fire you without a negligence/misconduct claim against you. You're more likely to be put on paid garden leave, or somehow made redundant (but you should be paid a lump sum).

__d 5 years ago |

Yes, you should quit: the question is not "if" but "how".

Given the current situation, you might consider your runway carefully. In particular, counting on working through your notice period as a part of that runway isn't guaranteed.

You'll also need to make a decision about what you want your new job to be: a part-time role (perm or contract) makes for a much different job search than a full-time role. You might want to decide up front that you'll look for a part-time role exclusively for, say 2 months, and if you haven't found one by then, start chasing a full-time role as well. Similarly with contract vs. permanent roles.

My risk profile is a little different, but right now I think I'd be looking to have a little more than 4 months up my sleeve, especially given that it sounds like that's really just working through your notice period with reduced spend.

Get yourself several months of genuine, cash-in-the-bank runway, and you're much less exposed.

auslegung 5 years ago |

If I were in a similar position, with people who depend on me making money, I would not quit until I had another job lined up even if I had a good emergency fund. I probably would have given different advice if we weren't in a global pandemic and Brexit looming, but with those things happening it's probably best to be conservative.

LK4 5 years ago |

Have you considered fully remote positions? This might bring you more opportunities outside of UK.

dajomu 5 years ago | |

I don't think I have properly considered it. Maybe I've just had a bit of baby brain for the last year or so and I haven't completely kept up with things.

Are there any good resources that you can share for those remote positions?

auslegung 5 years ago | | |

- https://weworkremotely.com - https://remote.com/search

There are probably a lot others, but these are the ones I know of