Taking time off tech
If you’re thinking of taking some time off from the tech industry but worried about how it will impact your career, then this is for you.
I’ve been thinking about writing this for a while. When I took my year off, I planned to write a blog post about it when it was over. Then Covid happened and I thought, well now is not the time to write an inspiring article about quitting your job to travel the world.
But I’ve realised it’s about more than travel. There are so many reasons why someone may want a break. Whether it be to learn a new skill, spend time with family, start a business or simply take some time out. Particularly in the last year with remote working, we’ve been more susceptible to overworking and burn out as the lines between work and life have blurred. Never mind the fact we’ve all been dealing with general undercurrents of pandemic-related panic while trying to work as normal.
A few people have asked me about my experience taking a break from tech. So here is my very biased opinion of why yes you should take that break you’ve been thinking about.
Two years ago, I decided to quit my job as a software developer and move to Canada. My partner and I would put our careers on hold and spend a year focusing on our passions, travel, hiking and snowboarding.
I had been feeling apathetic about my job. I wasn’t inspired to learn and never coded in my spare time and thought I never would. I was sick of my commute, sick of staring at a computer, sick of meetings and of general tech industry BS. We still loved our jobs but felt languished.
So off we went. We packed up our lives, moved across the world to a small town called Revelstoke and spent a year enjoying the outdoors with not a desk or fluorescent lightbulb in sight.
Now I’d be lying if I said that year wasn’t sprinkled with frequent episodes of panic that I would never get another developer job again and that I had made a huge mistake by leaving. But I put those thoughts in a “deal with later” pile and kept doing what I was doing.
I walked more than I have in my lifetime so far, progressed my snowboarding to a level I never thought I’d reach in a year and many other precious memories that will be cherished for a lifetime.
One day, six months after leaving, something magical happened. I was working as a lift operator on the mountain and started thinking about a project. Then I went home and started coding. Then I coded some more. I began coding FOR FUN in my spare time.
I felt a rekindling of my relationship with web development and an urge to use it as a creative outlet. I kept coding and gained more understanding about what balance means for me in work and life.
There were certainly days when I was shoveling snow and chipping ice in -20 degrees where I longed for the temperature-regulated office I’d left behind, but it’s an experience I wouldn’t trade for the world.
Then our year was up. I started looking for jobs as a developer and interviewing again. Now the “deal with later” pile had to be dealt with.
When I left to go on my break, my manager was very supportive. He told me to enjoy the time, to not worry and that I would get another job no problem. But I did worry. I worried a lot.
I felt I was playing a dangerous game trying to get a new job without a current one, would I be questioned about the gap in my CV?
What if my career break was seen as a bad thing?
Would I even remember how to do my job?
As hard as I tried, I also couldn’t help feeling that being a woman also put me on the backfoot to begin with, was I making things even harder for myself now that I also hadn’t worked for a year?
Well.. Not one company I interviewed with said a bad thing about it. No one mentioned the CV gap. The only company that said anything about my break asked me what I got up to during my time off, and then we started chatting about snowboarding.
I realised that if a company thought it was a bad thing, then they wouldn’t be a good fit for me.
The feeling would be mutual, and I was ok with that.
Much to my surprise, it turns out I wasn’t destined to roam the earth as an unemployable soul for the rest of my days (A tad dramatic, but that’s my brain). I found a role contracting remotely, which is a way of working I’ve always wanted to try. I love being back in web development and feeling my needs for creativity and problem solving satisfied.
My time off helped me realise the type of balance I want out of work. From that, I was able to move to 4 days a week in order to pursue study in an area of personal interest.
You’ll never know unless you ask.
I hope I will have the chance to take more than one career break throughout my lifetime, a chance to reflect and reevaluate was more valuable than I imagined.
TLDR
— Everyone’s situation is different, but time off from tech (or any career really) can be hugely beneficial and doesn’t mean you don’t like it or that you’re a failure in any way.
— If a company has an issue with the fact that you took some time off, then ask yourself do you really want to work there?
— Yes, you will find a job again.
— Whatever reason you have for taking a break, it may bring you fulfilment, re-evaluation, a new perspective, or a chance to understand what way of balancing work and life is suited to you.
