You Don’t Have To Leave Tech, But You Might Not Be Able To Stay

Debbie Levitt
Life After Tech
Published in
3 min readSep 27, 2024

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Quick note: Monday (30 Sep 2024) at 9pm Central Europe Time, I’ll be live streaming on YouTube. I’ll introduce my Life After Tech book and frameworks, and we’ll do a sample exercise. If you miss it, you’ll find Episode 2 in the YouTube archives.

As I’ve been opening the “Life After Tech” conversation with some people, they resist. They think, “Nope, I love tech work; it pays well, and I want to stay in it.” And to that, I say, “Yes, you don’t have to leave it. My book doesn’t force you to leave tech or stop applying to jobs.”

My book asks what’s next for you if you can’t find another tech job. Or what if you realize how much you’ve disliked working in tech, and kinda don’t want to go back?

Rosy Retrospection

I’ve loved working in tech. I’ve had some great jobs, projects, and co-workers. The best work was usually at my own company, Delta CX. But that’s no surprise; I think I’m a pretty good boss of me!

But I’ve also had some truly ugly experiences. I’ve been bullied, manipulated, and gaslit. I’ve been lied to. I’ve been paid less than male peers. Some of us have experienced worse. Some have experienced much better.

I don’t want to look back at my career (which is still alive!) and remember things better than they were. That’s called “rosy retrospection.” And you know things are not as great as you might remember them now when you wonder what you’ll put in your portfolio, how you’ll talk about that job in an interview, or wondering if the HR people at the next job will support you better than at the last job.

You Don’t Have To Leave, But…

It might not be in your control. What’s the plan? Does your resume or CV say you are a good planner, intelligent, strategic, or analytical? Then let’s put that to use. We need to think about what’s next for you. It could be tech work. It could be non-tech work. It might be both.

Someone who has been out of work for a year or more could find a job any day now. But for our own health and sanity, we can’t just keep waiting. It’s increasingly harmful.

Say It Out Loud

For those not ready to walk away from tech jobs and applying to them, try saying, “I want to keep working in tech, but if I can’t find that next job, I’m ready to move forward with non-tech work.” You will be ready when you have a plan you can act on. And that’s what my book is about.

The #1 thing I’m hearing from people who do the first exercises in my book is: catharsis. They had no idea how much pain, disappointment, grief, hurt, and other negative emotions they were still holding onto (from tech jobs). That’s normal, but we also want to move through and past these.

We need to open these conversations. Compare notes. You’re not alone. But if you’re afraid to talk about your feelings and experiences, it’s very isolating. You can join our free Discord community if that’ll help! People are starting to open up in an anonymous-optional environment.

I’m Doing It Too

I have no idea if my last tech job was really my last tech job. I might not be able to work in tech until I retire, which feels like around 20 years from now. While applying for tech jobs, and talking to potential clients about freelancing and training, I’m working on other things.

  • I published a children’s book this summer, and plan to write at least one more in the series.
  • My husband and I are working to open a campground near us on Sardinia.
  • I’m starting an educational program to become an ICF Certified Coach. This will improve the coaching I’m already doing, plus qualify me for executive and leadership coaching jobs.
  • I want to do more ghostwriting and helping people with their books, from planning to publishing.

Let’s talk about Life After Tech. It’s scary, but together — and with a plan and some action — we can make it WAY less scary!

Possibly my future campground!

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Debbie Levitt
Life After Tech

“The Mary Poppins of CX & UX.” Strategist, Researcher, Architect, Speaker, Trainer. Algorithms suck. Join my Patreon.com/cxcc or Patreon.com/LifeAfterTech