Taking a mid-career break didn’t break my career

You know that feeling when you willingly leave a high-positioned job without a plan for your future? Yeah, me too.
For years I wasn’t sure when that day would come, but I knew I would use the opportunity when it arrives. The day I’m gonna quit my job and not start looking for a new one. I’d been at my previous company for 7 years. Do you know what 7 years in the same company does to you? It narrows your horizons.

I felt I was set up perfectly to make a mistake and rush into a new job that would disappoint me. When you’re driving somewhere and you don’t know the road, if it’s very important to get to the place you want to arrive, will you take turns at high speed? I believe you would probably slow down when taking a turn. I actually got off to a rest stop and took a break before taking that next turn.

What I believed would happen is that I would distance myself from my last job, widen my horizons, and with a clear, fresh mind, make the best decision for myself. I’m happy to tell you, that was exactly what happened. And I completely enjoyed my career break.

Easy Decision — At Least For Me

Was it an easy decision to make? Well, it was an easy decision for me, but not for the ones closest to me. Some of the frequent sentences and questions I’ve heard were along these lines:

“What will it look like if you look for a job as an unemployed person?”
“You will have much more leverage in negotiations if applying from an existing position.”
“What if you don’t find another good opportunity?”
“What if you stay out of a job for too long?”

I always thought that “What-ifs” are one of the biggest blockers from achieving what you truly want. For the large part, with those thoughts, you are just draining your energy and time with imaginary scenarios that will probably never happen. So I mostly ignore these thoughts. If I catch myself in a what-if scenario in my head, I immediately stop that train of thought and focus my attention on something else. With repetition, you can automate this and start avoiding what-ifs. Now I just calmly respond to comments like the ones mentioned above that I believe everything will work out fine.

Let’s now rewind and quickly lead you through the process. I was working as the Chief Product Officer at an IT company in Croatia which has its own globally recognized product. After years in the same company and the same domain, I decided it was time for me to look for a new challenge.

I resigned and took a few months off. Thankfully, summer was just approaching, so I used this opportunity to enjoy the beautiful coast of Croatia for the entire three months. For the first 6–8 weeks, I didn’t even think about where I wanted to go next professionally. I completely let go of my career thoughts and just enjoyed life for a moment.

It was even better than you’d think.

When I felt completely rejuvenated, I started thinking about what I would like to do at some later stage in my life. Not which company I will join next, but rather where I want to be professionally in 10 years or so.

I imagined myself professionally 10 years from now. I did it by asking myself questions and answering them:

• What would be an ideal outcome?
• What would I enjoy doing?
• What have I achieved in those 10 years?
• What am I doing currently?
• How much am I working?
• What kind of work is that?
• How does it fit in with my private life?

When I answered those questions I moved on to the next set of questions:

• What needs to happen for me to be able to achieve this?
• What can I start doing immediately to move forward?
• What do I need to learn?
• In which areas do I still need to grow or gain experience?

After a few nights of stargazing and writing down thoughts, I’ve got the picture. Writing down all these thoughts helped me to visualize where I want to go next and what my next step should be. I knew I wanted to find a job where I would have direct interaction with people. It needed to be some kind of people leadership position because that’s where I think I can give the most value to the company I work for and that’s what I enjoy the most. Ideally, it would be related to engineering or product management since this is where I have the strongest background. Of course, the atmosphere in the company had to be at least very good because I don’t want to work in a toxic environment.

I got all these ideal check boxes and slowly started looking for job opportunities that would tick all (or most) of them. To be frank, I didn’t find anything appealing in the first few weeks. Some positions were completely remote (which I don’t prefer), some job descriptions I didn’t like, I’ve heard not so wonderful things about certain companies… But I didn’t panic. I knew I had very high standards for where I wanted to work next and I was ready to wait until the right opportunity came along.

And it did.

Photomath started looking for Engineering Managers. I got recommendations from two people I know who suggested I should apply there. When I checked the job ad, I knew it was the right fit

• It required an engineering background but focus on leading and growing people and teams.
• I’ve heard great things about Photomath and I knew a friend who was working there who assured me that the atmosphere and team cohesion are brilliant.

A few interview steps later, I was hired and started working. The job itself worked out to be even better than I expected. Healthy atmosphere, high autonomy and flexibility, challenging, but rewarding job.

And what about all those potential issues I was warned about?

Well, I’m not gonna lie. I was asked in an interview process multiple times how I decided to leave a high-positioned job without knowing where I’m going next. It’s a highly unusual move. But if you rationalize and explain it, everyone will actually understand. Getting clearance on where I want to go next and having very high standards for my next job is reason enough to explain my motivation.

I know multiple people who told me they always wanted to take a year off after finishing University, but they didn’t (I did that also btw). When I talk about this experience, I also often hear how people find it amazing and they would like to do something similar so much. But they are locked with that “What if” state.

I encourage you to let go of What if-s. If you are in a financial situation that will allow you to take a few months off, just take a step back, let go, enjoy, and choose the best next step for you. I’m sure you will not regret it.

At Photomath, we are always on the lookout for the new colleagues who would join our team. If it sounds interesting, check out our careers page.