4 ms·
Ask HN: Programming sabbatical?
Has anyone taken a few months or years unpaid off work to study / hack at home to improve their programming?
I am thinking of doing it as there are not many chances to get significantly up-skilled in the work environment in my experience. And spare time projects etc. are in those twilight hours after the commute, kids to bed etc and I am pretty tired by then.
Would anyone recommend it?
- zer00eyz 10y agoI did it. Would I recommend it? No, probably not. I learned a lot. It was interesting and FUN. It has little to no practical application for me re-entering the workforce. I ended up not going back to "work" but instead became a "consultant". Pay is great, hours are great, the bullshit is epic. As a result of "time off" and my "new lifestyle" I find myself NEEDING to start my own company & product at 40 with kids to support. I can suggest doing it for ONE month with some assumptions: * You don't stay at home * You don't go someplace so exotic that you get distracted, think "cabin in the woods" or "house at the beach" * You have a plan for what your going to TRY to do/learn * That your partner is cool with you dumping the kids on them for 6 hours a day (study/work time) for at least 1/2 the week. * That you can personally work "where ever, when ever" and your partner is OK with that as well. I know lots of folks that need a "bubble" to be productive, or who's relationship doesn't allow them to work that way.
- borplk 10y agoCan you elaborate on the "bullshit is epic" part?
- zer00eyz 10y agoA large chunk of what I do has nothing to do with writing code or solving problems... Sales, accounting, contract negotiation. They are more time consuming than they need to be, but at least cost of doing them is very much built into my rate. They are tedious beyond belief. Work for trade has gotten me the help I need in these areas from accountants and lawyers and built some solid relationships that I didn't have before. This is all upside for me. I can't stress to you enough how important the contract is, if you were thinking about a consulting style business you need to watch this before you dive in: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVkLVRt6c1U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVkLVRt6c1U
- malux85 10y agoConsultant here, The bullshit is epic. Examples: - The system has spark 1.4 installed on it, and the customer needs spark 1.6. But their support contact is with company Y, who have it in writing that the customer cannot deploy upgrades, they must be paid to do it. So now, a simple package upgrade, turns out to need 4 managers to sign it and schedule it, and have meetings about it, then authorize it, fit it into a billing period. And wait - why do we need this again? Can we schedule a meeting with Team B to ask why we need this? Oh they're not available until September, ok let's book a meeting on September 7th 4pm with 25 people to try and get some clarity. of the 25 people, 12 will reject with no reason, 12 will accept and 1 (the actual person we need to talk to) is booked on holiday and isn't back for a month after that. Now take all of this, and multiply it by 10 and apply it to every project.
- borplk 10y agoWow. That just gave me cancer. Why do you even do it?
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]