
Ask HN: Quitting Job, need some outside opinions - rms25
I graduated College in May 2011, and joined a consulting company right after. While I had multiple job offers at the time this one looked like the best. It was to be a Java developer, I was sent to a one month Java training session, mostly review (for me at least). Finished it then spent one month "on bench" waiting to get staffed on a project (all paid time). Started working on VBA (For Excel) project where I have to code macros, and support users (around 50-70) . This was about 6 months ago, Fast forward to now: haven't coded in any other language other than VBA, and they will need me in this position for almost another year.<p>For the past 3 months I've been looking for jobs and had some phone interviews some recruiters reach out to me etc. I am so fed up with the project and feel like all my other skills are rotting (Java, among others). I am learning nothing new about VBA at this point and about 50% of time is spent on support. Now VBA is a nice skill to have but I think of it more as a "side dish" skill rather than an "entree" skill. I feel like my time would be better spent if I quit and was coding my own hobby projects for experience rather than doing the VBA for excel. I have a decent savings bank account from this job and have no debt what so ever.<p>Tomorrow at work I will probably give in my two weeks notice. 
What do you guys think?
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Domenic_S
Hang tight. Bring up your concern to your boss, and make sure they understand
the implication of what you're saying (eg, that this is something you're ready
to quit over).

Sometimes you draw the short straw in consultancies. Question is, is this a
permanent short straw, or something that could change 3-6-9 months down the
road? Working on interesting projects is where everyone wants to be, and
there's a thing we call "paying your dues" ;) Have you paid yours?

My advice: First, have the above conversation. Assume for now that the
situation is fixable -- from what you've said I can't see why it isn't. Next,
start interviewing. Talks with recruiters are nice, but they'll blow smoke and
make you feel like the most in-demand guy on earth with nothing to back it up.
Get a few interviews and an offer in before you bail. No debt is great, but
cashflow is king. I would hate to see you Office Space your curent situation
and then discover that a fresh grad with 8 months of VBA experience isn't as
marketable as you thought.

Bottom line -- be smart, take steps to get where you want to be, and keep cash
flowing in.

~~~
abbasmehdi
This is a far too conservative approach for a debt free new grad. If s/he can
take a step back and look around, he could be in a place he wants to be in in
a fraction of the time the current employer will (assumingly) take.

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pasbesoin
I belatedly saw the part about coding hobby projects for a while. If you're
really talking hobby projects and need to be re-employed before too long, I
guess what I wrote still applies:

Have the other job in hand, before giving any sign you're going.

Your current employer might then offer you a better deal (meaning better work,
I take it, as opposed to more pay) -- but, keep in mind how they've already
treated you.

I did some important work with marginal technology. Management was very
grateful, for a while, but when the position ended, I'd basically gained
proficiency in a poorly/unmarketable skillset while my other skills did not
progress (what I did was rather draining and didn't leave a lot left over) --
and therefore looked more out-of-date.

Just sayin'.

But don't do anything until you have a place to land, unless you just can't
stand it anymore. Especially these days, you're more marketable if you're
currently working. And especially at your presumed age; you don't want a bunch
of questions/suspicion about why the last job didn't work out.

Or, as a see now with respect to hobby projects, a job end followed by a bunch
of idle time.

Now take all the above, and run it through the filter of your own personality.
If you are one of those unusual people who can always make a situation work
out or convince another party of your argument, that may lead to a different
choice.

~~~
youngblood
> Especially these days, you're more marketable if you're currently working.
> And especially at your presumed age; you don't want a bunch of
> questions/suspicion about why the last job didn't work out. Or, as I see now
> with respect to hobby projects, a job end followed by a bunch of idle time.

I know you wrote a disclaimer, but as a general sentiment, this bugs me a lot.
Avoiding possible shallow HR issues in the future is not worth constraining
your one and only youth.

~~~
pasbesoin
It bothered me some to write it. I tried to address that, perhaps not very
well, in my closing sentences.

Some people have a personality compatible with your perspective -- and a
personal marketing position that will allow them to succeed from it. Others
don't -- have that kind of personality or credentials that get past some of
the current crap in the hiring process.

For myself, I wish I'd listened to less "career counseling advice" and "HR
speak" when I was starting out. It really screwed me, to some extent.

I hear/read about a lot of younger workers really struggling to find work, at
present. I don't know whether that might apply to the OP, especially if they
take some "time off". If it were a startup effort, I might be more positive --
in part because that would look like no/less of a gap in the resume.

The OP currently has what seems all to familiar to me as akin to some of the
corporate positions I've held. If they are not permanently exiting that
environment, meaning marketplace/ type of employer, some of the concerns I
expressed about finding the next job might be relevant.

Anyway, I'll further qualify what I said before as "food for thought". And
also say that I screwed myself by being too attentive to others' suggestions
(e.g. "pay your dues", "get along"), when I was young.

P.S. Thanks for your reply. I hope it has helped/spurred me to (at least
somewhat) better qualify what I said.

P.P.S. Personal aside: I think I need to just shut up for a while and work on
some of my own problems.

~~~
youngblood
Thanks for your reply. There definitely valid points there. I guess I'm just
of the opinion that most people are capable of overcoming such issues if they
consciously sharpen their skills and/or do a little "hustling".

Even if your career ladder does take a hit, is it such a big deal if you've
managed to enrich your life in the process? Maybe I read too much HN, but it
seems to me that unless you have dependants, debt, or equity, employment isn't
really worth being a central pillar of your life.

To also talk personally, I feel that I used the stability of my latter
education and the first phase of my career to defer tackling other aspects of
my life. That was a mistake.

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skrish
Hang-in there. You said you feel like your skills in Java among others is
rusting.

Here is my suggestion: take it up as a challenge to code start coding for 1
hour every morning. Just pick a language, ruby or python or java & start
building something. Just make sure you do it all without copy/pasting. Just
create something and brush up your skills.

I have been in similar situation where the feeling that I am not learning new
has lead me to look for options elsewhere immediately and the offers I
received weren't better than the current one without improving the skills.

So, my advice is focus on your skills and do not look at the job as the only
place where you can brush up on those. Try working on something creative by
the side which will open up interesting opportunities for you in the short run
itself. All the very best.

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miles_matthias
I was in a very similar position as yourself. I too graduated in May of 2011
and took a job that I wasn't too happy with. I spent a lot of time thinking
about what I wanted and spending my nights and weekends working on finding and
earning the job I wanted.

I considered just quitting, working on my own projects, and being happier. But
for financial reasons, my first choice was to find a job that would pay me to
work on projects that I wanted to work on. I was extremely lucky to find such
a job and now instead of slaving at a job that I hate and working on the types
of projects I want to, I get to work on similar projects 40 hours a week and
get paid.

I also moved to Boulder, CO, because of their startup community, since my long
term goal is to own my own company.

So my advice is to keep interviewing and stay strong!

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derekja
Hard call. If it's a big consulting company with a variety of projects
available negotiating a bit more than just giving your notice might be to your
benefit. Ask to go to 50% time on the VBA to get back to the original promise
of Java dev opportunities or something. Of course, if the overall fit just
isn't right then no sense sitting somewhere you're unhappy!

~~~
rms25
That's the problem, I'm the only one supporting/coding this excel thing. Guy
who was in my position before me quit the company and person who made these
sheets is no longer on the project (Plus there is no documentation!). So while
Im here I will be doing only VBA/support until the project ends

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rms25
Spoke to manager today, basically they really want me to stay since I'm the
only one doing it and there is no documentation. They even said they'll move
me to what ever project I want, if I just train a new guy for the role. I told
them tomorrow when I come in I'll decide.

~~~
abbasmehdi
The right thing would be to train the new guy while looking for other options
and telling your boss you're planning on leaving.

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ssylee
Could you possibly ask for telecommuting for part of the week? Then you can
use it to improve your Java (and other skills) on projects that could benefit
the company.

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iqster
"The best time to find a job is when you have one" ... do you have something
concrete lined up before you take the plunge?

~~~
rms25
As in another job? No. But something to work on yes, I also went to a couple
of interviews in the first week of Jan (had to take PTO days to go to some of
these interviews)

~~~
iqster
I guess the market for developers isn't too bad these days .. you'll probably
be fine either way. That said, I'll reiterate ... it is not fun to be in a
position where you don't have cash coming in (an MVP typically != stream of
cash). Also, not going into work everyday might make it harder to get
structure in your life. If you are resolved to pull the trigger and quit, may
I suggest you consider joining an incubator, or some other organization that
will give you structure.

Best of luck my friend ... whatever you decide!

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rms25
Thanks for the comments. I will speak with my employer today and see what
happens

~~~
rms25
Also, this is not my first job. I worked in IT for a metal company for almost
3 years before graduation also did math tutoring at a county college for 2
semesters and before that did 3 years customer service.

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abbasmehdi
Do it! Life is too short to be spent on BS jobs.

