Quitting IT job for a while
Discussion
Hi,
Looking for some advice from someone who perhaps has gone through the same.
Long story short - been working at the same consultancy in a manual functional testing job for almost 6 years. Travelled far and wide, and now based around an hour from home. Hate going to work (doesn't everyone!) - I'm not learning anything except in my own time, which means I have 0 time to do anything else. Manual testing is not an area I want to remain in. The thought of staying in this role for the next 40 years fills me with dread.
I eventually want to move into a development role. I've spent the past few months learning and re-learning a lot of skills in my own time, and have a lot more to go, whilst being aware that there's a huge difference between being trained in something, and having real world experience.
However I really cannot stand working in my current role. It's a boring, monotonous task with no creativity or intelligence required. At the moment I feel like I have no breathing space. It's not stressful or particularly difficult, but I feel like I'm wasting my life here. I'm more than happy with the salary, but life isn't about money, it's about happiness, and from the moment I enter work right up until the moment I leave work I'm unhappy.
Current salary is in the high 30k.
No kids.
No mortgage.
No debt.
No partner.
27 years old.
£25k savings.
I applied for a part time postman with driving position at my local delivery office a few weeks ago, passed the interview, and now have an offer.
Why did I apply? Essentially, I want to take my foot off the gas for a while. Sense of freedom from being outdoors. It will give me much more time to self-train, spend a lot more time with family (which I haven't done due to travelling), and achieve some personal goals (weight loss etc). The salary is more than enough to keep me ticking over until I feel ready to move back into IT in a role I want, maybe 6 months to a year down the line.
How will an IT employer see someone who's voluntarily quit IT and moved into an unrelated job? Has anyone quit their IT job for a stop-gap job, then moved back into IT? How hard is it?
Looking for some advice from someone who perhaps has gone through the same.
Long story short - been working at the same consultancy in a manual functional testing job for almost 6 years. Travelled far and wide, and now based around an hour from home. Hate going to work (doesn't everyone!) - I'm not learning anything except in my own time, which means I have 0 time to do anything else. Manual testing is not an area I want to remain in. The thought of staying in this role for the next 40 years fills me with dread.
I eventually want to move into a development role. I've spent the past few months learning and re-learning a lot of skills in my own time, and have a lot more to go, whilst being aware that there's a huge difference between being trained in something, and having real world experience.
However I really cannot stand working in my current role. It's a boring, monotonous task with no creativity or intelligence required. At the moment I feel like I have no breathing space. It's not stressful or particularly difficult, but I feel like I'm wasting my life here. I'm more than happy with the salary, but life isn't about money, it's about happiness, and from the moment I enter work right up until the moment I leave work I'm unhappy.
Current salary is in the high 30k.
No kids.
No mortgage.
No debt.
No partner.
27 years old.
£25k savings.
I applied for a part time postman with driving position at my local delivery office a few weeks ago, passed the interview, and now have an offer.
Why did I apply? Essentially, I want to take my foot off the gas for a while. Sense of freedom from being outdoors. It will give me much more time to self-train, spend a lot more time with family (which I haven't done due to travelling), and achieve some personal goals (weight loss etc). The salary is more than enough to keep me ticking over until I feel ready to move back into IT in a role I want, maybe 6 months to a year down the line.
How will an IT employer see someone who's voluntarily quit IT and moved into an unrelated job? Has anyone quit their IT job for a stop-gap job, then moved back into IT? How hard is it?
I wouldn't do it.
If I was interviewing the fact you moved away from IT at such a young age is a negative for me.
You do however need to move on, so apply for IT jobs even taking a cut in salary if necessary to move into the correct role. Make sure it is the correct role and you're not just jumping ship to get away from a job you hate otherwise it simply gets worse.
If I was interviewing the fact you moved away from IT at such a young age is a negative for me.
You do however need to move on, so apply for IT jobs even taking a cut in salary if necessary to move into the correct role. Make sure it is the correct role and you're not just jumping ship to get away from a job you hate otherwise it simply gets worse.
MinuteMan said:
Hi,
Looking for some advice from someone who perhaps has gone through the same.
Long story short - been working at the same consultancy in a manual functional testing job for almost 6 years. Travelled far and wide, and now based around an hour from home. Hate going to work (doesn't everyone!) - I'm not learning anything except in my own time, which means I have 0 time to do anything else. Manual testing is not an area I want to remain in. The thought of staying in this role for the next 40 years fills me with dread.
I eventually want to move into a development role. I've spent the past few months learning and re-learning a lot of skills in my own time, and have a lot more to go, whilst being aware that there's a huge difference between being trained in something, and having real world experience.
However I really cannot stand working in my current role. It's a boring, monotonous task with no creativity or intelligence required. At the moment I feel like I have no breathing space. It's not stressful or particularly difficult, but I feel like I'm wasting my life here. I'm more than happy with the salary, but life isn't about money, it's about happiness, and from the moment I enter work right up until the moment I leave work I'm unhappy.
Current salary is in the high 30k.
No kids.
No mortgage.
No debt.
No partner.
27 years old.
£25k savings.
I applied for a part time postman with driving position at my local delivery office a few weeks ago, passed the interview, and now have an offer.
Why did I apply? Essentially, I want to take my foot off the gas for a while. Sense of freedom from being outdoors. It will give me much more time to self-train, spend a lot more time with family (which I haven't done due to travelling), and achieve some personal goals (weight loss etc). The salary is more than enough to keep me ticking over until I feel ready to move back into IT in a role I want, maybe 6 months to a year down the line.
How will an IT employer see someone who's voluntarily quit IT and moved into an unrelated job? Has anyone quit their IT job for a stop-gap job, then moved back into IT? How hard is it?
You thought about moving into Test Automation? maybe do what you want to do and keep your github active? by the time you come back it'll probably be outsourced to India anyway Looking for some advice from someone who perhaps has gone through the same.
Long story short - been working at the same consultancy in a manual functional testing job for almost 6 years. Travelled far and wide, and now based around an hour from home. Hate going to work (doesn't everyone!) - I'm not learning anything except in my own time, which means I have 0 time to do anything else. Manual testing is not an area I want to remain in. The thought of staying in this role for the next 40 years fills me with dread.
I eventually want to move into a development role. I've spent the past few months learning and re-learning a lot of skills in my own time, and have a lot more to go, whilst being aware that there's a huge difference between being trained in something, and having real world experience.
However I really cannot stand working in my current role. It's a boring, monotonous task with no creativity or intelligence required. At the moment I feel like I have no breathing space. It's not stressful or particularly difficult, but I feel like I'm wasting my life here. I'm more than happy with the salary, but life isn't about money, it's about happiness, and from the moment I enter work right up until the moment I leave work I'm unhappy.
Current salary is in the high 30k.
No kids.
No mortgage.
No debt.
No partner.
27 years old.
£25k savings.
I applied for a part time postman with driving position at my local delivery office a few weeks ago, passed the interview, and now have an offer.
Why did I apply? Essentially, I want to take my foot off the gas for a while. Sense of freedom from being outdoors. It will give me much more time to self-train, spend a lot more time with family (which I haven't done due to travelling), and achieve some personal goals (weight loss etc). The salary is more than enough to keep me ticking over until I feel ready to move back into IT in a role I want, maybe 6 months to a year down the line.
How will an IT employer see someone who's voluntarily quit IT and moved into an unrelated job? Has anyone quit their IT job for a stop-gap job, then moved back into IT? How hard is it?
MinuteMan said:
Hi,
Looking for some advice from someone who perhaps has gone through the same.
Long story short - been working at the same consultancy in a manual functional testing job for almost 6 years. Travelled far and wide, and now based around an hour from home. Hate going to work (doesn't everyone!) - I'm not learning anything except in my own time, which means I have 0 time to do anything else. Manual testing is not an area I want to remain in. The thought of staying in this role for the next 40 years fills me with dread.
I eventually want to move into a development role. I've spent the past few months learning and re-learning a lot of skills in my own time, and have a lot more to go, whilst being aware that there's a huge difference between being trained in something, and having real world experience.
However I really cannot stand working in my current role. It's a boring, monotonous task with no creativity or intelligence required. At the moment I feel like I have no breathing space. It's not stressful or particularly difficult, but I feel like I'm wasting my life here. I'm more than happy with the salary, but life isn't about money, it's about happiness, and from the moment I enter work right up until the moment I leave work I'm unhappy.
Current salary is in the high 30k.
No kids.
No mortgage.
No debt.
No partner.
27 years old.
£25k savings.
I applied for a part time postman with driving position at my local delivery office a few weeks ago, passed the interview, and now have an offer.
Why did I apply? Essentially, I want to take my foot off the gas for a while. Sense of freedom from being outdoors. It will give me much more time to self-train, spend a lot more time with family (which I haven't done due to travelling), and achieve some personal goals (weight loss etc). The salary is more than enough to keep me ticking over until I feel ready to move back into IT in a role I want, maybe 6 months to a year down the line.
How will an IT employer see someone who's voluntarily quit IT and moved into an unrelated job? Has anyone quit their IT job for a stop-gap job, then moved back into IT? How hard is it?
I did pretty similar, left IT in in my late 20s 2015 with the idea of retraining in a completely different field while I buggered about for a couple of years as well. I had a bit of a change of heart in 2017 and applied for a few IT jobs to bridge a 6 month to a year gap and bank some money. To be honest the interviews I did get when the subject came up it was an instant killer and just lead (probably fairly) to pressing questions around skills not being up to date, if I actually wanted to work in IT.... truthfully had I been the other side of the desk I would not have given me the job.Looking for some advice from someone who perhaps has gone through the same.
Long story short - been working at the same consultancy in a manual functional testing job for almost 6 years. Travelled far and wide, and now based around an hour from home. Hate going to work (doesn't everyone!) - I'm not learning anything except in my own time, which means I have 0 time to do anything else. Manual testing is not an area I want to remain in. The thought of staying in this role for the next 40 years fills me with dread.
I eventually want to move into a development role. I've spent the past few months learning and re-learning a lot of skills in my own time, and have a lot more to go, whilst being aware that there's a huge difference between being trained in something, and having real world experience.
However I really cannot stand working in my current role. It's a boring, monotonous task with no creativity or intelligence required. At the moment I feel like I have no breathing space. It's not stressful or particularly difficult, but I feel like I'm wasting my life here. I'm more than happy with the salary, but life isn't about money, it's about happiness, and from the moment I enter work right up until the moment I leave work I'm unhappy.
Current salary is in the high 30k.
No kids.
No mortgage.
No debt.
No partner.
27 years old.
£25k savings.
I applied for a part time postman with driving position at my local delivery office a few weeks ago, passed the interview, and now have an offer.
Why did I apply? Essentially, I want to take my foot off the gas for a while. Sense of freedom from being outdoors. It will give me much more time to self-train, spend a lot more time with family (which I haven't done due to travelling), and achieve some personal goals (weight loss etc). The salary is more than enough to keep me ticking over until I feel ready to move back into IT in a role I want, maybe 6 months to a year down the line.
How will an IT employer see someone who's voluntarily quit IT and moved into an unrelated job? Has anyone quit their IT job for a stop-gap job, then moved back into IT? How hard is it?
I think if you do it it’s a one way move unless you do some sort of relevant formal training along side so you can explain it as a positive of stepping out to build more skills and to allow you to commit fully to the ‘expensive courses’ (they don’t have to be) you took a part time job.
That said if you don’t like IT and want to get out, don’t waste too much time with delivery jobs, build skills with night courses before you leave and go straight for what you want.
Or, go travelling & keep all flight tickets etc as proof.
I was in the same situation about 15 years ago. Was working in IT. Doing a job I hated. Afraid of leaving, thinking people would question why I left. Went travelling for 6 months around South America. With the time I took off before, was out for nearly a year. Returning to the UK stared contracting. Just said went travelling, if anyone asked about the gap. Gap was not an issue. Have just had another year gap, didn't even come up in the interviews. Having a gap is not a problem for a lot of companies.
If you want to change career, suggest staying in IT for now but joining a very large company. Then apply internally for non-IT roles after a year or two.
If you want to change career, suggest staying in IT for now but joining a very large company. Then apply internally for non-IT roles after a year or two.
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