I QUIT My Software Engineer Job | Why and What's Next
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- čas přidán 7. 06. 2024
- After years of thinking about it, I finally did it. I gave notice a couple of weeks ago that I'm quitting my software engineering job.
I'm stepping out of the traditional employment path and into the land of self-employment. I'm largely not sure what's next, but here I talk about why I decided to do this and what my strategy will be.
Some of the sources that inspired me:
Naval - www.navalmanack.com/almanack-...
The Tail End - waitbutwhy.com/2015/12/the-ta...
Daniel Vassallo - / only-intrinsic-motivat...
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Who am I?
I'm Peter Elbaum, a software engineer living in Raleigh, North Carolina. I make videos about code, software engineering career development, and self improvement. I also have a newsletter (peterelbaum.com/subscribe) and tweet my thoughts on money, work, and being a great dev. Feel free to get in touch! - Věda a technologie
One thing I wanted to add - of course, I also chose to become an engineer because I love writing code and creating things!
Reply to this comment with your questions and I'll do my best to answer :)
Exciting stuff Peter! Glad to see you taking on this challenge. Keep us posted 🙂
Thanks, Diogo! Hope you're well brother :)
It used to be that if you owned your own business and then it failed ... it could be harder for you to find a new job if they found it you'd ever been self-employed because they brand you a Maverick and know that once you have a chance to bolt out of those doors again you will .
Probably a much different game now than it was in the 90's .
I’ve been in the same career and office for almost 28 years. Looking to retire in a few years at age 55, and pursue software development. I have no background in IT so this will be a new adventure in life for me. I will have the security of lots of capital saved and a pension; so, yes, one could argue there’s a lot less risk in what I’m planning. Hopefully, it comes to fruition.
@Melifter Too many people in software development, a lot of competition as the barrier of entry are nill. How is your plan working?
You quit because you could afford to . Not many people have that option.
True
Super refreshing and inspiring to see a software dev "youtuber" branching away from conventional employment that isn't *only* going full-time youtube. I wish you the best and I'm excited to see where this (you) all goes. Just a little nervous it might end up being contagious 😅.
Thanks, Andrew! Always appreciate your support :)
Congratulations, and good luck with this adventure I look forward to see where you take this
First time I watch one of your videos and it made me genuinely happy to see you explaining your particular situation. It is motivating and I thank you for sharing with us! All the best, Peter! You got this!
Thanks and welcome!! :)
My best wishes to you Peter! Excited to see your journey
Thanks so much! :)
After years of being in software, I left. Then I spent years trying to figure out what I really wanted to do, couldn't find anything that worked. So I tried to get back in, but now get rejected for job gap and not being current. Difficult to know what to invest all your time into and get a decent benefit in the end.
its funny the company looks into job gap and not the skills of the person..
@@blitzgaming2771Skill gap. He was away for years. That's an eternity in the software world.
@@ybergik so meaning you can't even take a break in tech for a few years, because of constant enovation in tech? but i thought if you got years of experience already, company will prefer you compared to newbies? of course that is if you are both applying for the same junior position?
Why didn't you keep developing and keep up to date?
@@lxp Time factors. I was working full-time and going to school at night. You can't just go to class a couple hours after work and call it good, there was always homework. School was a total waste of time and money. If I would have skipped the bs degree and just studied on my own after work, then I would have been much better off career wise. But, they were starting to require a BS degree to be employed at my company.
Looking forward to your progress!
Thanks for following along! :)
I love it man, I’ve been working on expanding my free applications into income generating projects and working with a close friend and designer to begin the process of living off of my own work and passions.
Code will never leave my life and I will more than likely build my life around it but the freedom to adhere to your own agenda is liberating. Just subscribed and I’ll try my best to stay engaged with your videos as a fellow entrepreneur and fan. Your outlook is encouraging and optimistic in the ways I needed to hear.
Awesome - congrats on also pursuing this path! Let me know if you figure out any secrets to building profitable apps :)
Thanks for following along too!
I’m at the top as a software engineer in my perspective and I’m thinking about what’s next. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you @PeterElbaum for sharing your journey. So many of these ideas, especially quality time with family, have been hitting me recently, after 10 years of working as a dev. So much to digest….
You are very welcome! Always good to know we aren't alone
I am still thinking ! Good to know someone with same mindset :)
Always! :)
I quit my engineering job back in 2020 and enrolled in medical school and never looked back. Cheers!
Wow, med school. Didn't see that one coming. Congrats! :)
Congrats and best of luck!
Thank you!
New sub right here! Keep up the great vids!! Love the journey!
Welcome aboard! Thanks, Ray :)
What bootcamps would you recommend to become a developer or learn code for your own company? Thanks for sharing your story
Would love to learn more about your portfolio of projects
Everyone quits this shitty industry. Whoever doesn't is depressed or halfway there, or just in denial of being depressed
I understand but have a second plan before quitting.. working multiple remote job helps! Also equity can be house/rental property and stock.
Wow what a coincidence!
I’m in the same path as you, same influences
I have been doing software for far longer time
Hope it's going well! :)
I just finished my bootcamp, questioning life as a dev long term. Is dev work always stressful meeting deadlines, fix bugs u don't know, and a lot of thinking? I went in cuz I wanted to remote and chill and relaxing job, but the BootCamp made me think its so stressful with constantly not knowing stuff and meeting deadlines.
Hmm, this is interesting. My take is that the nature of doing development professionally is to have deadlines/sprint commitments. Encountering weird bugs and doing hard thinking are just part of the endeavor, independent of business needs.
Bootcamp was stressful for me too. I think it does get better over time. That said, I'd take a hard look at your motivations and consider if your goals line up with doing development for the long haul. Hope this helps!
@@PeterElbaum did you find after you got comfortable in coding, the stress was still there? Or can you work a few hours get your job done and clock out? Was quitting part of like the stress, work environment, or the work?
@@TKGZONE Stress wasn't part of quitting, it was more for the things I mentioned in the video like wanting more control over what I work on, more influence over my time, prioritizing family, etc.
In my experience, the stress was higher at the beginning of my career because I still had a lot to learn, but it's gotten better with time.
Great video...thanks for sharing, newly subscibed. Good luck and all the best :)
Thanks and welcome! :)
Good luck!
Thank you! :)
Working remote does not work well for all.
What would be your net worth as a software engineer as compared to what you are pursuing ?
man i am from Uruguay, im 25 right now, ive been studiying for this shit, and now i am working from a tipical millenial software job, but i never felt with less freedom than now, i work too many hours, the office work is so stressful, i hate have a boss, hate people being shitty with you just to scale in the corporation i hate this rat race shit, i see this people working since 90's on the same shit, and i realized i dont want it. my life has no meaning right now, i have to quit and monetize youtube before the burnout cames soon or later. some people with my father age will tell like "what are you crazy? leaving a work like this? you dont know nothing about life" i think they are not seeing this further, they just seeing the superficial part. i feel like another brick in the wall like pink floyd. i dont know, sorry for my english, and good luck with your stuff man, being free and work for yourself is worth more than any corporative job and their free coffee, FUCK THAT RAT RACE SHIT
I feel this strongly - keep your head up and keep betting on yourself!
My son used to work with an older man who came from ... I forget if it was Guatemala or another island in the Pacific but he came from a family that had dirt floors in their shack .
He worked hard for everything he had in America but believed in living modestly ... and pretty much had no debt .
Every now and then he would tell my son who was about the same age as his kids that he couldn't believe how his children were all slaves with a lot of credit card debt constantly spending and buying and buying things they did not have to have .
He felt instead of being better off than him that they were worse off because they were now so deeply in debt ... he said they were now slaves to the rat race whereas he actually had a choice
I don't know if time spent together is a good way to measure how much you are spending with the people you love. My wife and I both work remotely, and our daughter is too young to go out on her own. We also live a single room apartment. We spend A LOT of time "together", but 90% of that time is stressful. I mean imagine your sick daughter staying home from daycare while you are working remotely on a PC right next to her, and now she's feeling better and wants to climb and jump on the desk, while your being asked your opinion in a video meeting and your mother in law is asking to come over and... well you get the point.
Having focused time at work followed by focused time with your family could be more valuable than just a simple time spent together metric.
How are you going with this now Peter? Thanks for the video it’s great insight
Hi Jane - doing pretty well! Update video coming within a couple weeks :)
I have left my software engineer job too.
dpmt worry, i work inn a 9 to 5 and currenntly in a wweelding school and just two hours a day coding. to learn
I’ve always avoided Naval because his YT thumbnails looked so “cult-y” 😆 but he makes alotta sense. I’m a business major moving/learning web development. Equity has a direct correlation to net worth. It’s easy to get lost in the tech sauce
Exactly! It seems you're starting to drink some kool aid :)
How did you become an engineer ? Do you have a degree in Software ?
When everyone is running to the gold sell the shovels. You are a sharp guy.
😂
"How I got here". Always love a heartfelt "how i transitioned to coding" story👍
Thank you!
why did you left part time lifestyle?
Since Praxent didn't call me yet, even though I was approved in their hiring process, you can hire me to help you in your new projects lol
Good luck with this new life phase.
Thank you! :)
Yeah one thing I always found a bit perplexing, is that I can work hard and possibly get a raise, but I can't work hard and get a time reduction. Like honestly I don't need more money. I need more time. So why can't I get a job that pays the same but requires less hours. Obviously this is where freelance comes in, but it just seems weird how that isn't even an option in a company setting.
You buy franchises ?
Hey Peter, I found you through your popular video "REAL React Interview Questions" and I'm glad I decided to click on the SHOW MORE button to find your website cuz I had a feeling that you had some goods to share on your website. The first article I read was "What I've Learned About "Better" Developer Jobs". Your article really connected with me on an emotional level because I spent two and a half years part-time learning how to code from scratch, only to get my first web dev job where I'm barely coding because I'm working mostly on a low-code CRM software or legacy technology. And to top if off, I spend 40-50% of my time in meetings. So my skills have definitely wasted away in the past year.
I also wanted to say that I've never seen a larger goldmine of resources on a single website/blog/newsletter than yours before and I have seen/subscribed to a lot of them. All the people (Ali Abdaal, Naval, Cal Newport, Shawn Wang, etc.) that you reference in your website/newsletter, especially in Pete's Picks, are people that've inspired me before and I can't imagine how much knowledge you've gained over the years from all of them. It makes me wonder if you have some Personal Knowledge Management system of your own that you use to capture and express all this knowledge. I recently discovered the Building a Second Brain system by Tiago so I'm really excited to get into this realm of Personal Knowledge Management.
Anyway, I really just wanted to thank you for deciding to go on this journey of self-mastery and self-employment and sharing all the details with us in your website, newsletter, podcast, CZcams channel (you're really going all out) as it's all deeply inspiring! I wish you all the success and I'll be following you closely!
Thanks for reading and for your encouragement! Means a lot to me :)
As far as knowledge management, I use Notion and capture ideas for newsletter, videos, etc there in the "board" style of page. Then, when it comes time to write, I just grab a ticket of the top of the stack (or whatever I'm most interested in at the moment).
I was a field service tech for Cummins Allison 852 Feehanville Drive Mount Prospect, IL 60056 they make money counting equipment (not the diesel people) but same scenario, half assed parts and to top it of they told me not to do the preventative maintenance anymore at customer sites just run the vacuum a little bit and wipe down the machines. I was like "But that is gonna make the service call numbers go up and is >theft of service< WHY ? Well they wanted to keep selling new equipment every 3 years or so see ? With At Will I was fired,SAD HUH ? Country is in TROUBLE...
I hope u'll achieve what you want 😉
Thank you! :)
I really enjoyed your video and the topics you brought up. I'm curious if you're married and/or have kids. I ask because family is a major component in the financial decision making process.
Married, no kids. DINK as they say. Of course, it's a huge advantage as it pertains to doing something like this.
Great video. My issue is a short attention span and imposter syndrome. I have a Web Dev degree I completed with honors in 2020 and have done so much self-study, but whenever I see dev job listings, there's 10+ technologies listed that I've never even been exposed to lol. I took a break from dev for a few years as well, and just recently started re-teaching myself everything, but I don't really want a full time job, I'd rather figure out how to code on upwork or something, but I've heard that can be hit or miss.
Do you think this is a great time to go to boot camp and become a software engineer?
Good as any other! :)
unless you're trying to be very rich (>$50M), then non-public equity is a bad strategy. Its ok if you don't get equity... Your salary should capture the net present value of the future value EROI on all upside. Use the Salary to buy a basket of equity rather than be concentrated in a single upside (which you likely have no liquidity or essentially no control over the direction of the business / votes) ...
the most hard as a software engineer is to quit software engineer job and start a new path in other industry
Career changes are always tough I think :)
How many of those in student loan debt are quitting their jobs then crying they can’t afford to pay the “crushing” debt?
Don't you normally figure out what you do next first before quitting. I guess if you can afford it great.
Sir can you please help me to get job I don't have work experience but I am ok with work from home job
Happy to give advice, but I only vouch for people I know personally! :)
I don't think FIRE makes sense. After 30s body goes downhill. It's hard to have fun as in 20s. I traveled, ride bike, tented, drunk, partied now I can't do all that. I am glad I didn't spend that time at the desk. Loved a lot of women too 😊
Fair point!
Talks about COVID: “remember back to that time”. Crazy it’s already been over 2.5 years.
I know right?
@@PeterElbaum it’s crazy. But also a stark reminder about how fast time goes. What did we do with those 2.5 years? Could we have taken a boot camp to get into IT? Surely!
Peter, you took a whole bottle of red pills! 😂 Congrats on your new adventure, I'm proud to know you!
Hah, thanks Jared!! 😅
Maybe I do need to lay off those...
Learn how to daytrade stocks!? It can be a good source of income once you learn and become a profitable trader. Many profitable traders only trade a few hours in the morning and then they focus on the things they like to do and enjoy life!
Good luck with making realistic money with trading job, 99% of traders don’t make living from it
@@jigsaw2253 That's because 99% of traders don't study or put in the hard work to be profitable.
You should think about the eternal hereafter not this short life
nah
Buy dunkin donuts there's no whites with dubkin donuts
DISLIKE
You are beating the bush and you are hiding something,
You don't really provide the truth why you did it.
Maybe becasue you don't want to scare away the viwers and the wanabe newbes who don't know the realities of working in Software Development.
I will just say that it is hard and underpaid, but that would be an understatement :(
-no hair
-glasses
-patagonia
walking meme NPC
😅
Wahala iya e niyen
Or go back to school
Hi Bro. Brilliant story. Glad you figured it out. Would you be able to share your Insta or WhatsApp?