Ask HN: Will working on my own hurt my career?

Assuming that you're worried this "time off" won't look to good to future potential employers, I think you've got the wrong attitude. People will have different opinions on it, but my advice would be to create a business entity for these projects, then just list and talk about your employment/operation of a business like any other work experience. Don't frame it to potential employers or others as "taking time off"; you're not taking time off to screw around, you're going to be working. It's productive business time, tell it like it is. You don't have to call it a start up, but after the fact, if you'd like to get back into the BigCo world, say you spent a few years running your own development shop for the experience.

Along with setting up a business, make a website and run a blog with it. Highlight the products you release, and give anyone who searches your past a clear idea that you were being productive and successfully managing a small business. Keeping it looking respectable is all about how you frame it and portray it.

We are privileged to work in, quite possibly, the best industry in the world to have a short blank space in one's resume. No place where you would want to work will ding you for "I wanted a new challenge so I took a sabbatical after leaving my old job and spent some time experimenting with new technologies. Want to talk about what I learned?"

I'm just wrapping up what you're about to start.

I'm also an experienced programmer (7+ years). I left to do my own thing for 9 months, and the venture ended without success. But what I built was interesting, and I made sure to give talks at local meetups to put my face out there during those 9 months.

When I needed to find consulting work, I cold called (emailed) someone at a major US newspaper (a big one) asking if they needed work, explaining what I'd been up to. They were impressed and hired me shortly after. And when I quotes a rate which more than doubled my previous pay (which was nothing to sneeze at) they accepted.

So go for it, but take my advice and get your face out there while you do it. Speak at meetups, write blog posts, and get noticed.

It will shock you how much it can help your career.

I agree with the others, one of the nice things about tech is that you can more easily afford to do this kind of thing than in other fields. One thing I would say, though, by way of advice: definitely try to complete projects as opposed to starting lots of them. I'm sure this goes without saying, but it would be a lot more compelling if you can say "I took some time off and made these cool things" rather than "I took some time off and started all these cool things", if that makes sense.

If you have to ask, the you're not ready.

Quitting your job and striking out alone has to be the kind of decision that comes from passion. Yes, you have to be ready technically and financially. You'll need a plan for food, shelter, the internet, and the support from your friends and family.

But all that's got to play second fiddle, a distant background, to that burning need to create. The desire to meld a future in your own hands, that consuming passion that blots out all the worries of consequences and obliterates apprehension with just the pure possibility of what could be made.

Don't get me wrong, have a plan. But if you're not driven mad by the incessant need to let the fruits of your mind explode out of your fingertips, if thoughts of your future, your career, what ifs, and what nots are still around, rotting at the foundation of your desires, then you're just not ready.

You will need that passion to survive on your own. It will be difficult. You'll have tough times, worries from your family, and worries from yourself. The self doubt can at times be a terrible burden, but the demon in your mind demands to be satisfied, and it will have it's way. You must hand yourself over to it and it will drag you to success. But only if you can give yourself fully.

In short, you don't take time off to do something because it will be a good move for your next paying job. You take time off to give yourself over to your passions. You've only held a paying job this long so you can become that junkie and still live.

(It's how I get by)

Oh, and if you fail, the experience will only make you stronger.

I actually changed industries (I was a semicondutor design engineer) for learning new stuff in software. I was really worried if people will see this sudden change and gap in my employment as a bad sign. But now I don't really care what they might think. If I am learning new things and building something, how can that ever be taken as a bad thing?

I agree with the previous response. As long as you create a company around the work (Even if it is just a good name and not a real entity, it still sounds better than "self-employed").

Get some apps (or GitHub contributions) out there during this time and you'll be fine.

If I saw something like this on a candidates resume, I'd be impressed (and jealous), and would probably spend most of the interview talking about these projects and your motivation behind them. My only concern would be that you'd leave in 6 months to go play with some new shiny technology our company was not currently using. So you'd need to frame your answers to satisfy that concern.

HTHs!

To echo what others are saying, I don't think this will hurt your career, if anything it should help and should give you the opportunity to meet new people, start working on projects you are more passionate about, and gain new skills. All making you much more 'employable' I would say.

But more importantly I think I'd ask myself, if not now, when? I have a feeling its never going to get easier to go out on a limb, so the question is more will you be happy looking back if you didn't give it a shot? Live a little.

:)

I did something very similar. Quit job that wasn't a good investment of my time, created an iPhone app, ran out of savings, worked at another job that was a decent investment of time, quit that job and created more iPhone apps, and finally took an awesome job.

As long as you have products to show for that 6-9 month period then you're good to go imo.

I've done this more than once, and each time got hired back at more interesting jobs at a better rate. I'm not convinced it's the greatest way to manage a career or a social life, but in my experience there was no other way to find the time to learn new things.

You might acquire some first class experience, while having a lot more fun (and stress) than at your regular job.

As a bonus, you may even built some passive cash flow that will help you stay financially secure.

Careers are overrated anyway.

Doing stuff by yourself whether it's a startup, consulting, side projects are is very lonely. There's a lot of insecurity you will face, and the sad thing is there will be very little people to commiserate with, unlike the corporate world. Almost noone will understand the uncertainty you will face day-to-day. Noone will fathom the heavy decisions you will need to make. Noone will be there to give you the answers(although you can find mentors). If you will tell people what you're going through, they'll just nod your head and then try to change the subject to their boss, or American Idol. It's a very very lonely road.