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Ask HN: Is it worth taking a year off?
I'd love to spend a year just experimenting with AI, building stuff, and documenting the whole thing.
My fear is it would ruin my career trajectory and I'd become un-hire-able in the future.
- turtleyacht 5mo agoExperience is cumulative. A single year is not bad. Plus it's relevant to your work or industry.
- thepaulthomson 5mo agoI just don't know if recruiters or hiring managers would buy that. It feels like non-traditional career paths get penalized
- blinkbat 5mo agoHow long have you worked in this field?
- thepaulthomson 5mo ago18mths for an AI saas product
- blinkbat 5mo agoYou've been in the field for 18mo and you want a year off? Come on.
- thepaulthomson 5mo agoContext, this specific field for 18mths. 2yrs in saas other areas, 7 yrs solo business (not saas)
- turtleyacht 5mo agoBenefit of the doubt is they're looking for ways to help qualify you, so education and existing experience easily overrides gaps. As always, it depends. A year is full of distractions. Maybe better to find ways to AI in your present.
- thepaulthomson 5mo agoTotally fair
- blinkbat 5mo agoIf you can afford it and stay on top of the art, it's fine
- tim-tday 5mo agoHow would learning about cutting-edge tech ruin your career? Are you an historian? If you’re in tech just found an LLC (legal zoom $300) call yourself founder and CEO. Declare it as stealth AI startup on LinkedIn. Even if you never release anything (unlikely) The valley loves failure so you’re fine either way. “Founded a startup that never went anywhere” is not an uncommon story.
- thepaulthomson 5mo agoNot going to lie, that sounds so tempting. But I guess that's the point of the original question, quitting basically puts me on an entrepreneurial path
- gaws 5mo ago> How would learning about cutting-edge tech ruin your career? The year-long gap in his resume could be a red flag to recruiters.
- sfmz 5mo agoIf you take a year off to orchestrate some complex-workflows with agents... I expect you'll still be hire-able, but idk.