Is a Mid Career Sabbatical a Good Idea
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I just don't see a short term vacation vs a sabbatical being the same at all. Most companies can survive a two week vacation. As I said, all projects on hold, no changes, just worry about the day to day during that time. Of course I'm talking the SMB here, not big companies that generally have larger staffs in each departments.
I suppose larger companies could handle it easier, they just dump a little more load on everyone else in the team, but smaller companies, single man IT shops, it will be a much larger strain on them.
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@Dashrender said in Is a Mid Career Sabbatical a Good Idea:
I suppose larger companies could handle it easier, they just dump a little more load on everyone else in the team, but smaller companies, single man IT shops, it will be a much larger strain on them.
They plan for the necessary load to handle their environment from the beginning and don't try to make individuals carry the capacity of a team.
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@Dashrender said in Is a Mid Career Sabbatical a Good Idea:
Of course I'm talking the SMB here, not big companies that generally have larger staffs in each departments.
http://www.smbitjournal.com/2013/02/the-smallest-it-department/
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@Dashrender said in Is a Mid Career Sabbatical a Good Idea:
I just don't see a short term vacation vs a sabbatical being the same at all. Most companies can survive a two week vacation. As I said, all projects on hold, no changes, just worry about the day to day during that time.
I honestly no of no company like this.... that can go with zero IT for even two weeks. Oh sure, they might get lucky but it's not a way to plan to operate.
Find me a company that doesn't need outside support available for those two weeks, and I'll show you a company doing nothing (or the really rare one that has no computer dependency.)
And how many tiny companies with only one staffer do "projects" at all? And how many of them? I know a lot of SMBs and year or longer delays because of management alone is not uncommon.
But again... how long would these delays be if you quit?
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I took 18 months off after my last job ended. It was glorious. Only got paid for 6 of them though, had to dip into the investment account. But for a few months there i didnt even have a clock. I unplugged my alarm clock, turned the one on my oven to wrong, and hid the one on my computer.
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@scottalanmiller said in Is a Mid Career Sabbatical a Good Idea:
I honestly no of no company like this.... that can go with zero IT for even two weeks. Oh sure, they might get lucky but it's not a way to plan to operate.
They have coverage, just not onsite coverage for that two weeks.
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@scottalanmiller said in Is a Mid Career Sabbatical a Good Idea:
And how many tiny companies with only one staffer do "projects" at all? And how many of them? I know a lot of SMBs and year or longer delays because of management alone is not uncommon.
But again... how long would these delays be if you quit?
I agree the projects, that I tossed on the pile aren't that many/big, but they wouldn't be zero over the life of the tech, sure may be years between.
But even the day to day stuff, can't print, can't get on the network, my mouse is dead, etc.
Most companies with a single IT person will have a MSP as their backup, which is our case.
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@momurda said in Is a Mid Career Sabbatical a Good Idea:
I took 18 months off after my last job ended. It was glorious. Only got paid for 6 of them though, had to dip into the investment account. But for a few months there i didnt even have a clock. I unplugged my alarm clock, turned the one on my oven to wrong, and hid the one on my computer.
To each there own, a complete lack of a schedule annoys me, but I'm glad it worked for you.
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@momurda said in Is a Mid Career Sabbatical a Good Idea:
I took 18 months off after my last job ended. It was glorious. Only got paid for 6 of them though, had to dip into the investment account. But for a few months there i didnt even have a clock. I unplugged my alarm clock, turned the one on my oven to wrong, and hid the one on my computer.
I've not had a alarm clock for almost 18 years. I refuse to do anything that requires one outside of catching flights.
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@Dashrender said in Is a Mid Career Sabbatical a Good Idea:
@scottalanmiller said in Is a Mid Career Sabbatical a Good Idea:
I honestly no of no company like this.... that can go with zero IT for even two weeks. Oh sure, they might get lucky but it's not a way to plan to operate.
They have coverage, just not onsite coverage for that two weeks.
So if they have coverage for the needs, how much more does it take for the "wants?"
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@Dashrender said in Is a Mid Career Sabbatical a Good Idea:
@scottalanmiller said in Is a Mid Career Sabbatical a Good Idea:
And how many tiny companies with only one staffer do "projects" at all? And how many of them? I know a lot of SMBs and year or longer delays because of management alone is not uncommon.
But again... how long would these delays be if you quit?
I agree the projects, that I tossed on the pile aren't that many/big, but they wouldn't be zero over the life of the tech, sure may be years between.
But even the day to day stuff, can't print, can't get on the network, my mouse is dead, etc.
Most companies with a single IT person will have a MSP as their backup, which is our case.
Right.. and doesn't all that sound like a year off once or twice a decade wouldn't have much of any impact? Especially when you consider that you'd be fresh and ready to go when you return? And maybe they'd be ready to make decisions faster?
The rubber banding effect might seriously absorb the whole thing!
