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. How 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. Not 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 > How would learning about cutting-edge tech ruin your career? The year-long gap in his resume could be a red flag to recruiters. Experience is cumulative. A single year is not bad. Plus it's relevant to your work or industry. I just don't know if recruiters or hiring managers would buy that. It feels like non-traditional career paths get penalized Benefit 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. Totally fair How long have you worked in this field? 18mths for an AI saas product You've been in the field for 18mo and you want a year off? Come on. Context, this specific field for 18mths. 2yrs in saas other areas, 7 yrs solo business (not saas) If you take a year off to orchestrate some complex-workflows with agents... I expect you'll still be hire-able, but idk. If you can afford it and stay on top of the art, it's fine