I have not quit. Instead I became a high achiever in other aspects of life. I listen to folks at work talking about programming podcasts and online tech conferences..... I won a bike race last year and podium'd in a 100 mile off road race. I can cook pretty quickly these days, which results in making healthy, tasty food that my kids actually eat (along with the kraft mac n cheese which is an anchor nobody can escape).

Anyway, once you step away from computers life is huge. Give your job what it needs, and give the rest to yourself.

Sounds like you have a lot going on in the real life, and I have to admit I am a bit jealous now, I def should "get a life" outside of my work identity, something I have struggled to do successfully so far tbh.

I know it's a really "just do sport bro" advice, and i know that not everybody can do it (i actually have ankle issues since i was 18, and slowly becoming obese did not help at all, but i found a nice PT and techniques that mitigate the pain in the morning). You probably have money so you can try expensive sports like sailing and parasailing (i know i did).

The pandemic helped me in regard with moving out, trying new stuff (i took a 6 month sabbatical where i tried half a dozen new activities).

...truer words were never spoken! :D

What are your times? What was the first greatest thing?

The greatest thing was my father giving me a hug after my first solo flight. He wasn't very affectionate.

Being unable to say "no" is also a great way to burn out in the first place. The advice of "just slack off" is often given in cases like these, but... if the person could do that, would they be burned out in the first place?

If he’s been doing as well as he claims, he can sit on his hands for a few months and start slow rolling his work.

You will be exponentially more attractive to recruiters while employed. Recruiters/HR will treat you as high value and will value your time a lot more if you are just changing jobs.

The opposite is true for someone looking for opportunities whilst unemployed, irrespective of industry experience.

The difference in recruited experience is massive having experienced both scenarios. It is just an unavoidable human bias from future employers.

After reading: HELL YES. Get the hell out of there (but don't just quit without finding another job first, I mean just start interviewing as soon as you can). "The processes won't allow it" is corp-speak for 'don't expect anything ever from this company'. I've worked at levels above me (did the job of my boss after he quit) and never got a promotion for it, despite being told I should get one if I just hang on, for three years. The way to get to your level is to leave that company and join a new one at the level where you're supposed to be.

The hurdles to getting a new job suck, but you have to do it for your own sanity. Start doing whatever you need to prepare for it now, and make it a priority, even over your job if need be.

And worse, several clearly less talented folks on my team are getting promoted to senior before me (due to tenure/politicking). I virtually took the day off every time it happened.

And worse, my boss promised me promotion in an upcoming cycle once (after 1y), and it didn't come. It's promised to me again (after 2y). Should happen any day now.. can't help but feel it was held hostage to deliver a 6-8mo effort.

The only true leverage I have is to come to my boss with another job offer. And I tried, but couldn't find anything that I was willing to be called my bluff on. Job market is scary. In the US you are competing against 30k-50k layoffs (who are in the top 10% at least).

You are really angry right now, and perhaps rightfully so. Just don't make an objectively bad decision by quitting a job in a recession without another/better one.

Take 2 weeks off. Reduce your work hours/responsibility (if you're not senior, don't work like a Senior). Consider blocking off 2-3h/day for either interview prep, OR indie dev. Write a list of the things you appreciate about your current job and practice gratitude consciously.

the employers behaviour here is offensive to any persons sensibilities and I think everyone reading this would be of the same mind to moving on as soon as possible. The way to do this is of course start talking with other employers, there is no reason why you couldn't rustle up some more suitable opportunities whilst you continue in post with this employer. Go only when you have found the right opportunity

I've heard they do but figure they are unicorns

I've only been in the industry for thirty years tho

IMO burnout is hard to identify in the moment, but looking back, its clear to see :). Keep your job for now, start the job hunt, and good luck.

Don’t go indie, it will burn your savings - scratch this itch later when you’re better motivated.

Don’t get disillusioned with the industry, bad jobs are more common than good jobs, move on until you find one that appreciates you better.

Sure it’s easier to stay with the familiar prison than face the possibility of the unknown, but the bravery of stepping out is the cost that must be paid for the search for happiness, the easy decision is usually not the correct one.

Start applying!

Also titles are not the same across companies. SR dev at one place is a level 5 dev at another is a lead dev at a third.

If you are at the pay you want with a lower title, that is pure gold. It means an easy promotion, which is a pay bump.

Fighting for a higher title as an IC when happy with the pay seems like you are fighting against yourself. You want to be hired at the highest possible title so you have many years to go until a promotion?

Get another job.

The interviews are part of the process. This is tough love: Suck it up. There's a part of you that does have the energy, and you know that. The fact that you can get excited as an indie dev says that you're not as burned out as you might think. You're just scared. It makes sense. But you can do it.

I hope this helps.

Upgrade your LinkedIn to premium and set it so that only recruiters see you're open for work. With 10+ years of experience you'll have recruiters crawling in your inbox like cockroaches :D

Only quit when you've already signed a contract with the new employer, just be mindful of any notice periods you may have.

You should look for medium or small companies that doesn't have a lot of bureaucratic management layers if you want more direct feedback on the effort you put in. In my experience, success in large enterprises was usually helping your manager sell your project to rest of the company.

Anyways, you definitely should be looking for new opportunities while also cutting back on the amount of effort you put in your current company. General markets might be burning but demand for IT is still forever growing.

Would you be happy with a promotion that came with a meaningless raise? A promotion that had you doing the same thing?

In my experience, titles are absolutely meaningless outside of larger tech companies that have leveling guidelines.

Does your company have a leveling guideline?

It worked out well for me, and I'd probably do it again without much hesitation if it felt necessary.

That's probably not enough to decide if it's worth it for you, but I thought I'd throw in my 2 cents.

If you feel like you're stuck at worth, it's pretty therapeutic to feel productive on things outside of work. For me, that's been side projects, my blog, ice hockey, running, and my family.

There was a point in my life where I really seriously considered quitting everything and just traveling southeast asia for a while. But there's this saying, "wherever you go, there you are". A lot of the issues in my case where actually intrinsic and not related to my environment. I did travel around a bit, but it was actually just super lonely and isolating. All of these cool things to see, nobody to share the view with.

Ultimately it's better to just work with what you've got and set up roots, start growing them. If your job root isn't growing, that's fine, work on the other ones.

Either you're valued and suddenly the procedures won't be an issue, or you have found yourself another place to work.

But take your time, no rush. Just make sure you keep showing your value in your current job, that's your only currency.

In this case though it would take a lot to make me stay. They have already lied or given a deeply misleading impression of your seniority. I would not expect their overall management style to change.

It sounds like this is stressing you out big time and you're very burnt out. How many months of runway do you have if you quit today? I would anticipate 4-6 months of unemployment but it sounds like you're not in North America so it might be different where you are.

Basically my advice is quit immediately, live off savings for at least 3 months and don't think about applying for jobs. Don't even code if you're not enjoying it. Do something else, feel like you're mastering some hobby, and after 3 months start looking for jobs. You'll find you have a lot more mental capacity to deal with interview bullshit and hopefully in the next role you won't burn out as quickly.

If Sunday morning all you can think about is how horrible Monday will be, and it gives you loads of anxiety, then you are burning out and you prolly need to quit -- you'll figure something out.

If they refuse, that's cool, you give them your resignation - they probably anticipate a resignation already.

If they try to meet you partway, that's cool too, but it's basically them making up for something they should have done when they hired you.

If they agree to your demands, that's an excellent result. That gives you a starting salary to negotiate with if you then decide to move on anyway, but any immediate financial pressure should be off your shoulders then.

Do the minimal amount of what you need to do at work to get your job done and work on a side hustle that gets you excited at night. Limit it to 2 or 3 hours per day but stay consistent. At the same time study the job market and identify opportunities that would work for you then learn the technologies and skills required for those positions and add that as skills on your resume.

Life is too short to not be excited about what you are doing every morning you wake up. But you also have to have an action plan for the future to get out of the status quo.

The fact that you realised what had happened 6 months after signing the contract might give you some information about how motivated you were about this job in the first place.

Of course, this is just me guessing but it looks like you've been delaying an important decision about what you want and can do about your career. In fact, your message contains some hints about what the issue is.

Finally, not a piece of advice though, but whatever you decide, try to do it as a positive step not as a direct reaction to what happened with your current employer.

You might be able to do it from abroad on the cheap. There are plenty of resources that can help you structure your thought and time. Just realize being single and financially secure is an opportunity to explore and discover. These moments in life where you have the freedom and interest to work on yourself aren't all that many. Good luck.

Try to arrange your meetings to keep your Friday free. Use your new-found free time to search for new jobs, or even bootstrap your own project.

I feel like I should be upset about this. After all, I do value recognition, and would like to see my work validated among my peers. However it would seem that skill and effort are not required to be promoted at my current company. And from experience this is a general truth: there will always be biases, social structures, etc to overcome.

I am not entirely upset by it. I am already paid a lot of money and I'm not left wanting in life. I have few responsibilities at work which is great because I have lot at home (unlike you I do have dependents, a spouse, a mortgage, etc). A promotion would mean more responsibility and pressure along with the higher pay. And that's not going to make the work any more interesting or challenging in the ways I find satisfying.

What would improve my life is having interesting work to do. Most of what I work on is extremely boring enterprise business-ware. I've given up being ambitious and working on interesting, challenging work because I'm more concerned and interested in my family and our well-being and my hobbies than I am in trying to change the world or prove anything.

If, one day, this company does manage to exit and my options turn out to be valuable and I make a bunch of F-U money then it won't matter anyway. That's when I can loosen the collar and sit back and do my own thing.

So my advice is: don't evaluate your life based on your job and its social hierarchies. Promotions, titles, etc are almost always bullshit in tech. Instead look at what you have and try to think about what it is that you need, what expectations are being missed and make a move that will improve the quality of your life.

If you have enough money to survive for six months with a tight budget maybe you're in the right place to start your own company?

Maybe you can take time off to dedicate time to a side project you find fulfilling?

On the flip side, maybe starting a new hobby is the way to go and just clock in/out at work. Chasing promotions is hard work and perhaps the benefits are not that valuable to you.

Two weeks out 6 weeks whatever you can swing

Take it

Relax

Interview if you feel like it

You're in a bad spot

Def do not quit if you are not dying

Hiring companies love to torture the jobless

Whereas they know they only have very limited runway w a jobbed applicant

Look for a 4 day work week

Consider contracting for a quick hire

Know the hiring process before you spend any real time else you could really screw yourself like spend 20 hours then bail

don't jump until you have something lined up. lot of layoffs happening now and the market is is reasonably saturated, plus finding a job often takes longer than you think.

try to network in person a bunch. linux user groups, python hackers collectives, etc.

This is it, on top of it being a crappy company.

Don't worry. Most of us that have been around long enough have been there. Just dig the ditches while trying to find a new job. While the job market is tighter, there are still plenty of senior level jobs out there. From the conversations that I've had with recruiters, there's really a glut of juniors, while there's a lot of space for seniors.

Don't stay and "work your way into a senior". That's a bait ands switch as old as time. They're trying to get senior level talent at mid level cost. Do the work of an average mid level if you're paid as a mid level.

In the mean while (while looking for other positions), find something that mentally stimulates you.

I'd find another job and - if you were lied to, I'd talk to a lawyer.

Plus, a lawyer would be a luxury these days with all the mediation agreements being forced down our throats.

at least my 2 cents

But an interviewer asking me about my previous job doesn’t worry me. “I left because I decided to take a 6 month sabbatical.” is a perfectly good answer. Don’t like it? Please let me know at the beginning of the interview so I can walk out without wasting my day.

I've said this in many similar threads but programmers/SWE are among the most privileged workers in the world economy and the grass is NOT greener on the other side. SWEs make enough money they can retire in half the time as the average worker if they so desire, so I'd stick it out and focus on other things in life outside of work for fulfillment.

In the US only.

I know incredible engineers with great experience, well known engineers, who have been unemployed 50% of the time or more during Covid.

It's no longer a seller's market, it's a buyer's market. If you do find a new job, it will take you a long time, and you will take a lower salary than you have now.

Regardless they shouldn't just quit without having another job lined up, and you have to be a bit more careful with your choice of company (maybe choose one that already jumped at the chance to do its "well everyone is laying off 10% of their staff, we should too even though we're still making record profits").