Quit my Job? Is this a Dumb Idea?

[nicksaiz65]

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Now that you've reached a decision on the main question, I thought I'd pick this tangent up (in your reply to @Murk , not me)


Does "pass your interview" and "can do the job well" assume interviews are a flawless process that perfectly captures your skills and learning?

In my experience interviews are neither flawless nor have perfect accuracy. Imagine you're taking a test, and one of the questions is "pick a letter". You might be shocked the test doesn't have a definite, correct answer... but that sometimes happens in interviews. For reasons that are somewhat random, you might not pass the interview. Or maybe you "can do the job well", but the interviewer can't figure out if your interview answers are better than other candidates'. A lot can happen in interviews, so keep that in mind when you're thinking about pushing the limits while relying on your skills and experience to pass the interview.

I suppose it wouldn’t. Passing an interview and being competent at your job are two very different skills.

The leetcode and the behavioral questions are equally difficult, I hear. I plan to practice both while I’m preparing to get other jobs.

 

[nicksaiz65]

My major in music swapped numerous times as I transferred from community college, to state school, to a full ride at a private school. My music scholarships dictated my degree and then when covid hit they laid off the majority of music departments (including mine) so I had to tap dance. Eventually I just dropped the major all together (and received backlash from the department for doing so) and focused on my completely unrelated major.

Unless you thrive under uncertainty then making a career out of music is very stressing and is a significant challenge. You need to diversify your skillset's and understand ways to gain multiple sources of income. I teach privately, at a studio, play gigs, work live sound, tune pianos and do freelance demo work and on occasion a incredibly rare session. I also flip guitar gear and pay close attention to that market.

I've been fortunate to become close friends with several professors and some real notable jazz cats. During covid we would do work together over zoom and use an online DAW called soundtrap. Nearly every musician I know took a tremendous hit during covid since the primary means of making money were decimated. Teaching online became a thing, but it sucks for both the teacher and the student.
Players that have been alongside grammy winners and play in world class touring bands were suddenly put on hold. The only good thing to come of the pandemic for artists was they had time to make new music, but were limited in doing so.

A friend of mine is a former Juilliard graduate, he could not land a job playing with any notable ensembles and actually have income. He tried teaching for about a year then bailed, since you either need to be very savvy and run your own business or take a hit and teach at a school and make jack. He know works in sales, despite being able to shred paganini. I have many musician friends that are exceptionally skilled and talented who make little to no money, it is the way it is.

So you were able to keep your music scholarships while dropping your music major?

That’s really interesting. I had a scholarship to play in orchestra for 3 of those years when I was in school, which helped a bit. I am still in student debt though

That’s crazy that he can play that extremely difficult music but doesn’t make much. Seems that just playing for fun like you all said, and saving most of my bandwidth for the CS is the best answer.

I’ve had two Paganini Caprices, but never played the concerto.

 

[BillyPilgrim]

The great musicians approach music as art and not music. If you take a technical, scientific approach you're not going to be able to separate yourself as much. The vast majority of the greats didn't go to music school. John Mayer went to Berklee, but he knew to read between the lines and use his instruction as means to and end rather than an end in itself.

I imagine both you dudes @Stanley @nicksaiz65 you be better musicians if you studied other art forms more, and music less.

 

[Stanley]

The great musicians approach music as art and not music. If you take a technical, scientific approach you're not going to be able to separate yourself as much. The vast majority of the greats didn't go to music school. John Mayer went to Berklee, but he knew to read between the lines and use his instruction as means to and end rather than an end in itself.

I agree with this but no disrespect, don't tell me what I need to study or how to approach things, you don't know me.

Any halfwit who is worth their salt knows music school is a sham and I was accepted into Berklee as a teen and knew that even then. It is a waste of money and countless musicians walk out for good reason. (John Petrucci, Mayer, Quincy Jones etc...) As mentioned I dropped my music degree in part because of covid, but also because it is a fruitless effort. My skillsets' paid for my degree and I have no loans to speak of, that and I had an entirely unrelated major with practical use to fall back on. I only bothered with the degree because it paired with my scholarships. With my students I consistently tell them to NOT go to school for music. If you have the chops and something to offer start putting yourself out there and playing out, not wasting your time in books studying pitch class theory when you wanna be a punk rocker.

I despise music education and music academia at large. It creates drones who have little creativity. What is even more shocking is how far Jazz studies have derailed from the core of Jazz. I was once criticized by a certain grammy winning musician during a clinic for sticking with a tasteful solo built around common guide tones and not being 'hip' while I played a solo over a 12 bar blues. There are too many 'wrongs' in teaching music in academia. Most people in music departments have no real rhyme or reason to be there anyways. I only went back to school and stopped gigging to get a BA so I could have more options down the road and get my parents off my back when I was 21. I learned nothing in state or private school while studying music, but learned a lot in community college and received some life long mentors in the process which have had significant impact on me.

So you were able to keep your music scholarships while dropping your music major?

Yes I was. I had tremendous pull in the department and was needed in basically every ensemble and production. The head of both the Jazz studies and Music department were willing to work with me as long as I still delivered. The work I did during covid was entirely remote and I have a background in recording and live sound so it wasn't hard to send stems and work in online DAW's like soundtrap. They weren't happy with me in my decision, but they needed me and had no choice.

I checked out during covid and focused on my other major and getting certifications done. I did the bare minimum to maintain my scholarships. Played a Liszt concert etude for my senior recital (Un Sospiro) and organized an hour long virtual concert for a Jazz ensemble I played guitar in and then graduated.

I’ve had two Paganini Caprices, but never played the concerto.

I hope it is number 5, yeah i'm that guy. I played violin as a kid and hated it (had a bad teacher). Went onto guitar and never looked back

 

[Murk]

The leetcode and the behavioral questions are equally difficult, I hear. I plan to practice both while I’m preparing to get other jobs.

Any candidate I put forward for an interview with my clients, gets a full breakdown of questions that will be asked (I debrief the previous interviewees and make organise interviews in order from weak to strong for this reason), background on the interviewers (including their employment history and personality), company culture and run through examples they should give of scenarios (dealing with XYZ).

I tell them straight up if they talk to much when I meet/interview them "keep your answers concise, don't ramble, answer the questions, less is more". If they are shy and quiet, I tell them to elaborate and give more personality, I'm brutally honest. Most importantly, I tell them how to answer the questions and the overall vibe the hiring manager is looking for. There is a science behind successful interviewing.

Go via a solid headhunter, I have paved many careers from entry to C-level. I take these people out for dinner/drinks, have been to the theatre and stripper/coke nights with directors from Deloitte to Deutsche. A good recruiter will work wonders and do the ground work for you.

 

[nicksaiz65]

I got the pay bump. Around a 4% raise. So I make 68K a year now.

I’ve been meeting with a coworker to study for interviews and get certifications. So there’s that. That being said, I’m not gonna have my foot all the way to the metal and stress/burn myself out. My health and sleep comes first. I am studying pretty much every day though.

I’m not comfortable jumping jobs just yet until my emergency fund is rock solid I want to be at the point where I laugh at the idea of a PIP, or being laid off.

 

[eli77]

This is the best time to do it this is my own 9 or 10 people are changing jobs at a record clip right now I manage your singer songwriter right now it's not easy but then again I live in a major city

 

[nicksaiz65]

This is the best time to do it this is my own 9 or 10 people are changing jobs at a record clip right now I manage your singer songwriter right now it's not easy but then again I live in a major city

I think the market is pretty rough rn for all jobs, unfortunately. This is why I’m not in a huge hurry to job jump.

 

[SW15]

I got the pay bump. Around a 4% raise. So I make 68K a year now.

$68,000 annual salary at 26 is decent. $68,000/year won't help too much in getting laid.

There was a thread recently about semi-successful men (defined as $75,000 - $125,000/year salary) are not desired in the dating market, but I think that's more applicable to men 30+.

Women care more about salary when evaluating men 30+ for LTRs.

 

[Murk]

FYI the ukranian refugee I been seeing has been in the UK for 7 weeks and I’ve secure her a job as receptionist/building manager assistant.

I’ve personally helped people on this forum into employment. Honestly, if anyone reading this is struggling, I own a recruitment company and have 10 years experience, bare minimum I can brush up your CV, anonymise it to the max, I’ll give you a template. This is me giving back. Message me privately. I can get anyone a job if you need one.

 

[nicksaiz65]

FYI the ukranian refugee I been seeing has been in the UK for 7 weeks and I’ve secure her a job as receptionist/building manager assistant.

I’ve personally helped people on this forum into employment. Honestly, if anyone reading this is struggling, I own a recruitment company and have 10 years experience, bare minimum I can brush up your CV, anonymise it to the max, I’ll give you a template. This is me giving back. Message me privately. I can get anyone a job if you need one.

Do you provide help with side hustles at all? Lol

I’m looking to work an extra 30 hours a week in 8 or 9 months or so

 

[nicksaiz65]

$68,000 annual salary at 26 is decent. $68,000/year won't help too much in getting laid.

There was a thread recently about semi-successful men (defined as $75,000 - $125,000/year salary) are not desired in the dating market, but I think that's more applicable to men 30+.

Women care more about salary when evaluating men 30+ for LTRs.

I think getting this side hustle(working 70 hours a week instead of 40) will really help. If that could bump me up to the $85K-ish range, I’d be very happy with that.

 

[SW15]

I think getting this side hustle(working 70 hours a week instead of 40) will really help. If that could bump me up to the $85K-ish range, I’d be very happy with that.

That's not worth it. An extra 30 hours per week for $22,000/year ($90,000/year) won't make much of a difference from an attracting women standpoint and would seriously cut into your time available to seduce women.

 

[nicksaiz65]

That's not worth it. An extra 30 hours per week for $22,000/year ($90,000/year) won't make much of a difference from an attracting women standpoint and would seriously cut into your time available to seduce women.

So in this case, you’d say to just stay at the job I’m at and build my skills until I’m ready to jump into a higher paying one(through recruiters and what not?)

I should mention that I am due for a promotion in 6 months-ish assuming the quality of my work is high and I get this certification. I think that’s a relevant detail. I’ve wanted to ask my coworker how much the raise is but I’m not sure how to tactfully raise that question.

If I were to take the part time job, I’d be relegated to talking to women on Fridays and Saturdays. During the week I could only work, go to the gym, and clean my house lol.

 

[Murk]

FYI the ukranian refugee I been seeing has been in the UK for 7 weeks and I’ve secure her a job as receptionist/building manager assistant.

I’ve personally helped people on this forum into employment. Honestly, if anyone reading this is struggling, I own a recruitment company and have 10 years experience, bare minimum I can brush up your CV, anonymise it to the max, I’ll give you a template. This is me giving back. Message me privately. I can get anyone a job if you need one.

Do you provide help with side hustles at all? Lol

I’m looking to work an extra 30 hours a week in 8 or 9 months or so

Just made a new thread

For you personally I could get you a part time contact depending on tech stack

 

[nicksaiz65]

Just made a new thread

For you personally I could get you a part time contact depending on tech stack

That would be dope man. I’ll shoot you a PM

 

[BackInTheGame78]

I think getting this side hustle(working 70 hours a week instead of 40) will really help. If that could bump me up to the $85K-ish range, I’d be very happy with that.

I wouldn't do any side programming work for under $50/hr. Not worth it from a time/effort standpoint. I'm at the point where I won't do anything for under $85/hr outside of my normal job.

 

[nicksaiz65]

I wouldn't do any side programming work for under $50/hr. Not worth it from a time/effort standpoint. I'm at the point where I won't do anything for under $85/hr outside of my normal job.

I just calculated my pay from my main programming job and it looks like I’m making $46/hour.

Eventually I do think it’s wiser to increase my skill set and hourly rate. Well technically, I’m doing that right now too. The more extreme version of this being switching to a company that pays me more once I’m ready. Maybe even doing Overemployed.

At the moment I have a side hustle and pick up gigs in the short term so I don’t get eaten alive by this soul crushing debt that I’m in rn lol.

 

[Murk]

The contractors I have in the U.S don't work for less than $125/hr but it's a niche technology, well, more niche than a generic role.

I think specialising in 1 area is the way to increase your rate, experience too, but 2-3 years in a niche market will be better than 10 year in a saturated one.

 

[BackInTheGame78]

The contractors I have in the U.S don't work for less than $125/hr but it's a niche technology, well, more niche than a generic role.

I think specialising in 1 area is the way to increase your rate, experience too, but 2-3 years in a niche market will be better than 10 year in a saturated one.

Surprisingly learning COBOL or FORTRAN is one of the highest paying sectors since all of the old people who learned this are retired or dying and lots of mainframes still rely on this technology.

Almost getting to the point of being able to write yourself a blank check.