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Comment by ndcrandall | Hacker News Reader

I have to admit that some themes posted in this article run through my head every now and then. My plan is to use the runway I've amassed over the past year to work on startup projects while cutting out freelance work. Will I find new clients if I fail with my projects? Can I even compete with the lengthy requirements of most companies around here (Silicon Valley) require? Will being "out of work" for a year hurt my chances to get a job if I need one?

While these thoughts pass through my head, I don't believe things are as dire as they were in 2001 - 2002. Hopefully working on side projects can give me enough of a resume in the worst case scenario. I guess time and experience will tell if this and similar situations will be difficult in the next few years.

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Yeah I'm in the same boat.

For instance, I recently took a well-paying job as an "Integration Engineer" basically just setting up VMs and automatic builds. It's pretty easy and surprisingly pays better than I could make right now doing much else (I worked for the last 7 years as a software engineer). I worry I'll settle into complacency and let my skills rust (if at least on paper alone).

At the same time though I have other projects I want to pursue on my own and have some faith that I'm basically a pretty good software engineer who can land on his feet eventually given that our world is mostly automated now.

Also, the author goes out of his way to paint some sort of bleak picture. If you re-read it, basically, for the last 30 years he's raked in cash, taken multi-month leaves from work, and been unemployed for maybe 6 months total, along with a couple years of lower-than-expected payment around the dotcom burst? That's living the high life, man. We should all hope to be so lucky.

I "took off" for over a year, worked around the clock on my own projects, amassed a huge amount of new skills, and had absolutely no problem finding a new job afterwards.

It was almost eerie - nobody even cared if my projects were successful or how much money I made. They only wanted to know that I did have all the skills that I put on my resume, and (to a lesser degree) my motivation for doing what I did.

Working on your own stuff you learn ten times as fast as in a "regular" job. I highly recommend it.

I agree with your last statement, but did you make bank through your projects? Am not sure if this was your aim but would be interested.

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