Thinking About Leaving IT Temporarily

Long story short; I'm being offered a job with a startup company that would fit nicely with my history degree but there is no IT slant to it whatsoever. The pay is great plus given the nature of the occupation there is no "on call" or weekends. I plan on keeping my certs current even if I do accept the job but I don't know how potential employers would feel about someone who is just coming back from a non-technical role. Because of this I'm still on the fence despite the money and change of pace. Has anyone left IT for any stint of time and made a come-back? How difficult was it?

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scaredoftests

I have. About a year or 2. It wasn't easy to get back in, but if you keep up with your certs etc. I am sure you will be fine..

volfkhat

You should go where your "passion" is.
Doing something just for "the money" is generally hard to stick with (long-term).

If history is your thing.... do it.
Worst case, you could always lie on your resume; (keep the startup job listed, but claim you were tech support)

Obviously, you need to keep your skills current (in case you come back); but i say, Go for it!

Danielm7

I did it years ago, but also did consulting on the side. So technically I never left IT completely. I've still had to explain that in interviews, it's not career crippling but can slow things down if you want to come back.

Fulcrum45

It's good to hear that some of you have already gone through this before. I kinda worried that I was going to jettison a stable career but at the same time an opportunity like this doesn't always come along. Provided they check all the boxes going forward (pay, work atmosphere, etc) I think I'll do it. Thanks for the replies.

DatabaseHead

Fulcrum45 wrote: »

Long story short; I'm being offered a job with a startup company that would fit nicely with my history degree but there is no IT slant to it whatsoever. The pay is great plus given the nature of the occupation there is no "on call" or weekends. I plan on keeping my certs current even if I do accept the job but I don't know how potential employers would feel about someone who is just coming back from a non-technical role. Because of this I'm still on the fence despite the money and change of pace. Has anyone left IT for any stint of time and made a come-back? How difficult was it?

I love this idea. Go for the adventure, it's way more fun.

Believe me I am rotting in a fortune 100 making decent pay, but not a day goes by when I think back on the days of the start ups and the excitement that went along with it.

Good luck!

NetworkNewb

If you're doing it because you like the other job I'd say yea, if just for the money I'd pass.

Linguistics

One thing that is proven, money does not give you happiness but it does in fact pay the bills which may give you major relief!

If it's your passion then do it; if it's for money and paying the bills i say do it until you get ahead then quickly get back into IT.

Or, a second option, is to take small independent jobs in IT while doing the other job full-time. Like, maybe do project or contract work if possible on the side. This will keep you abreast of what is going on in the IT world and keep your resume fluid in case you want to return in 5 years.

ITSec14

I say go for it. Life is too short to play everything safe.

Jasiono

I was thinking about doing this a couple of years back as well, considering where I was at the time, how far I had to go to get to where I wanted to be, as well as how much I had to work.
I was just with a crappy company who made promotions crippling slow, and lied to me. I decided to go to another company and work my way up again as a last attempt, and here I am working in the InfoSec department after 3 years of being here and I'm glad.

I say go for it. If it's something you want, do it. If you don't like the long and sporadic hours, and the occasional emergency call (or frequent ones) when you should be relaxing and such, do it.

Keep yourself sane!

Fulcrum45

Thanks for all the replies, folks- The TE family never fails with open and honest opinions. I think I'm going to do it.

LordQarlyn

Just to add my 2 cents, leaving IT as a professional career doesn't necessarily mean leaving IT or technology entirely. I would have to imagine even at a totally non tech company in a totally non-tech job, there won't be any opportunities to use your tech expertise. Of course I don't know all the details but unless they completely outsource all their IT needs, they must have some in house IT and you could assist in that regard. Startups I would think can use everything from everyone in the early stages when sales haven't taken off and everything must be stretched out.
Supposing there is no chances for you to use your IT skills, as Danielm7 did, you can consult on the side, this might be a particularly good option since you implied that there will be some off time for you.
Anyway, good luck. I've know several who left IT "temporarily" but ended up being permanent - and the happiest decisions they made.