I am working as a PHP developer from the last 2 years. First when i started at my company ( It's non IT Company ) everything was good there were no restriction and a lot to learn as fresher and some good projects as well. But now we hardly have any projects or anything to learn. Plus there is no good marketing team and some bad politics happening right now, workplace isn't good as well. That's why i don't enjoy working there anymore.
So, i want to quit this job and don't want to take any new jobs for 6-9 months. In that time i want to learn full stack with JavaScript as i already know React i think it will be better option.
And yes i belong to a rich family so there is no issue of money, if i don't work for a year or so. Also i can do some freelance projects if i need money or exp.
So what is your thought on this? What will you do if you were in my place?
Update (26-Aug-2020): I made this post in Dec 2018 and I ended up quitting my job in Jan 2019. Then I started learning deeper about ReactJS and NodeJS. And now I am working as a Javascript Developer in a new company from Dec 2019 and I like it. I did some freelance projects during my free time to gain more experience and overall I really enjoyed switching from PHP to JS developer. Thanks for all the guidance :D
You should definitely quit!
I appreciate your decision to learn something in deep. However, I think you've three options
1) Take a break from work for 6 months or so, learn what you want in deep
2) Join in a company which have less working hours, (or remote-friendly) so you can study at the rest of the time
3) Join a startup-like company. You can work as well study at the same time.
Working in a company with other engineers can also help you to learn other things that will be difficult to learn if you're alone. Like how devops work, good communication skills, best practices, code reviews, etc
Well, you worked with what you like, and is what matters ... and I do not see anything that holds you back in your current company, like you said, you do not like working there anymore
And I'm sure 6 months of study and experience will help you a lot more than staying in an environment you do not like.
I'd say try to just find another job, period. Preferably one where you're using the new stack you want to learn, or at least where they're open to letting you learn it and try it out. Or maybe it'll be with PHP still, but it'll be a good place to work - or at least one you can tolerate while you're learning other stuff.
The main reason I suggest that over taking time off to learn is that, in my experience, trying to learn an entirely new stack is just about useless without having a real project to back it up. I've started so many tutorials on so many languages and platforms that I'm probably one of the best "hello world" coders around, but I can't do anything useful in anything. I need an actual project, with team members who know the tech, and with actual goals I'm trying to accomplish. Cool, I can write a ToDo app on the MEAN stack; I can't do anything else with Angular because I have no knowledge of it's capabilities and I have no ongoing need to.
That and it's always best to keep in the swing of things. Being a developer isn't just coding, it's also working with others (even in a crappy environment), and if you take time to just focus on code you lose out on that.
Me too. I have just quite my job October 2018 to learn more about JS (NodeJs and ReactJs). I don't think this is accurately decision but now, I am working with my love language. @@
Sometimes not having worked for half a year can be seen as a disadvantage, unless you can show you went to school or something (and I personally feel that'd be a waste of time).
But that's just something to keep in mind. It doesn't mean you have to not do it. Changing to a more fulfilling career could easily be worth it in the long run.
Personally I'd try to work fewer hours (that's fairly common here but not everywhere) and learn on the side, but that's in no small part because I'd want to keep getting paid. And maybe don't try to be perfect before starting, but good enough to provide value and learn the rest on the go. I'd try to keep it under a year.
Bhojendra Rauniyar
Software Engineer
Definitely, yes. You can quit the job. Because, you stated that you're working on freelance projects. Meanwhile, you can take advantage for further steps. If you do both "job" and "freelance" projects then you'll not be able to learn new stack. But if you do the job and not the freelance projects and you want to learn further, then you'll not get enough time to catch up.
I have also quit the job and now learning node.js and some other stuffs to become a good backend developer. I hope to catch better job opportunity later and gain the losses I would have.