Sounds like you made the right decision. Also sounds like they didnt treat you like adults or People for that matter, just employees that are nothing more than employees.
Personally I would love to travel and work remotely (building up towards that) and the flexibility and comfort for me means being able to accomplish other things in my life that I want to do while working. Like travel across the world and see new places. If there is enough trust and flexibility I could see myself doing that for the rest of my life.
I know for me that I broke off into my own side projects and contracting work that interested me. I found that being able to tackle a contract that I want or a side project that could possibly bring me some money in or teach me some new things has kept me on the tip of my toes.
A boss who can push me technically and is always helping me advance my career was huge for me. I know that has been the case with many people I have talked to. If you are not helping your team or co-workers to better themselves than they are not going to feel motivation from you.
I know for me that if I am not learning new tech or driving something that really motivates me forward every month than I become antsy and look for new things I can learn.
I think one of the more motivating things I have seen is to understand that people are giving the majority of their time to the company throughout the day and the year. A company that can become a part of an employees life and not have its employees dedicate their life to the company is a big feat. I have seen this achieved by a company that gives proper flexibility for employees so that work fits into their lives and not the other way around. Such as when you do your work is less important than how well you do your work. Or where you work is irrelevant if you collaborate well. I think companies in general should provide more opportunities to explore and experience the world to their people than they do today.
$5k may be a bit optimistic, I would calculate your costs now in your part of the world. I know that I burned more than that in my first year. I think if you start by lining up some jobs that can sustain you before you quit then you will burn less. Take your time if you want to travel and work. Currently I want to travel a good amount and am still cautious about the timing with my contracts that I have now. Remember work up to travel and make sure you are in a good place contracting wise before you take on a whole new lifestyle. I love to travel and think it can be wonders for developers, just be careful early on.
This is very much the case. You will have to put in more work to start so you can expect flexibility in some spots but to ultimately be working more than you would in a 9-5 job
Lately I have been finding that is the most common question I receive.
To start I do a fair amount of networking from friends, past co-workers, CEOS I have worked for and so on. This part is continuous and you can reasonably expect to be doing it for as long as you are working.
I advertise with a website and my vision to almost everyone, even though they may not be in the position to hire me, they may come across someone who is and remember that they met an enthusiastic contractor who they know could do the work. This will pay off long term as people will start contacting you.
Lay down a vision for yourself and for your services. Where do you see contracting taking you? What can you provide to companies? Do you want to grow into a team of contractors? Do you want to only contract alone? What kind of contracting will you focus on to start, and what kind will you do further down your road map? These questions will help you strive to your long term goals and help you be more targeted in your short term goals. When you get going, don't forget to take time, take one day off from work and dedicate it to reflect on these questions and re-paint the picture so that it stays up to date with you and your goals.
Target one customer at a time to start. If you can live off of one small contract job, do it and do it well. References and Quotes are everything to start. These will help you land new customers and will become proof points. It also grows your network by large margins!
Be patient, it is expected to take a long time and a lot of effort to grow a network. I have met and worked with people that have spent their whole lives building their networks where most of their work is still focusing on that network.
I found it helpful to find a friend or co-worker that shares in your vision and is willing to share the journey with you side by side. This has not only validated decisions but kept me from losing enthusiasm too.
A good many things have lined up for me so far. It has helped that I know a few people in the recruiting industry and I have been able to gain insight from them about jobs around the country and how they work with customers and what customers are looking for. The job I left also has provided some opportunities for work as a co-worker of mine and me were valuable to the company and they wanted more work from us post leaving. The other option is to of course join a starting firm that is just starting out and enjoy doing the contract work with them and for their customers. Maybe its 1099 work maybe its W2 work but remember that if you take this option, learn as much as you possibly can from them and when you are feeling confident, take it on yourself.
Hi I am 25 years old and quit my job about a year ago started doing freelance work and starting my own company. I too saw my job as temporary so I decided to take my work life (most of our lives if you think about it) into my own hands. I think pulling that trigger gave me motivation and forced me to push myself much further than I would have ever been pushed in my old job.
A couple things I would recommend, do your research first and have a decent Idea of what you want to do after leaving. Think about how you are going to make it work and understand things may be slow in the beginning. I recommend having atleast a years worth of money saved up and expect to burn through a good portion of that before money starts flowing in regularly.
I worked my ass of for the first year and am still doing so. There have been frustrating times and epic times but each time I remember I wouldn't trade my decision and the experience for anything else.
I am now starting to build a freelance development firm and feel very confident about doing so because of what I have learned since quitting my job.
If you are a highly motivated person. I do recommend going out on your own at some point in your career.
A portfolio you can start by building whatever it is you would like to offer as a contracting service. Something that displays almost like a demo for what you could be hired to do while freelancing. More important than a portfolio though is references and quotes. Start doing work in your network for cheap and for a quote and reference at the end of the work. When you start building this you will not only build up a network of hopefully happy customers but also a portfolio of work you have been paid to do. The other option is to do 1099 work for someone or a company that has the contracts already for you to work on remotely.