Hi folks,
I'm a mid-level engineer at a big tech company in the bay. While at my company, I haven't felt connected with the product, excited about the work I've been doing, or that connected with the team. I was interviewing for an internal transfer -- and I just had verbally accepted the offer. It was supposed to be a transfer to an acquired company I was excited about -- but I found out they just cut budget for the role. The role is to be remote. I'd have to move back home with my parents. I'm open to doing this, but it also comes with a 15% pay decrease, and I'm already out of and not refreshed on rsus. The transfer offer is a 15% reduction in salary.
The last option is I've been working on a side project with some friends to learn building a web-app end-to-end, so I could take some time off, recharge, and potentially work on my own thing. Overall, I'm quite burnt out and feeling tired of my job. Rather than working on large-scale infra, I'd like to get back to my roots (health-related technology). Any thoughts on this decision? I'm a US citizen, so no visa restrictions.
Firstly, if you can, try to reframe your view of the coaching plan. It could be a great way to get increased feedback, something that can be so helpful for your career if you iterate on it quickly. You can always look back later to see what was useful and what was not, but for now, I would take the feedback as a good thing and roll with it.
The terms of your transfer offer changed, so I would not feel obligated to take it. From your post, it sounds like you would rather not. Is it possible to take a step back, get some distance, recharge (to ensure you are not making decisions while burnt out), and then make a decision? There is a great video on burnout and figuring out which variables are not working by the psychiatrist Dr. K (Healthy Gamer GG) here.
A side project with friends can be fun. I would not leave your job to do it, especially if no one else on the team is. It is something you can do on evenings and weekends, especially if you find it exciting. Then you can see if it becomes profitable and stays exciting before your transition to doing it full-time. You can also interview for roles in health technology.
Sorry to hear about the low job motivation - There are unfortunately far more bad teams than good ones, and the pandemic just made everything far worse.
Everything David said is great. Here are my thoughts to augment his:
Here are some resources I recommend as well:
The decision should be based primarily on people.
Based on the 3 options above, I'd advocate for option #1 -- just stick it out or start the new job search. I wouldn't leave until you've tested the water in the market, though.