Careers, sabatticals and entrepreneurship

I've been talking to a friend who is close to graduating. He plans on building his own business, but at the same time he's finding a job. Bad Idea.

In Belgium, you the government pays you while you are working on a Ph.D. The exact amount of your paycheck, is around €1500 or €1600, after taxes. Especially Ph.D. students that adhere to a student-like lifestyle do not spend anywhere near that amount. The result is that after four years of doctoral research, most Ph.D. graduates have a nice savings account. Moreover, many young graduates are not bound by a family or by mortgages and real-estate.

A graduation is a big milestone. At milestones like this, you should take some time off to think things over and decide for yourself what you want with your life. Just accepting the first job offer you come across would be a waste of opportunity.

Only a few times in your lifetime, and perhaps even only once, you get the opportunity to take a year to try something new. Something you really want to do, whether or not this new thing yields an immediate financial return. If you have this chance, it is your duty to yourself and your community to follow your heart. If you'd just take the first job you run across, you risk ending up with a mediocre career.

Some people would call this opportunity a sabbatical. A sabbatical however, to most people implies that you spend time doing something fun but useless (like traveling around the world). If you can afford to spend a year pursuing your passion, traveling is only one option. Other options include

• starting a business venture,
• starting a non-profit,
• building your own new FLOSS project, or
• building your own house with your bare hands.

Think this through: what have you got to loose? You know how much you will spend each month and you know how large your savings account is. After 12 months, you can always just find yourself a job. I started my company using my own savings while having a family and a house (i.e. mortgage) but also having a loving spouse to support me. If you have none of the above, the choice should be even simpler for you.

After a year of spending your savings, but more importantly: following your heart, you may decide you do not even want to pursue the career you previously had in mind. Especially people who want to start their own business, do this with the intention of making a living out of it, and changing the future of their lives.
But even if you have to/want to go out searching for a job, future employers will surely appreciate a person with a mind of his own, who thinks outside the traditional box and takes chances. And if they don't appreciate that: would you really want to spend 40 hours per week in that organization?

Bottom line: you have nothing to loose. You know how much this sabbatical will cost and the benefits are yet to discover. Do yourself a favor and take this opportunity.