E-Paper
He left $200k Microsoft job to create content: ‘Might be the dumbest thing I’ve ever done’
A former Microsoft employee has confessed to being plagued with self doubt after quitting his well-paying job to pursue content creation.
A former Microsoft employee has confessed to being plagued with self doubt after quitting his well-paying job to pursue content creation. Christian Harms said in an Instagram post that he quit his Microsoft job in Switzerland, which paid him $200,000 a year, and moved to Australia.
In his mind, he would create content, build a business, and become a founder. However, not all of it has gone according to plan.
Leaving Microsoft
Harms said that in his heart, he knows that quitting his $200,000 Microsoft job was the right decision. However, some days he still ends up questioning his decision.
“Leaving Microsoft might be the dumbest thing I’ve ever done. The salary, the stability, the person it makes you feel like. Corporate is built to make leaving feel irrational. I know I’m doing the right thing. And yet some days the self doubt is still suffocating,” he said in his video titled “My Museum of Failures as a 27-year-old who quit his dream job.”
(Also read: ‘I quit ₹50 LPA job, I was terrified’: Woman shares why she left corporate career to become a content creator)
Harms explained that he was earning a good salary. In his earlier videos, he had also said that working in Switzerland allowed him to travel around Europe. At 26, he gave up all of that and moved to Australia.
“I left 200k at Microsoft at 26 to make videos for brands on the internet. None of it went to plan. I thought I’d be a founder by now. Some days it feels like I’m failing the version of myself that made that leap. Even though I know I’m on the right path,” he confessed.
Moving to Australia
Harms said that he moved to Australia with “no plan”. He gave himself five months to figure it out.
“I made my first dollar online the week before my flight home, the deadline did what months of planning couldn’t. Turns out I only act when my back is up against a wall and I hate that,” he revealed.
For months, he tried building a business. He never asked himself whether the business actually needed to be built.
“Built a business for months before asking if I should build it at all. Called it due diligence. It wasn’t. It was fear with a to-do list. Months of directionless work and nothing to show for it,” Harms wrote.
He explained that he was now documenting his journey on Instagram to “show what it actually looks like to leave stability”.
(Also read: ‘I’m glad I’m getting laid off from Microsoft’: Employee says job loss better than months of anxiety)
