Last year, Puneet Patwari left his role as Senior Software Engineer at Microsoft and joined Atlassian as Principal Software Engineer. On paper, it looked like a smooth success story. Patwari, however, says the three months he spent preparing for a job switch nearly broke him.
In a thread shared on the social media platform X yesterday, Patwari warned that while switching jobs can boost salary and career growth, people often underestimate the intense personal and mental cost involved.
‘3 months nearly broke me’
“Last year, I cracked Atlassian’s loop, moved into a Principal Engineer role, and had offers from Amazon, Salesforce, Deliveroo, Walmart and Confluent on the table. On LinkedIn it looks like a clean success story,” Patwari said in his X post.
{{/usCountry}}“Last year, I cracked Atlassian’s loop, moved into a Principal Engineer role, and had offers from Amazon, Salesforce, Deliveroo, Walmart and Confluent on the table. On LinkedIn it looks like a clean success story,” Patwari said in his X post.
{{/usCountry}}“In reality, those three months nearly broke me,” he revealed.
The principal engineer at Atlassian acknowledged that switching jobs brings salary growth, but said that switching without a plan can actually cause damage.
“Switching works. But if you do not understand what a serious switch actually demands, you can spend a year prepping with zero progress and a lot of damage,” he said.
The toll of preparation
Patwari went on to list the physical and mental toll that switching took on him. He cautioned that successful job-switch preparation requires focused planning, sacrifices, and support systems, especially for professionals balancing full-time work and family responsibilities.
As a full-time employee and father to a young child, Patwari already had limited time on his hands.
(Also read: Candidate rejected for switching jobs every 3 years: ‘Expected to stay in company for 20 years’)
“I am a father to a young kid. My wife works. I had a full-time job. I was relearning DSA after years, brushing up on system design, and still trying to be present as a dad and husband,” he said.
He warned people who are already in full-time jobs to be aware of how packed their days will look if they are preparing to switch.
“You log off from work already drained, then open LeetCode or a design doc instead of Netflix,” said Patwari. “Cooking feels almost impossible after a 10-hour day.”
Weekends, too, stop being rest days and become “mock interview days”.
As a result, people “start feeling guilty from both sides” and feel they are not able to give their best to either their job or their family.
The right way to switch
According to Puneet Patwari, the right way to switch jobs is to treat it like a serious, time-bound project rather than a casual side goal. He argues that successful switching requires planning, sacrifice, and clarity.
As he put it, “Switching is also a project with a cost. Time, health, energy, relationships. You have to budget for it like you budget money.”
Patwari believes candidates should avoid dragging interview preparation on endlessly while remaining miserable at work. Instead, he recommends a concentrated effort with a defined timeline.
“Half-hearted prep for 18 months while hating your job is the worst of both worlds. Either commit to a focused 3–6 month sprint or consciously park the idea for now,” he advised.
He also stressed the importance of support systems and realistic expectations. Before going all in, he advised people to “Talk to your family before you go all in. Align expectations. Decide what will go on maintenance mode.”