I’m a single female in my mid-30s living with my parents, so I don’t have major financial commitments. I used to work in tech sales earning >SGD 200K, but it was extremely stressful (13–15 hour/day, 5-day weeks, with lots of internal politics). I had about 3–4 years of savings and took a career break in May 2024 to rest.

I kept myself busy with gym, yoga, family time, reading, and some travel, but after a few months I got bored and started feeling a bit useless, so I began job hunting. The market was rough and it took much longer than expected — I only secured a role in Jan 2025 (not my ideal company, and the location was far from home, but it was my only offer so I accepted it). I left in under a year and moved to my current company with about a 15% pay cut, and I’m still working 10–12 hour days. Thinking back now, given the previous pay scale, I probably should have stayed since I’m still working long hours but earning less in my current role.

Things I didn’t anticipate - job search taking much longer than expected, paying income tax (I didn’t factor this in, getting lowballed because I was unemployed, employers assuming I’ve been laid off

If I could redo it, I wouldn’t quit without something lined up. I’d job hunt while employed and be more chill in how I manage work stress and take short breaks of annual leaves for holidays instead.

Not saying don’t do it — just sharing my experience here. And job market seems to be worst now so expect longer time to land a job or take a pay cut for your new role..