Jeopardy! champ Amy Schneider quits her job: ‘IT’S A BIT NERVE-WRACKING’

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Jeopardy! champ Amy Schneider is done with the 9-5 grind.

Schneider, a 42-year-old engineering manager from Oakland, Calif., became a household name during her 40-game win streak on the long-running quiz show.

She announced this week that she is quitting her job as she transitions to life as a “public figure.”

“Some of you may have heard, but I quit my day job yesterday! It’s a bit nerve-wracking to pivot from software engineer to… public figure, I guess?” she wrote on Twitter.

“But regardless of the outcome I’m so excited to spend the next couple years at least tackling this new challenge!” she added.

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Schneider’s reign came to an end last month when Rhone Talsma, a librarian from Chicago, defeated her in Final Jeopardy. During her streak, Schneider notched the second-most consecutive wins of all time, trailing only Ken Jennings.

Schneider exited with $1,382,800, the fourth-highest regular season haul ever behind Jennings ($2.5 million in 74 consecutive games), James Holzhauer ($2.4 million in 32 games) and Matt Amodio ($1.5 million in 38 games).

The final category that stumped Schneider was “Countries of the World” with the clue: “The only nation in the world whose name in English ends in a ‘h,’ it’s also one of the 10 most populous.”

Heading into Final Jeopardy, the highest-winning woman in the show’s history was still on top with $27,600 with Talsma trailing at $17,600.

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But she “blanked” on the answer, which was “Bangladesh.”

“I just blanked. I couldn’t come up with anything, and it was so frustrating,” Schneider told The Washington Post.

Talsma wagered $12,000, winning $29,600, while Schneider — who bet $8,000 — failed to guess correctly and landed in second place with $19,600.

In an interview with PEOPLE after her final episode, Schneider said she was surprised at her lengthy run.

“When I started, my biggest goal was just to win four games,” she said. “Not only did I end up winning 10 times as many, but I’ve heard from so many people, especially trans people and their loved ones, about how much it’s meant to them to see me succeed, and that’s something I will always, always be proud of.”

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In addition to becoming the highest-earning woman in the show’s history and the first female to pass $1 million in winnings, Schneider will be the first transgender contestant to compete on the Tournament of Champions later this year.

With her day job behind her, Schneider told the New York Post last week that she was going to take a vacation and use some of her prize money “for a potential down payment on a house” with her partner Genevieve Davis.

Schneider is also working on a book.

“There has definitely been a lot of interest in my writing a book, and it’s something I’d love to do,” she said. “My main focus right now is figuring out what exactly that book might look like; there are a lot of things I’m passionate about so it’s a matter of narrowing all my ideas down into a coherent book. So, nothing concrete yet, but it’s something I hope to make happen.”

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