Posted by Thinking about looking for a new job for 2020? Deciding to leave your present position is a tricky prospect. It may be making you miserable but, like many things in life, sometimes it is best to try to fix the situation rather than abandon it altogether.
After all, not everybody has a perfect job within reach. It takes experience, connections, and luck (being in the right place at the right time) to get a real keeper of a job. It’s good to start searching for that new job now, but should you leave your current job before you have a new one lined up?
It turns out that around half of all workers (in America, anyway) are dissatisfied with their jobs. Should they all walk out tomorrow? Well, no. Firstly, the system would collapse! And secondly, many of them would soon struggle to pay the rent, and maybe end up wasting a salvageable job just to spend months unemployed, waiting for salvation.
The average job lasts a little over four years. But if your job is awful, four years is really too much of your valuable life to waste on it. So, you need some tools to help you decide whether now is the time to quit or not.
The first step is to divine the main reason that you want to leave your job. Is it to do with the people, the work, or the conditions?
If it’s the people, then ask yourself whether it is one particular bully or fool, or the company culture in general. If it is just one person making your life a misery, you shouldn’t let them make you quit your job. Speak to the boss about this person, and get witness evidence from a co-worker if possible. If your boss is the one making your life a misery, it might not be so easy! Try to speak to the HR department if possible. If not, then have a one-to-one chat with your boss before you quit. Maybe they will appreciate your honesty.
If it is the company as a whole that you don’t like, consider coming up with a plan to block them out. Ignore the gossip, don’t get caught up in competition, and find somewhere nice to have lunch by yourself! Or you could double-down and try to get with the culture: make an effort to spend more time with your colleagues, collaborate on projects and get to know them better. Maybe they’re not as bad as you think. And if all else fails, search for a new job, and quit.
If it’s the work itself that gets you down, you can always ask your boss if you can work on something else. But most likely you’ve had enough of the industry that you’re in, and it could be time to get an education or experience in another sector. Hold on to your job until you know what you’re doing next – maybe you need to keep your current job to finance your re-education.
And if it’s the conditions – pay, location, hours – that you don’t like, then guess what? It’s time to speak to your boss. For more details on what to say, and on the other areas of decision-making involved in quitting your job, check out this new job-quitting visual tool from resume.io.
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