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Jobs Suck. Period.
Working for someone else always has it’s downside. Especially when you’re doing something you hate or working for someone you don’t respect. But there are times when it’s just time to pull the escape lever and bail.
You’ll know when that time is, but have you considered when NOT to bail??
You Have Dependents
If you have people that depend on you, it’s irresponsible and shameful not to take them into account in your escape plan. Everyone has a bad day, and even a bad month, but if you’re not ready to go it alone with your savings, or don’t have another job lined up, you could be putting others in jeopardy as well. When you leave a job, you’re giving up more than pay, you’re giving up benefits as well. Those benefits cover you AND your dependents. COBRA is available for health insurance, but it’s expensive, since you’re having to pick up the entire cost of insurance. Also, most people only have Life and Short/Long Term Disability through their jobs, if you leave and get sick or die, the people that depend on you are stuck.
You Have No Future Goal
You should always have a goal for your career. Even if you’re happy where you’re at, no job lasts forever or stays as good forever. Changing bosses, contracts, work schedules/positions, and co-workers affect how good the work environment is. At some point a good job can turn into a not-so-good job. When leaving, keep in mind that you should be going to another job, not escaping from a previous job. Look before you leap.
No job is perfect. You should never be COMPLETELY satisfied with where you are. Striving to better yourself in your knowledge and abilities both keeps you sharp and will earn you more money. And let’s face it, money is the final motivator to going to any job. If you truly enjoyed it all the time, they wouldn’t call it a job, and they wouldn’t pay you to do it. Jobs exist because someone else wants the work done and doesn’t have the time or abilities to do it. They’re willing to pay for someone else’s time to get it done. Find a job you’re happy with, but always keep half an eye out for the ‘next-big-thing”.
Also, don’t be fooled by the ‘loyalty’ mantra. Companies are only as loyal as they’re forced to be with workers nowadays. You should be as loyal as your company deserves in return. If you’re well paid, respected, and feel like a valued member of the company, you should be happy to give it your all. If not, the company shouldn’t be too surprised if you’re looking to see if the grass is greener in some other business. Loyalty for the sake of loyalty is an honorable idea, but not appropriate for today’s business environment. I guarantee you that if business starts going bad, upper management isn’t going to say “That Bob, he’s been a good worker. Maybe we should let the business go under rather than let him go and hire a cheaper replacement.” Remember Every Job is a Stepping-Stone to a Better Job.
You Have no Emergency Plan
I’m sure you’ll be hired as you’re walking out the door. You won’t even have to send out resumes, the headhunters will be beating at your electronic door to hire you. Puhleeze!! Even if this were true, you owe it to yourself and your family/dependents to take a ‘worst-case’ approach to this.
During the dot-com bubble burst of 2001-2003, there were thousands of software developers that, no matter how good they were, couldn’t find work. It wasn’t that they weren’t looking or that their skills weren’t good enough - the jobs had just dried up. Circumstances beyond their control had adversely affected their lives. I personally took a nine month hit on unemployment. If I hadn’t had emergency savings and some other minimal cash flow coming in, it would have been VERY bad. I consider myself lucky it was only nine months. I know of people that went 18 and 24 months before finding work equivalent to what they lost.
If you’re going to leave work, make sure you could survive 3-6 months on NO income. That means figuring up what you pay/owe each month, including gas and food, and multiply that by 3-6 times to get a base amount of money you should have available to you. If you don’t have this much, and you REALLY want to quit, concentrate on saving it up or making it available before handing in your two-week notice.
You Haven’t “Rallied the Troops”
If you have family and/or dependents, you need to get them on-board with your desire to seek other employment. You may be absolutely sure that you’ll have a job lined up within hours of leaving the office, but that confidence may not carry over to your spouse/SO. It’s not so much that they don’t have faith in your abilities, as they could have a personality that doesn’t deal well with adversity (also known as a “worrier”). Keeping morale and spirits high is one of the things necessary to make a job move successful. Attitudes are infectious, and the last thing you want to do going into a job interview is to look nervous or desperate (to get a job, any job, so the wife will stop worrying).
Talk to the family about your desires to move. It might surprise you about the push-back they have about it. Studies have shown that most men value money/position as a prime motivator, while most women value security. A job in the hand is more secure than a ‘possible’ job in the bush. Talk it out, work it out, make sure everyone is OK with the plans BEFORE you make the jump.
Conclusion
You should work to live, not live to work. Life is too short to work at a job you hate forever. It doesn’t do you OR your family any good to suffer in silence and quite desperation. Get Out Now!! But Get Out With A Plan.
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