Knowing when to leave

[Soulstealer]

So I'm starting to hate my job. I've decided to give my two weeks notice and start on a job search. I know I should probably get something lined up first but I need to get out of there since I'm going out of my mind with boredom.

It's probably not the best way but wish me luck.

[Knightmare]

Boredom? That's all?

If I may offer some advice?

Keep the job until you find something else.

If you've been reading these boards, you know that many of us have been trying to find a new job but find it almost impossible to do so. I was in that boat for a long time. If (at the time) I quit my job without a new one, I would have been in serious trouble.

Now, your circumstances may be totally different. Maybe you are one of the lucky ones that can just quit a job and not worry about any money coming in, or how you are going to pay your bills for a few months. If so, go for it. But if that isn't so, then keep your job until you find something else.

As many people on here can attest, finding that new job is a lot more difficult than you may think!

And that's just my

[AirHostess]

Good luck.

I too would suggest you stay on for as long as you can and try and find a new job first.

[Soulstealer]

Thanks. Although I'm probably just not explaining myself properly. There's a lot of reasons why I want to leave, boredom just usually occurs during the holidays when the students are gone. Although it leads to different hates when they are around.

[Crazeyal]

Really.

DON'T DO IT.

It's hard to find a job these days. It took SIX MONTHS for me to find work, and by the end I was applying at jobs I hadn't considered since HIGH SCHOOL.

[matty]

At first I wasn't going to post in this thread since I only wanted to say that I agree with everybody else.

However, I do want to say that unless there are serious issues at your workplace (legal stuff, harassment, business showing signs of impending failure etc.) then I would highly recommend you do not make a "snap" decision to resign. Instead, spend some time writing down what you like/dislike about the job, or use some other method that suits you to consider whether you are sure you want to leave now.

I say leave "now" because you seem to be keen on leaving, and I certainly don't want to discourage you from starting to job-hunt. Indeed, start job searching now, while you are still working - it might take a little longer than you think to land your next job.

And the reason I am saying all of this? Personal experience!

I do wish you all the very best of luck, Soulstealer. (Why is there no "Good Luck" smiley? )

Finally, the two short articles at the links below might offer a little bit of advice:

http://content.mycareer.com.au/advic...-your-job.aspx

http://content.mycareer.com.au/advic...-your-job.aspx

[smileyeagle1021]

I will have to be the dissenter on the board... as to how wise it is to quit without another job lined up depends a lot on where you live. If you are somewhere where the economic situation is like utah (2% unemployment, everywhere hiring) then it wouldn't hurt... but if you aren't living in that situation definitely wait until you have something else lined up.

[wagegoth]

It's easier to get a job while you still have a job. I know it's harder to look, and it can affect your attitude, but you're not going to get desperate and take a job because you have to if you can pay the bills, and it gives you negotiation leverage with the new employer.

[Saydrah]

If you're only STARTING to hate your job, it's not time yet

I'm kind of a job hopper, although I've finally found a place I can see myself staying for years, so I have a bit of a good perspective on this. I actually spent the last year trying to have as many different jobs as possible, two or three at a time, just out of curiousity and need for money. This is the first time I've had just one job and not been job hunting in over a year! If you hate your job, the best steps to take to be in a new job you hate less or hopefully not at all as soon as possible are:

1. Inform your current employer of any potentially solvable issues you are having- for example, harrassment by another employee, feeling your skills are underused, needing more/less responsibility. Some things can be fixed by a frank discussion or by just asking- squeaky wheel gets the oil- and the more you can mitigate the problems at your current job, the more you can keep a healthy attitude, which helps in job hunting.
2. Identify the job you will be looking for. Do you want a career change, or just a change of employer? Write down what the MUST HAVES are for your new job, including commute length, duties, salary, etc. Then write down your WANTS, which you can compromise on if the MUST HAVES are all there.
3. Tailor your resume to attract the type and level of job you are seeking, and write a sample cover letter to an employer hiring for exactly that job.
4. Identify where you will find the job you are looking for. Craigslist is the best bet for my field- snagajob, monster, the local newspaper, city and government websites, and various others are also good resources. In some fields, it's best to just send a resume to potential employers directly, as the same large employers are always looking for ideal candidates.
5. Start checking the resources you have identified daily and sending resumes and cover letters.

This all seems pretty common sense, but if you do this all WHILE working your current job, you may either find your perfect job because you are waiting for the right thing rather than panicking about the need for a paycheck, or conversely you may realize that the only jobs being offered in your field are WORSE than what you are doing now, and that you need to stay put for a while. It's much easier to make that decision while paying your bills than while putting them off!

[tropicsgoddess]

Knowing When To Leave

I've been in that situation, before. Stick with your current job, but in the meantime you look around for other jobs. Once you land something, give your two weeks notice. From personal experience, it's better to look for another job while you still have one than to look for a job when you don't have one. Being behind on bills and being broke as hell is no fun and no joke.

[AirHostess]

When I came back from Jordan after quitting my flight attendant job out there I came back to no job I was living at home again.

Luckily my town has lots of jobs so I applied for Xmas temp jobs and got a job in a posh jewellers but I really didn't want to work retail. The day before I was due to start I had an interview for an airline and got the job and started training the next week. It took me 3 weeks to get my new job but I was lucky.

My boyfriend graduated 6 months ago and is haven't problems finding a graduate job despite having applied for lots of jobs and being interviewed, he's currently working retail part-time and hating it but at least he has a job!

I guess it depends on your financial situation, my boyfriend is living at home so no money worries, he just needs to get work experience for his CV.

[smileyeagle1021]

It's easier to get a job while you still have a job. I know it's harder to look, and it can affect your attitude, but you're not going to get desperate and take a job because you have to if you can pay the bills, and it gives you negotiation leverage with the new employer.

i hate to be the one who has to prove that it is possible to get a great job out of desperation...
I quit my job at the airport because they told me the only way to get time off to go to my cousin's wedding was to quit (I missed the deadline to request time off by like 2 days, but in Utah you can quit with as little notice as you like without penalty... one of the few good things about a right to work state)
I went to the call centers because they will always hire... I ended up at IHG at what I thought would be a 30 cent an hour pay cut, but it was less than half the commute, inside a heated building, and not having to spend my entire day dodging around moving cars. As it turns out though I tested high enough in my first week of training that I was promoted on the spot to a higher department that ended up being a $1 an hour pay raise on the base plus the occasional performance bonus, plus shift differentials. Oh and to make it better this company has some of the best PTO policies I know of, 3 days funeral, no notice required, vacation time allowed on same day if available... even if it is available they don't ask questions if you say you need sick time... they even encourage you to call in sick of work rather than come in and have a bad day negatively impacting our guests (that is of course if you still have sick time available, if you don't you can only get away with that if it is really slow or if you have doctors note, which seems reasonable enough). The work itself isn't bad, most of our guests are great people... there are a few asshats but far less than I dealt with at other jobs...

now, I will point out that I am the exception not the rule... most of the time if you get a job out of desperation it won't work out well, I just got extremely lucky.

[wagegoth]

Smileyeagle, you have a good point, but it depends on where you live. Where I live, there are no real jobs like that. It's very expensive here, so call centers, distributions centers, etc. aren't built here.

I make a very good wage, although it's just a living wage here, but it can take a month easily from the first interview for a position to the actual hire, due to multiple interviews, testing, etc. That's the from the first interview. That doesn't include the time getting to it.

So, it depends on Soulstealer's location and the availability of the type of work SS is looking for. Right now, after the holidays, is a good time to look for a job in some fields, because people are leaving jobs after getting their bonuses. But it's a bad time for a retail job.

I'm not saying it can't be done, certainly not, but it is usually better to keep the job you have, unhappy or not, while you look. Especially if, like me, you don't have family you can fall back on.

[gunsage]

The longest I've been out of a job has been a month. True, it was a LONG month, but I digress. Now, this could also be because I never stop...EVER. When I'm not working, I AM working. As a side note, I'd like to point out that I actually enjoy looking for a new job, especially when I'm not working. I don't know...it makes me feel productive. And you certainly have plenty of time to look when you are out of a job. Here's my take on this...you should definitely stay at your current job as long as possible.

Money's money after all. Besides, if it's just about boredom, that's not a major concern. On the one hand, if you have plenty of money in reserve or money isn't that big of a deal right now, chances are you'll find a job a lot quicker without being hindered by your current one. Unfortunately, if you really need that scratch, do job searching in your downtime if possible and take as many days off as possible so as to improve your job search as well.