I really, really want to quit my job but am not sure if it's the smart move.

[Mammoth Jones]

Don't cut your nose to spite your face.

Get a new job before you peace out from your current one. Especially with the current state of things in the world.

 

[Cow Mengde]

Get a new job before quitting this one.

Click to shrink...

This is all you need. Especially during these tough times.

 

[Jimmypython]

Same boat. Expect it is very hard for me to find a new job easily in my field. So I have to put up with whatever is going on at my current job. Hope it is fairly easy to land a new gig for you. If so, go for it.

 

[DeltaRed]

What you sometimes think you should do, is what you should do.

 

[TaySan]

Don't quit until you have something lined up first. Especially in these trying times. Wish you the best,OP.

 

[Wubby]

Suck it up for now until something else is lined up.

 

[Yeeeeeeeeeer]

yea take the others' advice and secure the next job first before you go... BUT... even if you find another job, if things get worse as far as the pandemic and the economy (depending on who you ask, the next recession is right around the corner), new hires are one of the first ones to go... so proceed with care...

 

[Tater]

Echoing what everyone else has said - find a new job before leaving your old one.

One of the messed up things about the job market is that you're perceived as being more valuable if you're currently employed. It shouldn't matter, but it does. The pandemic has put a lot of people out of work, so it may tamp down that effect for now, but in general you'll do better if you're already employed.

 

[Antagon]

Get a new job lined up first and don't burn any bridges with your old job.

If anything goes wrong at the new place, it's nice to have a backup.

 

[teruterubozu]

I wouldn't tell your boss about your frustrations until you have another job in hand. You don't have much leverage at the moment.

 

[jdawg]

I actually handed in my notice last week but I already had a new job offer. I actually handed it in a little early when i could've waited longer. Will miss out on approximately 2.5 weeks of pay.

I felt the owner of the company was talking to me rudely, so I handed in my notice that day, and also let the office manager know the decision was in large part because of the owner. She is a blabber mouth so I know it will get around enough. Felt both great and terrible since i will miss my co workers. The work load was great since the pandemic. But it was a bit of a deadend job, not paid enough and I just got sick of having video meetings every morning with the owner of the company.

I am a bit nervous about the economy potentially tanking. New employer is much larger though with far larger clients, so I think I should be safe.

You should definitely wait to get a new job, but with a PMP qualification and PM work experience, i dont imagine it will be that difficult for you to find a job.

 

[WestEgg]

I wouldn't tell your boss about your frustrations until you have another job in hand. You don't have much leverage at the moment.

Click to shrink...

I don't want to blindside them when I eventually do quit, so I feel I should at least get my frustrations on record before then. At worst, they would lay me off, in which case I could claim unemployment so that's already preferable to quitting with no assistance eligibility. But I doubt they would do that, there's a severe lack of experience in the organization and I really doubt they want to lose me.

 

[werezompire]

So yeah, my thinking is that if I just put in a two weeks, I could dedicate more time to more quality job searching, or I could even take a job below my current level, maybe as a temp, in the meantime while I focus more on finding a perfect job.

Click to shrink...

It's not exactly the same thing, but I've seen plenty of situations where an indie game developer has quit their day job to dedicate more time to working on game development and it's gone very badly. In many instances, they don't actually spend more time after they quit - they get complacent because they have all this free time and so they use their time poorly OR they get depressed about how they have no money which makes it hard to muster the enthusiasm to work.

 

[Deleted member 86105]

It's not exactly the same thing, but I've seen plenty of situations where an indie game developer has quit their day job to dedicate more time to working on game development and it's gone very badly. In many instances, they don't actually spend more time after they quit - they get complacent because they have all this free time and so they use their time poorly OR they get depressed about how they have no money which makes it hard to muster the enthusiasm to work.

Click to shrink...

Yes! Idle hands are the devil's workshop. It's always better to work under time constraints then think everything will magically improve when you quit. Sure you won't have the burdens and stresses of work for a while, but your work stress quickly gets supplanted with the rabbit hole of unemployment which quickly deteriorates your mental health.

I've always thought of mental health like trains. When you get a train going, it's easy to speed up. But when you completely stop a train, it takes a lot of energy to start it back up again.

 

[Grunty]

Do not quit unless you have another job lined up that you're for sure going to be hired at. You may hate your job now, but I think you'll hate not having a job more once your finances start to take a hit. New job first, quit old job second. Always.

 

[Dogo Mojo]

I've wanted to quit my job for awhile now, I want to start my own business that I think could be very successful where I live. The issue is one I have no start up capital, two I can't get it started where I currently work because it would be a conflict of interest.

I can't complain too much, my company has taken care of me very well especially over the past year, but I have grown very tired of working for corporations.

 

[Carroway]

OP I am sorry that you hate your job, and I know how rough it can be to go to work at a place where you absolutely hate it. I did the opposite of you and quit my job, with no new job waiting for me. However, I had a very strong safety net and enough money to make me live comfortably for the next two years, before even having to consider finding a job, but I was also willing to take a massive hit to my standard of living if it ever comes to that.

I have a few suggestions that you should consider before doing anything...

My advice is to do some soul searching and find out exactly what it is you hate about your job. Is it management? Co-workers? Organization? Knowing precisely what it is about the job that makes you hate it, can help when you go and talk to management about this because you absolutely should do that, even if they are the issue because doing nothing to remedy the situation, besides leaving, is counter-productive. You don't know how long you end up having to stay there, it might be a few years if you don't just quit.

And I mean that you should get very specific about the things you hate about your job, situations, types of work, things management or co-workers do and understand why it annoys you. You might just find that you are actually very passionate about the work you do and hate that others are not taking it as seriously as you do for example.

Even if you are dead-set on leaving, knowing what it is you hate about your current job makes it easier for you to not end up in this exact situation again in a few years, because the grass is not, usually, greener on the other pastures, it's just different.

My second advice is to talk to family and friends or whatever support network you have. It took me having to speak to my mother and father and get their support before I handed in my resignation. After all your friends and family know you better than some strangers on a forum do.

Lastly, look through your expenses again, can you live for less than what you are doing currently, and are you willing to take a hit on your living standards in order to be free from a job that you truly hate doing? Of course, I don't know what your economic responsibilities are, but take a good thorough at everything and the options you have, before simply resigning yourself to staying and waiting/searching for something better that might never show up.

TL:DR

1: Figure out what exactly it is you hate about your current job, be specific
2: Talking to friends and family about your issues with your job, be honest.
3: Look through your financials again and see if there are things in your current standard of living that you can live without in order to stretch your available funds, should you leave your job.
Optional: Talk to your management team and see if you can't work together to make your stay there at least a little more tolerable.

 

[Lord Azrael]

It sounds like you have good experience and certification so I bet you could find a new job relatively quickly depending on industry. Echoing what everyone else is saying, don't quit before you have something else lined up unless the mental health toll is too great and you're sure you can weather it.

 

[WestEgg]

OP I am sorry that you hate your job, and I know how rough it can be to go to work at a place where you absolutely hate it. I did the opposite of you and quit my job, with no new job waiting for me. However, I had a very strong safety net and enough money to make me live comfortably for the next two years, before even having to consider finding a job, but I was also willing to take a massive hit to my standard of living if it ever comes to that.

I have a few suggestions that you should consider before doing anything...

My advice is to do some soul searching and find out exactly what it is you hate about your job. Is it management? Co-workers? Organization? Knowing precisely what it is about the job that makes you hate it, can help when you go and talk to management about this because you absolutely should do that, even if they are the issue because doing nothing to remedy the situation, besides leaving, is counter-productive. You don't know how long you end up having to stay there, it might be a few years if you don't just quit.

And I mean that you should get very specific about the things you hate about your job, situations, types of work, things management or co-workers do and understand why it annoys you. You might just find that you are actually very passionate about the work you do and hate that others are not taking it as seriously as you do for example.

Even if you are dead-set on leaving, knowing what it is you hate about your current job makes it easier for you to not end up in this exact situation again in a few years, because the grass is not, usually, greener on the other pastures, it's just different.

My second advice is to talk to family and friends or whatever support network you have. It took me having to speak to my mother and father and get their support before I handed in my resignation. After all your friends and family know you better than some strangers on a forum do.

Lastly, look through your expenses again, can you live for less than what you are doing currently, and are you willing to take a hit on your living standards in order to be free from a job that you truly hate doing? Of course, I don't know what your economic responsibilities are, but take a good thorough at everything and the options you have, before simply resigning yourself to staying and waiting/searching for something better that might never show up.

TL:DR

1: Figure out what exactly it is you hate about your current job, be specific
2: Talking to friends and family about your issues with your job, be honest.
3: Look through your financials again and see if there are things in your current standard of living that you can live without in order to stretch your available funds, should you leave your job.
Optional: Talk to your management team and see if you can't work together to make your stay there at least a little more tolerable.

Click to shrink...

This is all very good advice. I'd obviously probably need to do a bit more thinking to articulate all of my frustrations, but if I had to give what's on the surface, it's primarily that I feel I peaked in the position about three years ago, and have since been stagnating. Where all of the PMs used to more or less be equal, they've now divided us into "technical PMs", who work more closely with engineering on product development, and "service PMs", who manage the customer service side. I was put in the latter, and I honestly feel like I'm just another customer service rep again, albiet for the bigger, more specialized clients vs the bullpens of the customer service department. The technical PMs are all much older than me, but especially now that I have a PMP I easily out qualify them. But my company doesn't seem to care about personally developing me, and is indifferent to my PMP despite having used potential training/funding for it as an incentive prior to me taking the initiative to get it on my own. In addition to all of this, turnover has meant that most departments, especially our supply chain, accounting, production, and logistics, have all regressed, which is causing tons of issues. Which means I take the brunt of the customer's frustration as the primary company contact, need to sanitize and pass these issues along to the relevant parties, actively follow up as the issues aren't resolved, communicate push back from said departments back to the customer, etc.. And while I think I would be happier and better utilized in the technical side (which I used to do anyway), it would at best be a lateral move, and there's no real path to further development. My only chance for promotion would be to beat out the other PMs or an outside candidate for my boss's position if she retired, and from there it's the executive team. So I also just don't feel like I'm working towards anything.

 

[Deleted member 21709]

I don't want to blindside them when I eventually do quit, so I feel I should at least get my frustrations on record before then. At worst, they would lay me off, in which case I could claim unemployment so that's already preferable to quitting with no assistance eligibility. But I doubt they would do that, there's a severe lack of experience in the organization and I really doubt they want to lose me.

Click to shrink...

You really have nothing to gain from telling them.
Give them notice when you do find a new job and have it lined up, that's what you are supposed to do.

If you want to talk to them don't frame that talk around your frustrations, and only do it if you think they are open to a promotion/raise and if that would be enough to make you happy.

 

[BadWolf]

Suck it up and don't quit before finding a new job.

Leave on good terms.

 

[daveo42]

Get a new job before quitting this one.

Click to shrink...

This. Especially in this climate, make sure you have a new job lined up first unless you're fine with and can afford to be out of work for the next 6+ months.

 

[battousai]

I was in a similar position a few months ago and was really miserable at my job. I was looking for a job while employed and it still took a few months of interviewing/looking before I received an offer I was happy with.

I agree with the general consensus that you need to have an offer in hand before you quit, even though every workday ends up being so frustrating. Even my last two weeks were such a slog to get through.

 

[WestEgg]

So minor update to the situation. My employer is going to mandate that all employees return to the office next week. I have made my objections clear to HR, and will be submitting a two weeks notice if they stand by the decision.

 

[Helmholtz]

I quit a job a few years ago, couldn't stand the CEO, he is basically pure evil in my eyes. I got lucky, in that someone I met while I worked there hired me soon after.
Considering the current climate/pandemic, I would echo others' advice that you should try to find something else before you quit. Unless you have a lot of money to fall back on and are okay with spending it.

 

[Jill Sandwich]

Just another voice to say grin and bear it while you job hunt. Just remember you're very lucky to be employed right now, a lot of folks are having it tough.

 

[TheRuralJuror]

My company laid off like 45 people a while back. Almost everyone I know is happier and generally moving on to better shit. I know a good majority of people who were let go between my wife and myself and none regret getting let go. Meanwhile, the ones who stayed suffered from a manner of stress-related issues and many of my co-workers are miserable. Even surprised me as I've been able to withstand most stressful situations with no issues and generally, I'm a hard worker. Despite detesting my job, I'm still a good employee, but a little before Xmas, they pulled some shit that brought me to my lowest point ever. At this point I'm leaving soon, pandemic or not because i literally only have symptoms of IBS on days I work. I say if you're aware of prospects in your area, then take the hell off. For me, my health is more important.

 

[FTF]

So minor update to the situation. My employer is going to mandate that all employees return to the office next week. I have made my objections clear to HR, and will be submitting a two weeks notice if they stand by the decision.

Click to shrink...

Why don't you just say I don't feel safe and will not be coming in and force them to let you go so you can collect UI?

 

[Kill3r7]

It sounds like you have plenty of motivation to find a née job. Once you have an offer in hand give them your two weeks and peace out.

 

[Shadybiz]

So minor update to the situation. My employer is going to mandate that all employees return to the office next week. I have made my objections clear to HR, and will be submitting a two weeks notice if they stand by the decision.

Click to shrink...

Are you in a position to do that? You had said before that you only have a few months worth of expenses saved up.

And if you DO manage to score an interview in the near future, how do you know that the new employer won't make you go into an office as well? Will you be able to hold out for an offer from an employer that will let you work from home 100% of the time?

To summarize: This is still a bad idea.

 

[bionic77]

So yeah, my thinking is that if I just put in a two weeks, I could dedicate more time to more quality job searching, or I could even take a job below my current level, maybe as a temp, in the meantime while I focus more on finding a perfect job. However, the job market still kind of sucks, and I was laid off from my first job after college and unemployed for months, which makes me a bit gun shy about leaving a job that I'm somewhat secure in.

Click to shrink...

Search while on the job.

You don't intend to stick around.

Let this place feed you until you the next one lined up and do enough to keep the job until then.

If they let you go at least you get unemployment while you look. But to quit is going to hurt you unless you get really lucky.

 

[Mammoth Jones]

Why don't you just say I don't feel safe and will not be coming in and force them to let you go so you can collect UI?

Click to shrink...

This. Put your principled stand on pause. Go get a doctors note and force their hand.

 

[WestEgg]

Why don't you just say I don't feel safe and will not be coming in and force them to let you go so you can collect UI?

Click to shrink...

This.

Click to shrink...

Are you in a position to do that? You had said before that you only have a few months worth of expenses saved up.

And if you DO manage to score an interview in the near future, how do you know that the new employer won't make you go into an office as well? Will you be able to hold out for an offer from an employer that will let you work from home 100% of the time?

To summarize: This is still a bad idea.

Click to shrink...

HR got back to me and are back peddling on the in office requirements for objectors. So for now at least, I'm continuing on. It was kind of a straw that broke the camel's back situation for me, but I'll be able to cool down now and stay employed while waiting for the next thing.

Good news is that I've had some pretty good interviews already, which I'm hoping leads to something soon.

 

[s1lver]

Okay, some quick background. I've been with my company for a little more than five years. I started in a support/customer service role, and was eventually promoted to project management. I've survived multiple layoffs/purges, and my job feels fairly safe, except for one issue.

I fucking hate it.

I didn't always hate it. But, between management constantly reshuffling roles and responsibilities, me constantly being handed new work since I'm proven to be competent, and me just getting sick and tired of the day to day work, I can feel myself burning out hard.

To complicate things, my company has entertained putting me through course work to obtain the PMP, a professional certification for project management that is basically a requirement for higher level positions elsewhere. They put two other PMs through a bootcamp that cost thousands of dollars, and said they would get to me eventually, which has yet to happen. So I said fuck it, found an accredited online course for $16, and then took and passed the certification exam a couple of weeks ago. Note the people put through training have not yet passed their exams, and as far as I know no one else in the company has one, my boss included. In fact, in my department, I'm about 12 years younger than the next oldest PM. As a result, I know at this point I can probably do better.

In addition to this, I have juuuust enough in my emergency fund to not make staying at the company a matter of survival, enough to cover about 3 months of expenses. However, obviously I would prefer to keep that money if at possible and transition directly into a new role without a gap. I have been applying for jobs like crazy and had a few phone screenings, and even the occasional interview, but no offers. Note the interviews were prior to me receiving the PMP.

So yeah, my thinking is that if I just put in a two weeks, I could dedicate more time to more quality job searching, or I could even take a job below my current level, maybe as a temp, in the meantime while I focus more on finding a perfect job. However, the job market still kind of sucks, and I was laid off from my first job after college and unemployed for months, which makes me a bit gun shy about leaving a job that I'm somewhat secure in.

Anyway, I'm going to talk with my boss on Monday about my frustrations. But given the situation, do you think I should just suck it up and stay while I continue job searching on the side, or should I dedicate myself fully to job searching and leave a job that I can't stand.

Click to shrink...

Ok, I'm not kidding, your first 3 paragraphs are EXACTLY, and I mean EXACTLY what is currently going on with me right now. I mean, literally everything you said from the time on the company, to the position transition and the company management. I'm scared.

That being said, my advice is that you stick with it. Really try to not overwork yourself, and try to face your work with some positivism wherever you can find it, because if you go to work already expecting to be miserable, it will be a lot lot harder to endure.

The job market is really bad right now, just keep looking until you find something suitable and then change.

All the luck in the world to you!