Career Advice | Leaving your job!
QUESTION: I am in my present job for the past two years, but have been so unhappy here for the past six months now. I’ve been thinking of jacking it in, but was wondering would it be a good idea to just leave the job without having a new one to go to? Any advice would be great.
There are strong arguments for both options – to stay put while searching for a new job OR to leave immediately.
Leave your job immediately
1. Leaving your current job can free up your time, enabling you to put 100% focus/effort into your job search.
2. Not working can help increase your motivation to find a new job.
3. Leaving your current job will obviously remove you from the unhappiness you are currently experiencing. This unhappiness can have a negative impact on job search efforts, so removing it can be beneficial.
Stay until you source a new job
1. Leaving a job without a new job lined up can make potential employers suspicious. Employers will have plenty of questions, which you’ll have to answer convincingly.
2. There are financial considerations. Removing an income stream can add additional pressure. It’s impossible to predict how long it’ll take to find a new job, and you must factor in the current job climate. If the process drags on you could find yourself forced into taking another job that’ll leave you equally unhappy.
3. Finally, from experience, people in employment get job offers, but people out of employment through choice often struggle. Call it Murphy’s Law.
Generally my advice would be to stay put, but there are exceptions, particularly if your health or personal life is suffering. If you can bear your current situation I’d recommend you stay put, increasing your efforts to locate new employment.
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