photo credit: DaveBleasdale
According to a recent survey, 40% of professionals are considering going in search of a new job when they get back from their summer vacation. They’re battle weary after months of slogging it out in positions where their promotion prospects are disappearing, their bosses aren’t living espoused company values, and their bonuses are being cut.
It’s not surprising news. I’m hearing all the time from clients and friends just how much they want to quit. I’ve written elsewhere about being careful about not rushing to escape.
But how do you know when it really is time to go? Here are 7 signs that indicate the end is, indeed, in sight.
- You dislike what you’re doing. You’ve got to the point where you’re more than just bored, or not enjoying what you do. It’s becoming an active hatred. You can feel it sitting on you like a lead weight on your heart. It’s affecting your whole outlook on life.
- You feel no connection with your boss or colleagues. If you ever trusted your boss, that’s gone never to return. And, there’s no-one at work you can really call your friend.
- You’d really rather stay in bed. You’re struggling to get up in the morning, and it’s an effort to get yourself together for your day.
- You can never get on top of your workload. No matter how hard you try, you never feel that you’re getting on top of things. You might just about get there when the goal posts change again and you’re back to square one.
- You’re constantly ill. Despite whatever you do to de-stress, you’ve always got some kind of minor health problem going on. Whether it’s a cold, flu, whatever, you also notice these things becoming more difficult to shrug off and recover from.
- You’re living for weekends and holidays. The benefits of them, however, last only a few days before you feel that you’ve never been away.
- You’ve tried your damnedest to make things better. You’re a pro. You’ve read all the advice in this and other blogs about how to hack your career and you’ve applied it all religiously. Without success. You’re done with trying.
Sometimes the best thing to do is walk away. Some companies are just not for you. Don’t waste your energy and make yourself chronically ill trying to force fit yourself to a scenario that was never for you.
Sure, there are pragmatic considerations around how you get yourself out, what you subsequently do, and how you finance yourself in the process. It may take you time, but if it’s right to go, do yourself a favor and make that a firm decision. That’s step one. The rest will follow. And you’ll wonder why you slogged it out for so long!
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Twitter: CubeRules
I’m still a fan in ensuring you look for a job while you still have one (which, seriously, takes great commitment while fighting these seven signs it is time to leave…). You simply take away another stress (finances) while you look for the job.
Plus, changes on the job happen all the time — a new manager, different coworkers, etc. Not that it will necessarily change the world for you, but by staying and looking, you get a shot.
These seven warning signs that it is time to look for another job? Right on the money.
.-= Scot Herrick´s last blog ..Coping with a demoralized company as a new hire =-.
Staying and looking is a good, pragmatic way to move things forward. Still, without a decision that things will be different, you never put yourself in a position where you have any choice at all.
Glad you resonated with the warning signs. Be interested to know if there’s any from your experience that you’d add?
I have just found your website and found it vey inspirational in knowing there are other people like me out there. I have been in my current job for 16 years and am slowly watching people below me receive promotion and better job prospects than me. I feel under valued and oftern looked over. I am stuck in a rut and feel it is time to move on. After 16 years it is very scary to dip your toe back into the job hunting market. It is a difficul situation as I do not dread going to work and I work with wsme great peole but I do not have any job satisafction or challeneges anymore and half of me thinks is it out of the frying pan into the fire…
Sounds like a tough one, Maxine. Difficult when you like the people, but just don’t find the job that interesting. Also, and I don’t know whether this is relevant to you or not, but a lot of folks I know in similar positions worry that, in the current economic environment, they will lose employment rights (redundancy pay, the right to claim unfair dismissal, etc) if they leave.
I suppose so much depends on your personal values and what’s important to you. I personally have always put happiness, challenge and being able to contribute appropriately, ahead of the need to feel safe. Also, I’ve always taken the attitude that life is short. Serendipitously, I came across this other post today called, If You Don’t Love Your Job, Leave, which talked exactly to that point. You might like it too.
Meanwhile, thanks for sharing where you’re at. It’s good to have you here!
I like how you highlighted these warning signs. I think we all have one or two of them now and then but if you are getting all of these and contstantly it really is a big sign to look for an exit. I found in my last job there was a line which was crossed and at that point I knew I was outta there.. it was just a matter of time. What surprises me (and everyone has their own journey) but just how often people stay in crappy conditions. I am sure people have their own reasons but I sometimes wonder if people think it’s the best they can get. That’s why what you are doing here is so important Christine. We always have a choice and more people are realising that now I think.
Thanks, Jen. Like you I am constantly surprised that people stay in crappy conditions. The positive psychologists talk about choosing life over “slow death”. It seems sad to me that so many choose the latter, but they do.
Like you, when I quit corporate life, there was a line beyond which I knew I had to go. It’s pretty tough admitting that that’s where you are, but such a relief at the same time!
Twitter: Caileagh
Well Christine. You’ve described where I am to the tee. It’s time for me to be moving on. But until recently I couldn’t decide what I wanted to do. I could clearly define what I did NOT want to do; that seemed much easier but didn’t help me see a pathway out of my misery.
And you are right, I do have to wait for the right time. I would love to hand in my resignation today but then I would worry about how I was going to pay the rent and put food on the table.
At 53 I am still a work in progress
Thanks, Caileagh.
It sounds from your comment as if you’ve got some clarity now on your way forward? I hope so! It’s half the battle, isn’t it?
When we get hacked off by jobs, we often want to chuck them in quickly and leave our former employers to feel the effects of our wrath. Sadly, we only do ourselves more harm in that scenario – they don’t care if we can’t pay the rent, and will quickly replace us in any case. So, I often suggest to people that, once they’ve decided to quit, they stay professional, keep their decision quiet, and use their current job as a means to support themselves while they transition. Bizarrely, they often find they can approach their existing jobs with fresh energy, knowing they’re not going to be there forever.
Good to have you here!
Twitter: Caileagh
I am getting some clarity and Ben Lumley is helping me with that. I don’t want to burn my current employer, I just want to not have to come to this office any longer. And since I may get some future business/income from them I don’t want to burn that bridge.
My bff says about me, “Once you decide you are done with something you will chew off your foot to get out of their snare.” I am trying to keep this in mind as it has been my past pattern. I think I’ll need my foot in my future endeavors.
Your articles are very helpful to me in this transition phase. Thanks much.
.-= Caileagh´s last blog ..Starting over for the third time =-.
Ben’s both a friend and colleague, so I’m delighted you’re working with him. He’s terrific!
It also sounds like your bff has good advice there. Sounds like your foot would indeed be helpful to keep
I’d love to hear how it all unfolds for you in the fullness of time.
Hi Christine,
I found myself smiling reading the article as I am just working on my CV and I find the timing of it just right (also I realized that I’ve become a 2am-er tonight). I love what I am doing and trying every day to get better at it, but the fact that I feel no real connection with the my boss and colleagues started digging on my enthusiasm and its bringing the signs one after the other. I must say it wasn’t a very fast process and most probably it was like this from the beginning, but I choose to see it otherwise or thought that I can change it. The trick now that I am starting to move on, but keeping the job in the same time, is that I tend to become flat, at all energetic and is heavily influencing me outside of my working hours as well, including my preparation and job hunting. One real help was monitoring my working time, trying to make the best of it and keeping my immediate goals on a schedule. It’s really working!
Thank you for wonderful insights,
Bri
Thanks for your wonderful comment! It’s so good to see you here, Bri!
I can imagine that, despite having made the decision to leave and indeed working on your exit, the day at work can make you feel flat. What a fabulously resourceful and self-supporting thing to do, though, monitor your working time and keep it focused. May not be the whole answer, but it’ll certainly help tame the beast in the meantime!
Take care for now and feel free to share your thoughts here any time.
Oh, and Bri, I forgot to say, 2am comment duly noted!
Twitter: HeavenandEl
It’s scary though isn’t Christine? I’m thinking about my husband’s situation (again
) Aside from having a good rapport with his colleagues, the rest of these are bang on the money. But he won’t even think about finding something else because they have him sucked in. He has a public sector job and pension. Two years ago it might have been a different story but right now, he says he’d be an idiot to think about leaving.
His situation is one of the things that drives me to work harder at my stuff. If he is no longer the main bread winner (yes, it is old fashioned but it’s how he thinks) then I’m hoping it will help him consider alternate options.
Very thought provoking post. Thanks Christine.
.-= El Edwards´s last blog ..How to smile all week- even if you live for the weekend =-.
That’s such a tough one, El. So many of these jobs are like handcuffs (if you’ll excuse the rather bad pun!!). But they keep us tied in because they actually give us something that’s of value – money and benefits that support our livelihood. It would be such an easier deal if this wasn’t the case.
I so admire your drive and determination to build your own thing, so that you open up choices for the pair of you. You so deserve to achieve it, and it’s terrific being alongside, watching you progress. You go, girl!
It comes to the point when your job doesn’t align with your values anymore and as Jen right says a line gets crossed. When that happens and you’re matching with a lot of these signs it’s time to leave.
I agree to with others here Christine that looking while being in the job is the sensible thing to do but having said that I do know people who have burnt there boats and given myselves no excuse to go after their dreams. It’s a tricky balance isn’t it?
It’s always going to be a problem that even though it’s time to leave, we stay because it’s better the devil you know…
.-= Ben´s last blog ..It’s all in the gut baby =-.
It’s an extremely tricky balance, Ben, and I’d be failing you if I said otherwise. Dreams are precious and need to be looked after and nurtured as lovingly as our dear ones or children. By the same token, we need to pay our way in the world via mortgages and food and other things and often jobs give us the where with all to do that, even in the short-medium term. We kind of need them both; the one, at least for a while, often supporting the other. Knowing the right tactics to take to keep them both alive is a day by day, week by week, month by month thing. Challenging not to cling overly to the job because it’s known, and burn you’re dream because it’s fearful.
Twitter: CoachScotland
Christine
I really enjoyed this. When you feel that you are banging your head against a brick wall at work – you probably are!
I agree with Ben – the devil we know is a big factor but if we are honest companies are changing on a regular basis – how well do we really know the company?
It is a tricky time to move and people feel that because of the length of service they have they should stay. I have clients with 20 years service suddenly made redundant in one area of a business while in other parts of the same business people with much less service stayed.
I think following your heart and your checklist is good way to assess where you are at work.
.-= Marion Anderson´s last blog ..How to Forgive – What you need to know about forgiveness =-.
Your point about people clinging on because of service is a great one. In my experience too, service confers little security these days. If the cookie is going to crumble, who’s to say where or who it will affect.
And I love your point about following your heart. Sure, the 7 points here are a good checklist, but as Ben said last week, it’s really all in the gut. And the gut knows!
Twitter: glyn.lumleyme.com
2 years after starting work, I was totally fed up with my job – long hours, short-staffed, no joy etc. I found another job in the same profession fairly quickly. On day one in the new position, I was told “we’re working long hours .. ” How come that never came up at the recruitment interview!
After 2 months in the new job, I was off work, sick. I saw a colleague from my old company. “Why don’t you see if they’ll take you back?” he said. Swallowing my pride, I made an appointment with the Personnel Manager (the days before HR!). “We’d love to have you back, Glyn. We’ve recruited some more staff; working hours are back to normal”. I returned and stayed with that company for another 28 years. And yes, there were good days and bad.
My learning was not to make a decision about employment when angry about my lot and to appreciate that “the grass on the other side of the hill is not always greener”
That was a really useful learning for you, Glyn! Great your old company took you back.
As your comment exemplifies brilliantly, making decisions either quickly, or when you’re feeling less than resourceful, is never a good idea. Also, I do think that what we often try to escape from is actually some unfaced challenge inside of us and whether we confront it with this employer or another, it’s not going away until we do. Still, have said all that, there are situations for at least a few of my clients, where, even having made big shifts for themselves and tried lots of ways to make a scenario less ill-making, there’s a fundamental mismatch and it’s good when they can acknowledge that powerfully and go after something that’s going to suit them so much better.
Thanks for adding to the conversation here. It’s great to have you!
Talk about hitting the nail on the head… My current work situation ticks several of these boxes particularly the people one, I have a truly horrible feeling when I look around my office and realise that I have little or no connection with anyone (I realise that it’s an environment that supports poor quality and now understand why I have been lacking energy and enthusiasm). My lack of connectedness was also a sure fire sign to me that at some level part of me has/had already left.
At the moment I’m just in the professional phase of trying to make each day count as much as I can. I have used a couple of your posts to help support me. Firstly I can totally recommend to any readers of this blog using Julie Walraven’s CV (sorry Resume !!!) service, the process and Julie’s personality and skills really brought my CV to life and at last I’m really taking my professional life seriously and searching for not just the job but an environment and overall package that fits me. I guess a lot of that process has been about getting the necessary insights from thinking/day dreaming, coaching and therapy in order to really create a vision for Me and my life. Your detox posts were also very helpful with this. For anyone who missed those I recommend to check them out.
I’m laughing as I write this now but the whole timing of your recent posts has really been perfect for me and my current shifts. Thanks Christine for your writing and thought provoking capabilities
Tim, what a great comment!
I’m so happy that you’re finding the blog useful. Also, I’m delighted that you linked through to Julie. She is a truly great friend, and as you’ve discovered, an awesome resource when it comes to getting your personal marketing in great shape when you’ve decided it’s time to move on. The whole thing talks to the power of social media and the interconnected relationships it enables.
What I really hear in your comment is that you’ve taken so much of your power back now from what was, for you at least, despite all that it has given you, a really unhealthy situation. it’s terrific that you’re choosing to continue to be professional in it. I think that’s going to allow you a really positive exit when the time comes. I wait to hear how it all transpires!
Twitter: JulieWalraven
Well, Christine, you sure hit the nail on the head again. I wrote a post like this from a personal perspective partially called “When is it time to leave?” As you know, even though I was not an employee, the victories from my leaving the double balance of running a non-profit and my own career industry business have been significant. Building the relationship with you has been wonderful!
As for you, Tim, I have to say that Christine gave me a heads-up to your comment. Working with you has been a blessing to me and I know I have told you that. Thank you for the kind words here!
.-= Julie Walraven | Resume Services´s last blog ..Why do you see search boxes on blogs =-.
Thanks, Julie. I know you’ve really taken passion and courage in both hands this year and gone out big time on your own. So I’m only too delighted that a link from this blog has helped in that respect. As I said earlier to Tim, it just shows you the power of the internet and the blogosphere!
It’s great to be connected with you!
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