How to Know When it’s Time to Quit Your Job
You don’t get along with co-workers.
While you can’t expect to be best friends with everyone you work with, you do want to maintain a professional, friendly relationship with the people you have to communicate with every day in the workplace. This is especially important when you’re working with a small staff, or are in a profession where constant teamwork is extremely important. If you find that individuals in your department don’t exactly have an honest, fair approach to problems or tasks in the workplace, or can’t be trusted, it may be time to start putting your resume back out there. If you constantly hear coworkers speaking negatively about someone in the office, or if other employees always want to talk to you about someone in the office they don’t particularly care for, this is definitely a sign that everyone in the office can’t be trusted. You don’t want to run away from a good job just because of the people that work there, but you do want make sure that your reputation is not being ruined by those who will do anything to get ahead. If you find yourself angry or upset by a coworker’s actions on a daily basis, you should talk to your boss about the problem and try to resolve the situation as professionally as possible. If this doesn’t work (give it a couple of weeks to know for sure), a new place of employment may be more suitable.
You don’t agree with the ethics of your company.
You may have noticed certain things in your company’s policies or in the behavior of your boss and employees that may challenge your ethics or make you fell uncomfortable. For instance, some bosses encourage employees to lie to customers when it comes to billing or delivery issues. Or, you may be encouraged to steal information from competitors in order from the company to get ahead. If you don’t agree with these policies, it may not do you any good to talk to your boss about changing the rules, since he or she may be encouraging this behavior in the workplace. The best thing to do if you feel you’re in a situation like this is to make your boss aware of your discomfort and to make it plain that you’ll be changing jobs if you’re asked to do things at work that compromise your morals. If he or she refuses to budge, you’ll know that it’s time to go; work can be stressful enough in itself, but when you feel ethically challenged, it could do damage to your conscience.
You don’t get along with your boss.
Again, you don’t have to necessarily love working for your boss, but it is important that the two of you get along if you want your time at work to be pleasant. If you feel that your boss is treating you unfairly or doesn’t care for you personally for any reason, it may be a little difficult for you to decide what to do. You may feel as though your boss is playing favorites, and doesn’t see the good work you’re doing, no matter how hard you work. The best way to remedy the situation is to make sure that you’re always doing your best at work and maintaining a pleasant attitude with your coworkers, and continue to assess your boss’ attitude towards you. Personality clashes are a part of life, even in the workplace, so it’s important to maintain a mature and professional attitude with your boss, even if the two of you don’t get along. The problem may not necessarily be with you, but you deserve to work in a place where you’re treated fairly or with respect. Rather than continue to have disagreements with your boss, or to continue to be upset every day at work, it’s best to find a job where you feel comfortable and appreciated; part of doing a good job is feeling as though you’re making a difference at work, and confirmation of this every once in a while from your boss is necessary to give you a healthy attitude towards work.
You suspect your company may be in financial trouble.
If you can’t find the supplies you need at work anymore, or can’t take an extra pen or notebook from the supply closet without being reprimanded, or if food isn’t catered to the company any longer for business meetings, your company may be trying hard to save money. You may not want to ask your boss what type of financial trouble the company may be in if the information hasn’t been discussed in a meeting with the rest of your company, so if you start to notice that you aren’t offered overtime nearly as much as you were before, or if certain benefits in your health insurance package have been done away with, it may be time to find work with a company that is a little more financially secure.
Your life is unbalanced because of work.
It’s definitely a challenge to make sure that you’re spending enough time with family and friends, and making time for yourself, while working full time, but when your boss isn’t concerned about the fact that you have a life outside of work, this could lead to problems. Even when you do your best at work, and work overtime when you need to, you may still feel as though your efforts are under-appreciated at work, and if your boss knows that he or she can always count on you to do extra assignments, you may never get a free minute. If you feel you’re being penalized for trying to prioritize your life, finding a new job may be the solution.
Work isn’t fun anymore.
Yes, you’re at work to do work, but you should still enjoy what you do for a living. There are so many people who experience high stress levels, hypertension, and a host of other health problems because their job takes so much out of them, and you want to avoid this at all costs. You may have also begun to act out at work in ways you may not be completely conscious of. If you continue showing up late for work and can’t seem to find the energy to be there on time anymore, or are continually turning assignments in late because you can’t organize your schedule enough to meet due dates, it may be a good idea to start looking for a new job before you’re forced to do so. You may also be experiencing this lack of motivation at work because you’re not working in a field that you’re thoroughly interested in. Many people take jobs that are tolerable, but not necessarily their first choice. If you have a special talent or skill that you’ve always wanted to express in a professional sense, and after a few years at the same job, you may feel as though you’re at a dead end and need to find more of a profitable outlet to express yourself. If this is the case, you may want to start exploring other options as soon as possible, or get a part time job that expresses your creative or artistic side until you can work in your field of choice full time. Keep in mind that one or two extremely stressful days at work every week or so may not be cause for a career transition, but when you find yourself dreading the thought of waking up in the morning to go to ‘that job’, you may need to start looking for a job that you actually look forward to going to-your sanity and health may depend on it.
