Should I quit my job without another one lined up
Scorpio33
Posts: 745 Forumite
Background on me: mid-30s, married with 2 young kids, earning around £50k.
I work in Finance and have been in my current job for 2.5years. I have been unhappy in my current job for the last 1.5years. The reason why I am unhappy is that I feel that a lot of what is expected of me is above my current level of knowledge (without sufficient training), there is no one supporting me or checking my work, the environment I work in is toxic (some very nasty individuals) and the work leaves me feeling stressed, anxious and depressed. I have tried making it work, talked to my boss about my concerns, but he is just as unhappy about my performance than I am in the job. He expects me to do what he wants due to me being a manager. I can't make it work and now the only way forward I can see is leaving.
Every weekend I get the Sunday night blues, every day I dread going into work and at night I can't stop thinking about work. I then get stressed out and take it out on my kids and hate myself for doing it. At work I panic every time the phone goes or I get an email, through fear of what may await me on the other end.
I have been looking for a new role for about a year now, but nothing good has come up. Moreover, I think that as the job is having such an effect on me mentally, my confidence is shot and I can't think straight, making it impossible for me to (a) find a job and (b) sell myself to recruiters.
So now I am thinking of quitting without another job lined up.
I have 4 months salary saved up and I have to give 3 months notice, which gives me 7 months to find a job. Once I am out of this role I think that my mental health would pick up an enable me to find something else.
The issue I have is that all my instincts are telling me to quit, but my head is telling me that is a bad idea. Employers like someone who is employed and moreover, if I don't find much I like, I could be tempted to take anything in order to get money coming in.
Then saying that, I fear it is only a matter of time before I get sacked. Surely it is better to resign than be sacked?
Is it ever a good idea to resign without a job to go to?
I work in Finance and have been in my current job for 2.5years. I have been unhappy in my current job for the last 1.5years. The reason why I am unhappy is that I feel that a lot of what is expected of me is above my current level of knowledge (without sufficient training), there is no one supporting me or checking my work, the environment I work in is toxic (some very nasty individuals) and the work leaves me feeling stressed, anxious and depressed. I have tried making it work, talked to my boss about my concerns, but he is just as unhappy about my performance than I am in the job. He expects me to do what he wants due to me being a manager. I can't make it work and now the only way forward I can see is leaving.
Every weekend I get the Sunday night blues, every day I dread going into work and at night I can't stop thinking about work. I then get stressed out and take it out on my kids and hate myself for doing it. At work I panic every time the phone goes or I get an email, through fear of what may await me on the other end.
I have been looking for a new role for about a year now, but nothing good has come up. Moreover, I think that as the job is having such an effect on me mentally, my confidence is shot and I can't think straight, making it impossible for me to (a) find a job and (b) sell myself to recruiters.
So now I am thinking of quitting without another job lined up.
I have 4 months salary saved up and I have to give 3 months notice, which gives me 7 months to find a job. Once I am out of this role I think that my mental health would pick up an enable me to find something else.
The issue I have is that all my instincts are telling me to quit, but my head is telling me that is a bad idea. Employers like someone who is employed and moreover, if I don't find much I like, I could be tempted to take anything in order to get money coming in.
Then saying that, I fear it is only a matter of time before I get sacked. Surely it is better to resign than be sacked?
Is it ever a good idea to resign without a job to go to?
0
Comments
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Over a decade ago I was in a job I despised and I resigned without having another job to go to thinking I would get something easily. I was out of work (bar two very short term temporary contracts) for a year. That was horrible and after the first couple of months with no offers coming in you really start to doubt yourself.
I would never resign with no job to go to again.0 -
Resigning is better than being sacked, but neither is good.
You say that you have actively been looking for another job: what kind of feedback have you received? Once you are no longer in work your CV will be massively less attractive, so if you cannot get many interviews now you will get few or none after quitting. However, if you are constantly getting invited for interview for attractive positions but then letting yourself down, it is possible that your stress and unhappiness affects your interview performance and so this might improve after resignation.
Have you tried asking for a less demanding position in your present organisation?0 -
Voyager2002 wrote: »Resigning is better than being sacked, but neither is good.
You say that you have actively been looking for another job: what kind of feedback have you received? Once you are no longer in work your CV will be massively less attractive, so if you cannot get many interviews now you will get few or none after quitting. However, if you are constantly getting invited for interview for attractive positions but then letting yourself down, it is possible that your stress and unhappiness affects your interview performance and so this might improve after resignation.
Have you tried asking for a less demanding position in your present organisation?
Of the jobs I have applied to, most of them I have had an interview for, but it has not worked out either because I have not sold myself in the interview or the job has not been right. I have had one or two whereby my experience levels are too high and they felt I would be bored.
There are no less demanding positions in my organisation as it is very small. Even if they gave me little or nothing to do, I think I would still be unhappy as it is more the people than the actual role if that makes sense?0 -
TrickyDicky101 wrote: »Over a decade ago I was in a job I despised and I resigned without having another job to go to thinking I would get something easily. I was out of work (bar two very short term temporary contracts) for a year. That was horrible and after the first couple of months with no offers coming in you really start to doubt yourself.
I would never resign with no job to go to again.
What makes you now say you would never resign with no job to go to again? What changed exactly? That may help me get my head straight.0 -
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missbiggles1 wrote: »Did you miss the bit about being unemployed for a year?
No I did see that, its just I wanted more information really. What effect would it have on me etc.
I would have at least 7 months money behind me and I have been looking for a year. Plus with using credit cards (Not ideal I know), I am sure I can stretch that time to a year without working.
Its also the fact that having never been unemployed (despite being made redundant 3 times) I have no experience of what this feels like.0 -
I have been looking for a new role for about a year now, but nothing good has come up. Moreover, I think that as the job is having such an effect on me mentally, my confidence is shot and I can't think straight, making it impossible for me to (a) find a job and (b) sell myself to recruiters.
What do you class as good? Are you creating boundaries?
You want to leave the job you're in and are considering becoming unemployed. If you want to leave that badly maybe you should change your job search. Maybe you also need to consider other jobs that you can do outside of your usual search.
They may be lower pay, in a different industry, less hours or whatever falls below your line of good, but if you can do it (and it's something that won't also negatively impact your mental health) then it's maybe worth considering going for it rather than making yourself unemployed or continuing in your current role, especially if it's a job you may enjoy doing.0 -
What makes you now say you would never resign with no job to go to again? What changed exactly? That may help me get my head straight.No I did see that, its just I wanted more information really. What effect would it have on me etc.
I would have at least 7 months money behind me and I have been looking for a year. Plus with using credit cards (Not ideal I know), I am sure I can stretch that time to a year without working.
Its also the fact that having never been unemployed (despite being made redundant 3 times) I have no experience of what this feels like.
Being unemployed can be depressing, especially as time goes on. Worry about finances, spending all day everyday just searching and applying for jobs, not being as social.
It's not an ideal situation to be in.0 -
What does your partner think? Do they work? How often do offers come about?
The question is: how likely are you to find an appropriate alternative job in the next 7 months.
Are you looking for the same sort of salary? Could you afford a lower one? What raised alarms reading your post is your starting that you are stressed because of lack of support/no-one checking your work, but on a £50K, I would have expected that you are in a decision making position and if anything, it would be you checking the work of others.
The positive of looking for work without being in a job is that you are able to start immediately, which can be a very attractive position. Explaining why you left might be difficult though. Also, you say that your confidence will go up, most likely to start with, but if you get more rejections when you think you are at your best and you start getting stressed about your financial position, it is likely that your confidence will take a nose dive at this point.
I personally would stay and continue with the search, but that very much depends how much you need the money and the impact of being without a job long term.0 -
What does your partner think? Do they work? How often do offers come about?
The question is: how likely are you to find an appropriate alternative job in the next 7 months.
Are you looking for the same sort of salary? Could you afford a lower one? What raised alarms reading your post is your starting that you are stressed because of lack of support/no-one checking your work, but on a £50K, I would have expected that you are in a decision making position and if anything, it would be you checking the work of others.
The positive of looking for work without being in a job is that you are able to start immediately, which can be a very attractive position. Explaining why you left might be difficult though. Also, you say that your confidence will go up, most likely to start with, but if you get more rejections when you think you are at your best and you start getting stressed about your financial position, it is likely that your confidence will take a nose dive at this point.
I personally would stay and continue with the search, but that very much depends how much you need the money and the impact of being without a job long term.
My partner works, but this just covers childcare. She is supportive of anything I do and in fact was the one who initially suggested just quitting.
I guess my thinking is that if I resign, I have a strict deadline to work to. That may give me more impetus in looking for a new role.
I agree that I should be managing and overseeing, not doing, but that is the nature of this business and the big reason why I want to leave.
I'd love to take a lower salaried job with less stress, but this is not a long term solution. Also, I find those roles I can't get as I have too much experience and employers think that I would be bored and wanting to move onto something better quickly.
I take the point about being unemployed getting you down and perhaps feeling just as bad - something I have not considered. In terms of the gap on the CV, this would be put down to wanting to spend time with my family - something that is true.
I guess the job is getting to me so much, I just want a way out and the only way out I can currently see is quitting. Perhaps I should look at lower paid jobs in the short term and see what happens - it is better than being unemployed.0
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