Is It Time to Quit Your Job? Here’s How to Tell

On average, people spend over 13 years (!!) of their lifetimes at work. This isn’t a bad thing, assuming you like what you do and who you work with. Unfortunately, for a lot of people that isn’t the case.

Exhaustion; poor sleep; depression. A job that you don’t enjoy can have negative effects on both your physical and mental wellbeing. Here are five signs that it’s time to quit your job and move on to greener pastures.

1. There doesn’t appear to be opportunities for advancement

Advancement can have multiple meanings. You might be focused on learning new skills or getting certain certifications. You could be trying to build a network through your job. Your sole focus may be to obtain a more senior position at the company. It’s up to you to outline what you want out of a job and how you want to progress. If you don’t believe that you can get those things out of your current position, then it’s probably time to consider other options.

2. You don’t have a good relationship with your manager

I once spoke to a Diversity leader at a prominent consulting company, and she told me that “people don’t leave jobs, they leave managers.” Your manager has a huge impact on your day-to-day experience, but also on your career progression. With that in mind, take some time to consider your relationship with your manager. Ask yourself these questions:

• Does your manager micromanage you, or does your manager let you work autonomously?
• Does your manager provide opportunities for you to show your strengths?
• Does your manager value your opinion and contribution?
• Does your manager recognize your good work, but also let you know how you can be better?

While there’s more to consider when reviewing your relationship with your manager, this should provide a good foundation. It’s possible that you’ll be able to switch teams and get a different manager, but most of the time, management styles are aligned to a company’s overall culture. So if you didn’t like your first manager, there’s a good chance that switching to a different team won’t provide a much better experience.

3. You dread going to work

This one is pretty straightforward. There’s a difference between being anxious about your upcoming performance review and truly dreading the 8–10 hours that you’re going to spend at work the following day. If you go to bed thinking about how much you don’t want to go to work the following day, well, you should probably stop going.

4. Your health is suffering

As mentioned earlier, we spend a lot of time at work. It’s absolutely critical that we don’t work at the expense of our physical and mental health. Some signs that your health is being compromised because of your work are: lack of sleep, headaches, frequent illness, anxiety. You can’t be your best at work if the work is actively damaging your wellbeing.

Your company should encourage a sense of work-life balance amongst employees. For you to be your best self at work, you need to make sure that your health is taken care of.

5. You regularly feel the need to justify your job

“I’m not going to get paid like this if I leave!”

“I’m secure here.”

“I mean, it’s not that bad.”

“I know how to do this job. I’m good at it.”

“Quitting will look bad on my resume.”

These are some of the more common excuses people give for staying in a job. I myself am guilty of using at least a few of these. It’s easy to fall in love with the security and familiarity of a job, and if your primary goal is to be comfortable, then that’s fine! Don’t feel pressure to switch jobs just for the sake of switching jobs. However, you should never feel compelled to justify staying in a job or with a specific company.

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With all of this laid out, remember that the grass isn’t always greener. Make sure that you do your research before you decide to apply to a company. Use services like Chezie (our personal favorite), FairyGodBoss, and Blind to see what people are saying about the company. Also, go through your LinkedIn connections to see if you have anyone in your network that works at the company you’re considering. Reach out to a few of those people and ask them what they do and don’t like about the firm and about their roles.

You are a valuable contributor to any team. The job that you have should bring you some joy, and the company that you work with must know your worth. If either of those isn’t happening, then go ahead and draft that two weeks’ notice.