Americans change jobs frequently these days. However even with our job mobility, it's easy to stay at a job too long. Here are 7 signs that indicate it's time to quit your job.
-
You Hate Going to Work
Do you dread your morning commute? How soon do you start thinking about going to work on the weekend? Is it Sunday night, Saturday night or Monday morning. I've found the sooner your start thinking about going to work, the more you really hate your job.
I've also found that it's extremely hard to get out of bed when you know you have to go to a job you hate. I've been there. I know what it's like. If you're noticing you're more irritable than usual especially when thinking about work, that's a sign you're starting to hate your job.
-
You're Bored
Some people need a challenge. Knowledge workers (lawyers, engineers, etc) are more likely to need a challenge. When work becomes too easy or too repetitive you may find it starts to feel too much like work.
This shouldn't be confused with slacking off. If you're doing your job and getting your work done and you're bored, there's problem.
As a programmer, many times I don't feel like I'm working. This is especially true on an interesting project or something particularity challenging. The payoff comes from the challenge. The money and benefits are nice but I could not work without the challenge. That's just my personality.
-
You're Stressed Out
Everyone claims they're stressed out. However, some people really are. I've found the biggest cause of stress is the loose ends at work. If you've got too many projects going and they aren't going anywhere, you'll find yourself dealing with stress.
Our minds evolved when we were hunting animals and living moment to moment in survival mode. Every concern was immediate. Your brain doesn't know how to deal with loose ends. If there's a problem with no good resolution, it's going to cause stress. Any task left undone is in your head someplace gnawing away at your subconscious. How many times have you been eating dinner and realize you forgot to do something at work? Getting organized can help ease that stress.
-
You're Burned Out
Once you've accumulated enough stress, you start burning out. Americans have too little vacation. With limited vacation, many people what to take short trips. However, I find that a short vacation is more stressful than staying at home. So taking time off really isn't the answer.
Without a good break from work and with too much accumulation of stress (see #3) you're mind and body begin to show the signs of burn out. Do you have trouble sleeping? Are you feeling depressed? Are you irritable all the time? Is it due to your job?
-
You're Not Making What You're Worth
Good people are hard to find. Some jobs, especially those with high barriers to entry (doctor, lawyer, engineer) will always be in demand. If you're good, there's no shortage of job opportunities. However, it's all too easy for an employer to take employees for granted.
I've heard of a number of companies giving a 3% raise across the board. The only people that appeals to are those in Human Resources. It makes their jobs so much easier. However, it's not going to motivate anyone to work harder and it's certainly not going to encourage the good people to stay, if you can even get them to work there at all.
If you're not making what you're worth and your company has a strict policy on raises then you're going to start to hate your job. It's surprising how many companies try to implement a one size fits all policy towards employee benefits.
-
Bad Work Environment
Unfortunately, much of our management culture is left over from the factory of the last century. Managers (especially higher-up's like Directors and Vice Presidents) have a tendency to view employees as replaceable cogs in the machine. We should punch in at 8 and leave after 5. Vacation and sick time are frowned upon. We must keep the assembly line rolling you know.
The gray cubicle farms of modern Corporate America will someday be studied by psychology and sociology students. Who in the world can be motivated to work in the dreary gray landscape of cubetopia. Cubicles stretching as far as the eye can see. The only relief from gray is the occasional motivational poster or corporate propaganda banner.
Of course it could be worse. Many offices are dirty grimy places with bad air and no light. My current office doesn't have a window or any source of natural light. I also share it with a guy who insists on sucking the mucous out of his nose about every 15 minutes like a 10 year child.
-
Bad Boss
I believe that your boss makes or breaks your job. If you have bad boss your job is going to suck no matter what. You could have the best corner office, the highest salary and awesome benefits, but if you hate your boss, you will hate your job.
The first giant corporation I worked for should be a case study in every management textbook. This large nation-wide bank produced the most awful managers of anyplace I've ever worked. Seriously, Harvard Business School could have a class dedicated to how to create bad managers and the students would only need to study this one company.
After that first job most of my bosses have been pretty good. However, my wife hasn't been that lucky.
My wife has been at her current job almost 10 years. She's seen many bosses come and go. I've noticed her mood change with each one. When she's had good bosses, she's been generally happier. However, when she's had bad bosses, she's nearly in tears every night.
I can't understand why people want to stay at jobs with terrible bosses. I've lived through it once and I won't do it again.
Do you hate your job? Is it time to quit? It's hard to quit a safe and secure job and face the unknown. I know most people talk about quitting their job and starting their own company, but very few people do.
I want to work for myself. I'm putting a plan together to make that happen. In the meantime, I'm trying not to get burned out at my current job.
Leave a comment below and let us know about your bad job experience. Have there been any jobs you really hated? How did you know it was time to leave?
Tags Job Quitting Your Job Work & CareerRelated Posts
- FICO
- Should I Buy a New House?
- Fire Your Financial Advisor
- How Uninformed Investors Keep the Stock Market Moving
- Do Succesful People Watch Television?
Comments
4 Comments so far
I worked at a bakery for one year and I was as a customer service/ everything else. It was a non-stop fast pace environment. Not only do I have to worry about working in the back, refilling pastries, making icing cake slices to sell and packaging some other items for deliveries, I also drive out and delivers each day and I also have to serve customers at the front counter whenever someone comes in.
My boss was nice since it was her son's friend however, this made it ok that I don't get a 30 min break just 15min for the entire day.
Anyways, where there's customers, there's stress. Customers that comes in aren't always nice. Some are very low income family and they (moms) come in with attitudes and have bad communication skills, from a 3rd world country, not educated just screams at you. They want free stuff, discounts, samples, everything they can grab. It's very stressful.
The incident that made me had it was when a 35 year old women came in and ordered some pastries in the counter, I grabbed it for her then she pronounced something incorrectly and I had no idea what she wanted, I just asked her again and she got so offended she started poking the glass counter harshly and raised her voice at me saying "Here, here you have it."
Then I calculated her total and entered it in the cash register. Not only did she ignored me and just put the money on the counter away from where I was. So I walked over there and grabbed it. I gave her the change and just left it on the counter to ignore her back and serve the next customer. Next thing you know I hear her yelling "You charged me Wrong!" (just terrible communication skills)
I gave her the calculator and told her to calculated herself, then my boss came out and tried to fix the problem. Without pulling me aside to ask me what happened, she immediately said "you cannot do this to customers." And believe me I felt betrayed by my own boss. there were many other customers there and I was so embarrassed.
It turns out I didn't calculate the total wrong, I gave her one extra pastries which she claimed that she only wanted one. But how in the world did that happened when she did ordered 2 of those and watched me grabbed it for her? How evil.
So I was done being treated like a dog by customers. Some literally point their fingers at me say "Come here!" B/c they want to see what they've ordered.
Not only did my boss started a whole conversation with her, she even started buttering her up about how she doesn't have a problem with any of her sons when they serve her. yeah ok, like you're going to say something nasty about someone's kid, you just can't do that. I was so upset that 35 year old women was trying to make herself look like a good customer. She even started comparing to being a waitress before and how she had to take crap from customer and that's what you have to do when you work? How is that relevant to ME?
It's really hard to work in a family owned business, customers are used to seeing family members working there but when they see an outsider, they feel they have the right to finally say something to a worker not the son of the owner or the wife that works there.
So I was a victim.
Hey I feel for u that shit happens to me everday allways some new rules I am not a fucking mind reader
I've lost count of the number of people who say they hate their jobs, and then you see them a year later and they are still there, and still unhappy.
I don't HATE my job, but I do answer yes to all of the points in your list.
I'm a Web developer/multimedia producer, and I've just finished registering my own business/setting up a new bank account, etc.
On January 1, 2009 I'll be my own boss of my own business. I don't intend on looking back, and I wrote my resignation letter today. Gonna give three-weeks notice on December 1 and then I'm out.
Can't wait. Making this decision was so hard, but I know it was the right one for me. It's going to be a challenge, especially at first, but I know I can make it work…
I have been putting up with retail for the past 10 years and the customer abuse.
for those 10 years i hated my job and still do. i would put up with people swearing at me in spanish and english, calling me nasty names, threatning me that they will make sure i will never work or ever get hired, this is all because merchandise cannot be returned after 90 days, and electronics can't be returned after 30 days. i am going by the store policy, and somtimes i do have to cal a manager if the customer gets irrate, but i am always nice to them.I always keep my cool, but my face turns red and burns with wanting to tell them off, i don't and so i always thank you for shopping and have a nice day., that is with a big grin.
I am moving back to my home town and have a better opertunity to get a career change that has nothing to do with nasty customers t5hat pays better than what i am getting with no benefits. I only have 4 1/2 months of this sh** and i am gone, WOOO!!!!