Unhappy with present job -- need advice

I have been trying to contemplate quitting my present job that I have been in now for 4 years, but the last year the management has changed and it has become more about paperwork and doing the same repetitive things.

Earlier I had a meeting with my manager and it was determined that I had made a decision to step down from a management position I had with the company for the past year or so. When the new manager came in there was a totally shift from being about people to now where the emphasis is about paperwork and complying with rules and regulations.

In other words it was fun with previous management and now it is serious. I know that no job is always fun, but when you get to the part where you dread going to work that isn't healthy and productive.

I was encouraged that I could remain in an entry level position which I do well, but quite frankly I really feel like I just want to quit. There comes a time when you need to be happy and look to go somewhere else. I feel that the time is now.

I normally would give 2 weeks notice but honestly I just hate the place that I work and was wondering if anyone else has been in the same place and how you made out or coped? You need to be happy with what you do, and if not you will just be miserable. That is why I want to look for a new job but staying in the present one only makes me depressed and not happy. Please tell me what I should do.

 

Have you thought about what you intend to do after you leave though ? Also, do you have anyone to support ? Wife + kids ? If not, hope you have some $$ to tie you over for at least the next 6 - 12 months in case you can't find anything. Wouldn't encourage you to just quit on the spot. Best to go through company's SOP on how to quit. If you just leave, it might come back and bite you. Like when you get a new job and there's a reference check needed.

 

I wouldn't leave without proper notice, and not until I had another job lined up. I'd also see a professional counselor to make sure you're not depressed for some other reason than the job. It'd be a shame to quit only to find out that you're still depressed. I saw a couple of friends who just quit out of the blue for similar reasons, but left without notice and couldn't come back later.

 

Also, if you quit without notice and without another job, you will hurt your resume. Some employers might suspect you resigned in lieu of termination or left in some other bad way. There are a lot of things they might imagine that you will be forever explaining away at future job interviews.

 

I was in a slightly similar situation once due to some changes in bosses. I plummeted from the assistant to one of the VPs to the receptionist. This position was chosen by my new boss because he knew I had a slight hearing disability that made it difficult to talk on the company's phones. He was very paranoid and wanted to bring in his own people, and I was the only person he hadn't been able to find an excuse to fire or to make quit. It was miserable! I wanted to quit so badly! I pushed through, did my best at the new position, and was able to leave the company a short time later under much better conditions. Also, I was no longer directly under the supervision of the paranoid boss, so some of that stress of constantly having to watch my back immediately disappeared. It was a very difficult time, but I'm so glad I persevered.

My advice would be to try to use this time to set yourself up to get the job you want. I've been told that it's easier to get a new job when you already have a job, and its better to look for a job you want than to take any job just to get out of a job you hate. Also, a career coach might be very helpful or even a talk with someone down at the unemployment office who helps people find work. Good luck through this difficult time!

 

My two pieces of advice are:

1) Don't give your notice until you have the new job. You might enjoy the immediate relief of quitting but there's a very good chance it could hurt you in the future. You always want to leave a job feeling good about yoursef and how you handled things. It's a small world and you don't know who knows who or who you'll run into in the future. Plus, prospective employers will definitely view you differently if you're unemployed.
2) Don't woory about your attitude, it will improve once you've made the decision to leave. The light at the end of the tunnel will be there in your mind and it will help you to feel better. ("This could be the last time I have to do this @#%!& report") Make a job search plan and work on it every day. Make it your new hobby. In the end, exercising some delayed gratification both internally and externally. Godd luck and keep us updated.

 

I've been in positions many times where I wanted out. Sometimes the decision is made for you, other times you need to make it immediately. You know within yourself when it's the right time.

Personally, I've never believed in 2-week notices unless I really knew that in 2-weeks I'd be at a new job and I respected my current employer, because employers seldom ever give employees that kind of notice when they're eliminating an employee's job.

As far as being unemployed and looking for a new job; the way I see it, if an employer won't hire you because of that and is willing to ignore your experience because of it, it's a silly employer who you'll probably have a terrible time with, so consider it dodging a bullet. But if you're really concerned about that, there are ways around it without lying. In better times I'd never recommend even that, but employers have gotten to the point of lunacy with how particular they are in hiring people and lots of perfectly qualified people are being denied even an opportunity for no other reason than not being currently employed.

 

Being screened out before you get an interview is one thing, but if you get the interview and they make a deal of it like a lot of employers do now then you know it would've been bad. I use to recruit for a Fortune 10 for a little while and the Director had all of these different hang-ups about what to look for in a candidate. So many of the things were so silly it was hard to listen to. But honestly, I felt like I was doing people not called back a favor, because the company was awful... well, maybe not the whole company but the site I worked at was a nightmare and there was a ton of turnover.

 

If you quit without notice and a potential employer contacts them and asks if you are available for re-hire (which is about the only question they can ask) and the response is "NO" that will be an immediate red flag. Just think about it and see if you want that following you.

 

There are ways around that though.

 

Sit, Potpourri. Relax. I am about to assume the lotus position and pontificate, which, I’m sure, thrills everyone. (I hope you realize that I don’t take myself too seriously.)

But first, I must come out of the closet regarding a hidden fact of my life that I have never admitted on a distance education forum because I’ve always felt it irrelevant… Before I decided to go back to school full time, teach for a few years, write a few books, and ultimately chuck it all to become a paid professional tourist (i.e., over-the-road trucker), I was a V.P. of Administration and Personnel for a financial corporation. No big whoop there; it was fun for a while, but I left the gig to pursue my M.A. full time by spending a semester in a traditional class-based program in California. (As most know, I ultimately chucked that to do a low-residency program at what was then Vermont College of Norwich University. I am a confirmed fan of eastern time.)

So here goes . . .

First, Kizmet is spot on – don’t quit until you have another job. It’s a lot easier to find a new gig when you’re currently employed than when you’re unemployed. Most applications contain a question, “May we contact our current employer?” Just check the “No” box and explain that your current employer doesn’t know that you’re looking around. They will probably want to contact your current employer once they’ve made you an offer, and at that point you can give them permission.

Second, I’m with Learning Addict . . . Screw the two-week notice. Most states have an employment-at-will doctrine, traditionally defined as: “Either party to an employment relationship may terminate that relationship at any time, for any reason, or for no reason at all.”

You never mentioned what it is that you do, what type of work you’re in, etc. But if you were a manager and are now not a manager, chances are that if you gave a two-week notice, your employer would accept your resignation on an immediate basis. Without severance pay. Don’t screw yourself. You have the right not to give an notice – just cover your butt with a new job before you wave bye-bye, and regardless of what some say here, I’ve found that not giving notice will not bounce back and bite you on the butt.

For what it’s worth, I think you have the right priority. Money is important, but being happy is more important. (That’s ultimately why I became a trucker. After 18 years of doing this, I’m still having a blast.) But the flexibility you have depends on the field you’re in, demand for people who do what you do, etc. (Since there’s an acute shortage of OTR drivers, I turn down offers on a regular basis.)

Finally, again depending on your field, check out the employment ads on Craig’s List (craigslist.com). I think of Craig’s List as a somewhat pornographic dating site, but the fact is (whether we like it or not), it is one of the most used venues for employment advertising today (yes, even more active than any daily newspaper).

Good luck, kimosabe.

 

*sets his "HR Guy" mug down on the desk and cracks knuckles*

Last year I lost three senior managers (not at the same time) to a competing company. They do it every year. Every year, they swoop in and try to poach as many of our people as possible. In fairness, we do the exact same thing to them. Do you know how all three managers quit? They didn't show up to early morning meetings, and when their respective VP came in, they had a voicemail saying, in a very professional way, "Laterz!"

Is quitting without two weeks notice a great idea? No. It can screw you if your new employer calls your old employer. Then again, if your old employer was going to throw you under the bus anyway there is really nothing to lose.

Those managers had a certain degree of freedom because they had other jobs. They had higher positions offering more pay and sweet relocation packages that outweighed anything we might have offered by way of severance.

Get another job first. It's easier to get another job if you are already employed. Just don't tell prospective employers that you work in a toxic environment and you are desperate to get out (yes, people say crap like this during interviews). It would be the rough equivalent of going on a first date and telling the other person that you hope it works out because you are crippled by depression brought on by loneliness. Umm...check please?

Companies love to say how failing to give two weeks notice is unprofessional. Yet, when layoffs come, they'll can you without severance, notice or validating your parking.

I've had toxic work environments. They suck. They drain your confidence. You can build up hope by focusing on yourself and your next step. If you're writing generic cover letters please stop. When I'm reviewing applicants, I put generic cover letters (and the associated resumes) into a separate bin. I only go back to that bin if there are no qualified applicants who actually put forth the effort to write a decent cover letter. I've not gone back to the bin in four years.