ALT-18 Bad Reasons for Quitting your Job
If you are considering leaving your current job, take a time out and reflect on exactly why you are about to resign.
Leaving any job is a big step. If you are planning on leaving your current role to take up a new one, then it is likely that you have already thought carefully about what you are doing. If, however, you are planning on quitting for another reason, you may live to regret. Here are some examples of scenarios when it’s always bad to quit your job.
You had a bad day
Everybody has bad days at work. It goes with the territory. Your ability to maintain your motivation and keep going is part of your professionalism. You must develop resilience to different types of pressure and a decision made in a heated moment could well be one that you live to regret. If you keep having bad days at work, then examine the root cause of the problem and address it. Leaving your job almost certainly isn’t the answer.
You had a low score in your performance review
A performance review is only one part of your development plan in the workplace. While it’s disappointing to receive a bad score and negative feedback, you need to take this as an opportunity to learn and improve. Focus on the points raised by your reviewer and take steps to address them. You may not agree with all the comments, but this is your opportunity to shift your manager’s opinion. If you just leave, you are almost confirming that he or she is right because you are demonstrating that you won’t make any effort to improve. That’s hardly an attractive attribute to a future employer.
You weren’t successful in a promotion application
As disappointing as this can be, quitting is not the answer. However successful you have been in your career to date, quitting your job may make you look childish or like a sore loser. You might need to accept that the other candidate simply performed better than you do. Internally, of course, there are often a lot of politics around recruitment and you may feel that the decision was unfair. Hold your head up and carry on. Find new opportunities and demonstrate your professionalism, nonetheless, but don’t just quit.
You don’t like your boss
The fact is that you won’t always like the person you work for. That doesn’t mean that you cannot carry out the role, especially if it is right for your career goals. Dealing with conflict is a critical part of personal development. You need to find common ground with your boss, or at least reach a stage where you can work amicably and professionally together. By resigning, you could be turning down countless future opportunities. Do you really want your boss to have prevented you from benefiting from those opportunities?
You have no other job to go to
The reality is that most people need to earn a living to survive. However unbearable you might think your job is you can rest assured that having no money is nearly always an even worse position to be in. If you hate what you are doing, then take steps to find and secure a new role before you resign. You can’t live without money!
In the heat of the moment, it’s easy to make a rash decision, which you quickly learn to regret. However bad things are at work, there are other ways to solve the problems and, whether you like it or not, only you can do something about them.
