11 Signs when it is time to reconsider or even quit your job

Deciding to reconsider or even quit a job is a significant moment in your professional career. While it’s normal to have challenges at work, feeling a deep and lasting dissatisfaction towards your job is worth exploring. It's important to recognize the difference between when you should work through a challenge and when it's time to reconsider or even leave a position.

There are many valid personal and professional reasons to reconsider or even leave a job. In this article, I’ll walk through eleven powerful signs it may be time to reconsider and three actionable steps you can take right away to explore the situation.

Quite often, we view quitting in a negative light. How many times have you heard something like "Winners never quit" or "quitters never win." The thing is, quitting isn't always wrong. Sometimes quitting is the first step to us finding a new and better path. You quit your old job so that you can get a new and better job. You quit a sport, so you can focus all your energy on the one you truly love. Below you will find nine signs that it might be time to reconsider and move on. 

1.     Your Task Takes Your Entire Life Over

Although a strong work ethic is a positive trait, and occasional overtime work is inevitable, if you find yourself working constantly, it's a sign it's time to reconsider your job. Working an excessive number of hours per week without adequate work-life balance can have negative consequences for your health and well-being as well as your productivity and work quality. If you are unable to establish boundaries or set more realistic expectations with your manager, research job opportunities with a better work-life balance and then quit your current job. If there is any task or goal that has become so all-consuming it takes over all other areas of your life, then you might consider moving on from it. If you are devoting massive amounts of your energy, and the rest of your results are suffering, is it worth continuing?

2.     There is an Obviously Better Opportunity  

Some people are naturally very loyal. Whether it is a job, your own business, or just a goal you have been working on, it can be hard to give it up. However, if there is an obviously better opportunity around the corner, why not take it? You aren't giving up if you quit your job to take on a better role. You are leveling up.

3.     You Feel Stuck or Stagnant

Do you feel like you are stuck in life? Maybe your career or certain goals seem to have stagnated. If so, this could be a cue that it is time to reconsider. Life moves fast, and if all you are doing is standing still, you could get left behind. Sometimes quitting a job or goal that keeps you stuck allows you to move forward in the long run.

4.     You Don't Respect What You Are Doing

Not all of us are blessed to be doing work that fills us with joy and fulfillment. Sometimes we have to deal with that until we find something better. However, if you are doing something that you don't even respect, and it fills you with remorse or shame - how long can you wait before you quit?

5.     There are no opportunities for growth

When there are no longer opportunities for growth in your organization, it is usually time to move on. Opportunities for growth are not limited to promotions or vertical advances in an organization. Opportunities can also come in the form of working on a new project, learning a new branch of the business, being mentored by a senior leader or taking on a mid-level leadership position. Before quitting, engage your manager and formally request this type of opportunity. If the organization is not open to any type of growth opportunity, it's a sign you should quit.

6.      You Are Being Undervalued

You worked hard on a project that either greatly improved the company’s position or completely avoided risk, yet no one said thank you. Or maybe you do small things because you want to brighten someone’s day, but now it’s come to be expected. If your efforts and ideas are undervalued, it’s time to start looking for work that makes you feel better. 

7.     You Can´t Speak up at your job

You should feel confident and comfortable enough at work to voice your opinion, share your thoughts, and speak up for yourself. An oppressive environment just isn’t worth putting up with. 

8.      You are not learning anything new

Feeling unchallenged at work means you are not learning anything new. If you are a software engineer, for example, your job might not be pushing you to learn new languages or adopt new tools. Since you are not being challenged, you probably feel like your brain has turned to mush. And I don’t blame you. Have you seen your time at your company grow, but your skillset becomes stagnant? It’s no wonder you find work boring. Whatever the reason, a number of causes might be preventing you from gaining new skills at work, including:

• Your company isn’t growing fast enough to create open leadership positions or upward mobility

• Bureaucracy is blocking you from putting new ideas into action, taking on new projects or switching teams

• A lack of transparency prevents you from understanding your company’s growth strategy and decision-making process

• Your team is not growing as fast as your product, creating an undesired time lapse in the implementation of testing and designing

9.     You would not want your friends to work here

If you wouldn’t recruit your friends to work at your company, then why is it acceptable for you to be working there? You often want the best for your friends and family, so if you don’t think your company is good enough for them consider that a sign you should quit. Looking at it through this lens can help you recognize that you might deserve a better opportunity.

10.     Your Goal Doesn't Align With Your Values

If your goals, career, or business don't align with your values, you should consider giving it up. You can fool yourself for a little while (even a long while), but your actions not matching your values will catch up with you. Your results will suffer, and you will never feel fulfilled. If your goals don't match your values, consider dropping them and setting a new version that aligns with who you are.

11.     You are underusing your skills

Although often comfortable, a job that does not challenge you is one you should consider leaving. Staying in this type of situation may limit your growth potential and may also lead to feelings of complacency or frustration. This is especially true if you have requested opportunities to use different skill sets and those opportunities were denied by your manager or senior leaders.

If you now get the feeling that quitting your job is the best decision for you do one extra step. Think about

TAKE IT – CHANGE IT or LEAVE IT.

Here are three actionable steps you can take right away to explore your personal situation at work in more detail.
1.      Assess your current goals. Do your current goals still match your values? Are they still propelling you forward?
2.      Assess your career. Are you happy and fulfilled? Do you have room for advancement? Do you have any other opportunities available?
3.      Assess your relationships. Are you getting everything you need from people in your life? Is anyone holding you back or draining your energy?

You may consider trying to resolve the situation. It may be true that your work satisfaction can be improved by a few changes. After taking some time to go through the three actionable steps. Consider what would make you feel better about work and talk with your manager about it. Come to the table with ideas of projects, responsibilities or career development opportunities that would improve your happiness. It may be the case that your manager and team are willing to work with you to keep you at the company.

If you’ve decided that quitting your job is the best decision for you, do one more round. There might never be a perfect time to quit your job, but sometimes are worse than others. Even if you hate your job and you want out of there as soon as possible, it’s better to make an informed decision and leave when the timing is right. Don't decide in haste and quit in the heat of the moment.
Consider your timeline. It’s best to have another opportunity lined up when you turn in your resignation. While each situation for quitting is personal and complex, finding a new job before quitting helps to mitigate the risk of losing income and benefits and having employment gaps on your resume.

Once you found yourself a new opportunity. Take time to carefully and professionally tell your boss that you’re leaving, and negotiate a start date with a new employer and a departure date with your old one to help the whole process move along more smoothly. You won’t burn any bridges, and you won’t have to stress about any of the details. You’ll be able to focus all your energy on starting your new job and enjoying your brand new position.

While deciding you need to quit a job is not an ideal situation, reflecting on the experience can help you find a good fit moving forward. When you begin your job search, take the time to decide what it is you want in a job, company and career path.

You are the pilot of your life. Take your time and SPEAK UP! early enough. SPEAK UP! is the name of my masterclass for women in body language and communication.

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