Anyone ever quit a job without another lined up?

[Anonymous]

I hate my job. I want to quit. I have been looking for other jobs but nothing I like has materialized. Meanwhile I am crying at my desk. I have six months bills in savings (and if I am not working and I cut some stuff and got a roommate it could stretch farther). I can and will ask for severance but no guarantees. But I am scared. I am aingle and no kids but I do have a mortgage.

Any advice or words of wisdom?

[Anonymous]

Save more and more and more until you have a year. Look for and apply for jobs now. I really wouldn't quit with just 6 months. There is no way you'd get severance if you'd quit, just FYI. Unless you are being abused at work, I'd suck it up until you find something else, especially since you have a mortgage. And if you are being abused, document it and sue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hate my job. I want to quit. I have been looking for other jobs but nothing I like has materialized. Meanwhile I am crying at my desk. I have six months bills in savings (and if I am not working and I cut some stuff and got a roommate it could stretch farther). I can and will ask for severance but no guarantees. But I am scared. I am aingle and no kids but I do have a mortgage.

Any advice or words of wisdom?

Also, don't think this is going to change in the next 6 months. Then you'll really be crying because you'll be unemployed and completely out of money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Save more and more and more until you have a year. Look for and apply for jobs now. I really wouldn't quit with just 6 months. There is no way you'd get severance if you'd quit, just FYI. Unless you are being abused at work, I'd suck it up until you find something else, especially since you have a mortgage. And if you are being abused, document it and sue.

Thanks. People asking for and getting severance is not unheard of at my employer as we are unionized. Still, there is no guarantee I would get it. I am not being abused but it is poorly managed, no leadership and others have already fled or are in the process of fleeing the building. It is a bad scene and not likely to change in the short-term.

[Anonymous]

PS thanks for the feedback. It is appreciated.

[Anonymous]

I did, but it was 2005, I was 23, and I quit my entry-level job so that I could move across the country to be with my then-fiancé. The economy was better, I had no debt, I was looking for a pretty low-level job, and I had a safety net (he was employed, and we would have done a quickie wedding for insurance if needed). Luckily, I was called for an interview on the first day of unemployment, and I ended up getting the job.

I have no regrets about doing it then. However, I would not do it at this point in my life.

[Anonymous]

Some HR people prefer employed people to unemployed people. They're lazy and short-sighted, but it can hurt you when you're looking.

[Anonymous]

Do you have any vacation or personal time accrued? If so can you take a week or two and dedicate 100% of that time to applying to as many jobs as you can?

I understand the desire to leave a terrible environment. In the end leaving without another job may be the best situation for you. But I would try to take some time off, while still employed, to concentrate on finding a new job.

Also, you mention that you could get a roommate to save on expenses. Get one now. Do this while you have steady income and so that you can truly find the right tenant. If you wait until you are unemployed then you'll be acting from a state of desperation. Getting a tenant now will also help you save more money immediately.

Also, have you considered being screened for depression? Work is such a major part of our lives and can negatively and positively effect us.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some HR people prefer employed people to unemployed people. They're lazy and short-sighted, but it can hurt you when you're looking.

+1 The real problem isn't not having an income but that it's harder to get a job if you are unemployed. And it gets worse the longer you are unemployed.

Maybe you are setting the bar too high for your job search. If you are miserable enough to quit without a job lined up, then that means that you need to expand your job search. Have you tried any staffing agencies or recruiters?

It is far better to accept a job that isn't necessarily exciting than to quit without having a job.

If I were you, I would stay at the job, expand my job search, and try to find at least something (even if I only planned to stay there a year). It's still better than being unemployed for a year.

[Anonymous]

In the 90s. What a glorious time. I hope we keep electing democrats.

[Anonymous]

Yes but I was 19 and kind of an idiot. You don't quit a job without another one lined up unless there is real danger to your mental health from seeing it through so you can find another position first.

[Anonymous]

I have but it was extremely stressful and I would strongly recommend against it. And I have to admit I had a good feeling about a prospect before leaving the previous job and got real lucky that it worked out.

I may have been in a similar situation as yours. And one of the things that I always figured was that if I left the job I was in I may not have been as picky at other prospects.

But you're potentially putting yourself at a disadvantage if you don't have a job while you're looking. Such as being able to leverage your current salary for a raise at your next job.

So I would strongly recommend trying to hang in there and keep looking. Not sure what field you're in but maybe try your best to better and improve yourself to make yourself more marketable while at this job. Or if you do decide to leave without something lined up have something planned to improve yourself in the meantime. Some employers may want to know what you've been doing since you left the job and also you may have to come up with a well worded well on why you left/plan to leave your current job.

I remember in the job that I couldn't stand, I was seriously unhappy and felt that the people around me didn't understand how unhappy I was. One weekend I was sitting on the couch and seriously considered slitting my wrists to show how unhappy I was. That's when I realized that it was crazy to let a job drive me to that point. So I left that job shortly afterward but it was after coming across a job posting that I was strongly interested in and felt I had a good shot at. I had a friend that quit with no plan around the same time and someone at the job quit as well. So they kind of motivated me to just leave as well. Hopefully you're not at that point where I was. Try to hang in there if you can, so that every move you make will be a growth opportunity. But at the same time it's really just a job and if it's really affecting you and your personal life, it may not be worth it to stick around.

Also it sounds like the issue is with the entire organization right? So you wouldn't be happy if you were transferred to another group in the same organization/building? The reason I ask is because when I left that job people seemed kind of surprised that I was unhappy and had other people offer to bring me into their group and my supervisor offer to find some type of arrangement to satisfy me.

Good luck with everything!

[Anonymous]

Try just going to a staffing agency and get something lined up, then quit. Health insurance is an issue since you've no spouse to provide that. I've done this, twice, once to go to grad school, once to SAH for a while with kids. I got back in the workforce.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you have any vacation or personal time accrued? If so can you take a week or two and dedicate 100% of that time to applying to as many jobs as you can?

I understand the desire to leave a terrible environment. In the end leaving without another job may be the best situation for you. But I would try to take some time off, while still employed, to concentrate on finding a new job.

Also, you mention that you could get a roommate to save on expenses. Get one now. Do this while you have steady income and so that you can truly find the right tenant. If you wait until you are unemployed then you'll be acting from a state of desperation. Getting a tenant now will also help you save more money immediately.

Also, have you considered being screened for depression? Work is such a major part of our lives and can negatively and positively effect us.

Good luck!

This

[Anonymous]

Keep looking don't quit. The stress of having to find a job would be very stressful.