When’s the Right Time to Leave Your Job?
Every year towards the end of the first quarter I start to hear, Is it the right time to leave my job?
There are a few reasons why February and March tend to have this question come up for people in the corporate world. February feels like a loosening of the golden handcuffs. Usually in March, year-end earnings are reported, bonuses are paid out, salary increases hit and stock options vest.
This turns into a natural time to think about where you’re at and what possibilities may be ahead.
And not only will you be thinking about it, but others are too, which means there are other jobs opening to go to. This is also a season where job recruiters start to put out feelers to see who may be available and looking. They are trying to find out what talent is out there.
These are all good reasons for the end of the first quarter to be a time to think about leaving your job… if you're starting to get that career itch.
Maybe you're not jumping out of bed in the morning as excited by your work as you used to be. Maybe you find that you are distracted in a way that you weren’t before.
So when’s the perfect time to leave your current job?
There is no perfect time.
This may not be the answer you were looking for, but there is a kind of freedom in knowing that there is no perfect month or season. You just have to get it going. You have to get the process going rather than seek perfection. You have to seek movement and traction and start working towards that answer for yourself.
We don’t have the luxury of playing It’s a Wonderful Life. There is no way for us to know exactly how life will look if we go down one career path or another. You only get one life and that means we all are making the best decision we can at the time we make them. We are only able to move forward with our one choice and see what happens.
The goal is not to make the perfect decision at the perfect time.
The goal is to make sure that you make the decision that's best for you given everything that you know today.
If you find yourself asking if it’s the right time to leave your job, the question kind of assumes that you've already decided to leave. But before we move on from that point, I always take my clients through a pressure check. I always want to make sure that you're clear on the reasons that you're leaving or considering leaving. If you’re not clear, you won’t be solving the right problem.
Anywhere you go, you take yourself with you.
Let’s get really clear on the pain points of your current situation. What are the problems you are looking to solve? What challenges are you seeking? By asking yourself these questions we can help determine a position and company that could be a perfect fit for you.
Pressure Check: Should I Stay or Should I Go
So, what are some good reasons to leave?
Life Changes
A great reason to leave your current position is when something changes in your life that makes the job dynamic requirements just not a fit anymore.
It might be that a spouse or partner has to relocate. Let’s look into that. That may not be a reason for you to leave because you may be able to do a remote or hybrid arrangement these days. But if your company isn’t up to offering flexibility in location, that may be a reason to leave.
You have a baby or your family dynamics change causing you to need a different work schedule or vacation time.
Something else in your life changes and the job no longer works.
Yeah. Those are all reasons to leave.
A Lack of Opportunity or Growth
You may feel like there's a lack of future opportunities or growth in your current position. Those of you who have taken the Career Satisfaction Assessment know that growth is one of the important pillars of job satisfaction. If you're not sure if there's any more room to grow and you're a person who has ambition, that may be a real problem for you. And it may be a reason why things aren't as motivating as they used to be.
Professional growth is really important.
Growth within your job, maybe growth towards the next job, whatever it means for you. It's really common that if the possibility for upwards movement isn’t there, talented and ambitious team members will look to leave.
But before you make that decision, assuming lack of growth or not obvious opportunities are available within your company, make sure you take a look at your current situation. There may be enough positive attributes to make it worth trying to find a solution right where you are.
Those positive attributes could be things like…
You like the mission of the work you’re doing
You believe in the leadership
Your compensation is worthwhile
If there are enough checks on the positive side instead of thinking of leaving your current position it may be worth your time to speak with your boss. Sometimes it's just a matter of raising your hand to make people aware that you want to be doing more than you currently are doing. Just remember your own satisfaction is always more important to you than anyone else and it’s not that they don’t care, they just may not think about it. So advocate for yourself and bring up the topic. The right boss will be so glad you did.
Lack of Motivation
If you're feeling a lack of motivation with your daily tasks, that may be a reason to leave. A lack of motivation can look like you are finding reasons to be distracted, finding things to read, if you find yourself spending time on LinkedIn or some other social media in a way that you weren't before, that might be a signal that you're not as motivated by your daily tasks.
There was a recent study done on LinkedIn that showed that about a third of people said the top reason they don't like their job is if they don't feel a strong sense of purpose.
If you feel like what you're doing isn't really important, that can be an issue. So If you're feeling that you're not as motivated by your daily tasks as you were, it's worth doing a double check on that and see if you still feel your work males a difference, and ask yourself honestly whether you still like what you do. That sense of importance is another pillar of Career Satisfaction.
If you're in a big company, it might be possible to change your role to something that does feel more motivating and potentially more important to you. So it's worth really considering, is it your role? Is it your company? What is it about your situation that doesn’t feel in alignment anymore?
Our career isn't static. We're not static. We grow over time. It's expected that your needs will change and grow. Give yourself permission to think about this, to make that a motivator potentially for action. It really is okay.
In fact, it's more than okay. It's normal. It's part of the process.
What's important to you now?
You Have a Toxic Work Environment
A toxic work environment is a viable reason to leave your job. But what does that mean?
A toxic work environment can be defined as one where you don’t have a sense of psychological safety. If your boss or co-workers don’t allow you to be yourself or speak up. If you don’t feel comfortable sharing feedback when something isn’t right. Or if you’re being bullied or made to feel like your contributions aren’t of value.
A toxic work environment can also be one where your values and the values of the company aren’t in alignment. That may be something that you weren't aware of when you started with the company and it's always been the case or it may be something that's changed. People change, the leadership changes. So it's okay to look at that and think about whether that is no longer a fit.
There may even be a problem with the company culture. If the company culture doesn’t foster a good way of working together, a healthy way of working together, or the staff may even be treated poorly. Again this could be something you weren’t aware of when you were hired or it may be something that evolved over time through new people, new leadership or even just new dynamics within the same leadership team.
If a company goes from a place of growth, driving new project lines and an upward trajectory to consolidation of assets and maybe even layoffs. that can drastically change a company's culture and may create an environment that's just not right for you.
The bottom line is if you are encouraged, asked, forced to behave in a way that crosses an ethical or moral boundary for you, that's a real red flag. And if, like me (my first career was in pharmaceuticals) you are in a regulated industry crossing that line can have serious consequences. So it's something to pay attention to. Make sure your moral code is intact and something that's supported at that company.
If you feel that there's a toxic work environment, it can have a negative impact on your physical health and your mental health.
Better Opportunity Somewhere Else!
If you have a better opportunity somewhere else, it's a really valid reason to leave. And better can mean different things to different people.
It might be a significant increase in pay or benefits, especially if it's to the level where it makes a meaningful difference in your life. You can increase your savings, have greater security, buy that vacation house, whatever it is that's important to you and your family. If it makes a meaningful difference, it's something to think about.
Better opportunity also might mean better career opportunities. Or better career development or just something that's more intriguing to you or you feel like the work is more important.
It's okay to think about that.
Another aspect that may mean it's a better opportunity for you, and you've heard me talk about this a lot, is balance. Does this new job allow you more time to do the things that are important to you? If that's with your family, if that's pursuing hobbies, if it's doing volunteer work, whatever that thing is for you. There are things outside your work that may be meaningful and motivating in your life. If you find yourself without enough time to devote to those and finding a new opportunity gives you more time, that is another really good reason to leave.
So that's five good reasons to leave.
And keep in mind if those things are not in place, if one of those things or maybe even more of them is an issue for you, you still can do this on your terms. You can put the wheels in motion to find that next opportunity and then leave on your own timing and terms. You just then need to balance the effort it takes to find the new thing with making sure you put enough effort into your job that you still feel good about what you're doing and are able to leave on good terms.
But what are some reasons why you shouldn't quit your job?
3 Reasons Not to Leave… Yet
There’s a big difference between “you shouldn’t leave your job” and “you shouldn’t leave your job… yet.”
You Don’t Know What You DO Want
You may find yourself in a position where you want to move on but you're not clear what it is that you want to move on to. If you don't do the work to figure out what's missing, what you need, you may find yourself drawn towards something just to move away from something. You may end up in a new place but creating the same situation you were looking to leave.
Without being super clear about what you want you may find something that has similar dynamics that are less than motivating for you right now. You might jump at something opportunistic that'll be a short term win, like a bigger paycheck. Instead of finding the right fit over the long term, which is really what you want. It's worth doing the work to get clear on what's not working and what could work better for you.
You Just Need a Break
Most of us have had those moments where you’re going through a product launch or building a new salesforce or those kinds of things that are meaningful and exciting but exhausting too. That may be a reason rather than to leave. Take a break. Take a vacation. Take a sabbatical or a leave of absence if you can, but do what you need to do to recharge your batteries.
This may look like taking one day off for a three-day weekend to change the subject, change the scenery, put yourself in a position where you can really do some deep thinking about whether you really need a change or you just need a break.
If thinking about going to your boss and saying, “I need to take two weeks” off seems crazy to you, consider how the rest of the corporate world lives. In the US, we tend to have ridiculous expectations about how much we work and how much vacation we don't take. I used to work for a big Swiss company, and I will tell you the folks in Europe had a much healthier approach to taking the time off that they needed than we did in the US. They thought we were crazy. So if the thought of taking two weeks off feels uncomfortable to you, think about that.
If you went to your boss and said, “Look, I'm feeling a little burned out and need to take two weeks off.” First, this may be a newsflash for you, but your boss won't be surprised. They know what's on your plate and how hard you’re working. If you need to take two weeks or a month off, that message, to the right boss, will sound much better than, “, I quit.” Think about what it's going to take for your boss to replace you. A break of two weeks or a month is much better for them, too.
A break might result in you coming back recharged and rejuvenated. It will create loyalty to the boss and the company for supporting you to do that, and it's certainly much less costly for the organization.
You may take a break and, at the end, you may still feel exhausted. Then maybe you need to take additional action. But if you do that gut check and really you just need a break rather than a change, do that first, then see where you stand.
Your Feelings Were Hurt
Another big reason not to leave, at least yet, is if you're feeling a little burned or wounded or just plain hurt because you were passed over for growth opportunities or promotions. And that can really sting. But it may be a short-term situation.
If this has happened to you it's probably important to pay close attention to and learn from this. First, you’ll want to get some very specific feedback about why you weren't the one. Are there things you need to be doing?
If there are holes in your resume the question then becomes, what can you do to set yourself up? How can you use this time before the next opportunity comes up to grow, to develop, to fill some gap or overcome some area of opportunity?
We all have areas we can improve. When you get clear on your areas of improvement and really dig into your own development you will make a better candidate when the time is right. Even better, you will send good signals within your organization that you're ready to do what it takes to make sure you are the one and you haven't lost your motivation, even though it might sting in the meantime.
These three situations might be reasons not to leave… yet. If you do end up leaving, I want to make sure you are leaving on your own terms and enable you to know you've done everything you can. Let’s make sure you're leaving on your terms and according to your timing.
Let’s go back to our original question, when is the right time to leave my job? Should I leave my job? And the answer is… it depends. But I would suggest it's worth talking through with a trusted thought partner.
It's really hard to make sure that you're considering every perspective when you're doing this work alone. Everyone can use a sounding board, a thought partner, and maybe more than one. An outside perspective can make sure you're not missing something, that you're not blinded by something. And even if, after all the questioning and thinking and talking things through you end up sticking with your original inclination, which is to leave, trust me you will feel much more confident in your decision. You will have been thoughtful and purposeful about it and will have the confidence of knowing your own mind. And what’s better than that?
Randi Roberts is an Executive and Career-Life Coach who helps her clients say, “Thank God It’s Monday.” If you’re questioning your current career path, get started with Randi’s Career Satisfaction Assessment. This self-guided exercise will help you get clear on which areas of your career are in excellent alignment and which you may want to work on so you too can have a Fulfilling Career, Happy Life.