5 Signs You Should Quit Your Job

There are times when you should quit your job – for your happiness, for your health and for career progress. Given the amount of time we spend at work, knowing the signs you should quit your job will make you a lot happier and will make your career a lot more successful – assuming you actually move job when you one or more of these signs occurs.

For each of the signs, I take you through why moving is important, and how to make the best of your situation.

At the end of the article, I list out 8 questions you should ask yourself before you quit your job. Going through these will improve your decision making and your timing to quit your job.

5 Signs you should quit your job

When your career has stalled
When you have a bad boss
When your work is not appreciated
When your salary stays below market rates
When you have too much work

Written by Jess Coles – 8 Minute Read

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The first sign you should quit your job is when your career has stalled

If learning new skills, expanding your experience and knowledge, and moving your career forward is important to you, then professional development at a pace to suit you is a must.

Even in the best jobs, there are times when your career development leaps ahead and others when it slows to a crawl for periods.

When you hit periods of slow development, how long do you wait for the next development spurt is a key question. Speak to your manager about what opportunities – projects, activities, and problems – you can get involved in to further develop your skills and experience. Ask when the development opportunities are going to be available.

Think about your company situation and what that means for your development. Mature companies with modest growth usually don’t have nearly as many development opportunities as fast growing companies for instance. Larger companies should have more opportunities that smaller companies.

Find out what development opportunities will be available and when before seriously thinking about whether you should quit your job.

If you think there is limited development opportunities for you, or they are too far away, then start looking for jobs in other companies that will provide you a better chance of moving your career forward.

Once you get external job offers you then have a choice. Stay or decide when it is time to quit your job.

Sign two you should quit your job is When you have a bad boss

Your boss has a massive impact on your career within the company you are working. They decide what tasks, activities, projects, and problems you will get involved in. They can help move your career forward or stop it in its tracks.

If your manager doesn’t support your promotion, the chances of getting promoted are very slim.

If your manager doesn’t like you, doesn’t rate you professionally or generally thinks poorly of you for whatever reason, then you should start looking for opportunities elsewhere. When to quit your job – usually best when you have a better job to go to and a better manager to work for.

You should quit your job as soon as possible when you have a bad boss. Also explore if there are options to move teams within the company – this changes your boss with less effort than moving companies.

Don’t stick with a bad boss unless you are sure they are leaving or moving teams soon.

The third sign you should quit your job is When your work is not appreciated

You get interesting tasks, activities, and projects when your current work is appreciated and valued. You get promotions when your current work is appreciated.

You should quit your job if you work is not appreciated and valued AFTER getting an offer to move to a better job where you and your work will be appreciated.

Before you quit your job, ask your manager why they don’t appreciate your work. Ask what you need to do so your manager and other stakeholders will appreciate your work. Ask to set clear realistic goals, achieve them and see if they start appreciating you and your work.

Good managers will praise good work. We all like to receive praise for good work done. Working hard and doing a good job and then hearing nothing is a big let-down.

Do not put up with no appreciation. Challenge the behaviour. If nothing changes, then work out when it is time to quit your job.

Sign four you should quit your job is When your salary stays below market rates

When you get a new job in another company, typically you will get a 10-20% pay rise. Staying with your current company rarely gets you such a large pay rise, even when it comes with a promotion.

Keep an eye on market rates – what other companies are paying for your role. Having up to date knowledge is very useful when negotiating pay rises with your boss and HR.

If your salary falls below market rates, ask for a pay rise to keep up with market rates. If your salary stays below market rates, despite pressurising for a higher salary, you should quit your job and move to a company that appreciates and values your skills and work more highly and pays you more. Salary is one of the elements that provides a fair exchange for the work you put in.

Salary is not the only area you should consider. For instance, if you are getting amazing experience and skills, getting paid a lower salary in the short term will hopefully be okay. Get the skills and experience and the money, status etc will follow – which has been my experience time and time again throughout my career. So think about all the factors that are important to you for this point in your career.

You should quit your job if your salary stays below market rates and move to a company paying more for your skills.

The fifth sign you should quit your job is When you have too much work

The level of work you are able to comfortably handle depends on many individual factors. Companies, particularly in tough times, try to squeeze as much work out of each individual working for them. Salaries are largely fixed, so getting more work done makes better commercial sense for the company – to a point.

Too much work for individuals leads to higher levels of stress and anxiety, which in turn can lead to physical and mental health problems if you have too much work for too long. If you find yourself heading up and over the stress curve, speak to your manager and ask for less work. Explain why. It is in your manager’s and company’s interests to reduce your workloads back to more sensible levels, particularly if you are considered an above average employee.

If damaging levels of work continue and your manager is not trying to reduce it after discussing work levels with them, you should quit your job and move to another company which does not put unrealistic pressure on its employees.

8 questions to ask yourself before quitting

When to quit your job is a very personal question to answer. It will be different for everyone depending on many individual factors and preferences. I recommend that you get a new job offer before quitting your current job whenever you can. Getting a new job when you are in a job is a lot easier generally.

8 questions to ask yourself before quitting include:

How long have I been feeling like quitting? The longer this period is, the more need to act.
What job do I really want? Is it a sideways move or aiming for a promotion or something completely different?
What would I give up by quitting my job? This focuses you on the positives of the job, which can be easy to forget when things are tough.
What would I gain by quitting and moving to another role? Make sure the grass really is greener on the other side.
Have I explored every sensible option with my employer? This can be daunting, yet a step that can result is very positive changes without moving companies.
Are my expectations realistic? Check you don’t have rose tinted glasses when thinking about new jobs and what they can provide you.
Can I afford to quit my job? If you have a big mortgage or other financial commitments, getting a new job offer before quitting may be a must for you.
Is now the right time? Think carefully about the pros and cons and speak to your manager about future opportunities so you have a realistic picture.

If you really have hit rock bottom with your current job, act quickly to get a new job offer so you are able to quit your job as quickly as possible.

In Summary

Staying in an unfulfilling, boring or stale job will do little for your happiness and career progress. If you have a toxic or bad boss, take action as quickly as practical to quit your job and work for a better manager.

You spend so much time at work, so make that time is enjoyable and rewarding for you.

As a reminder, the 5 signs you should quit your job we have gone through are:

When your career has stalled
When you have a bad boss
When your work is not appreciated
When your salary stays below market rates
When you have too much work