While it’s no fun or pride in being unemployed or forever in the search of the perfect job (while you’re getting balder and still living with your parents), moving forward and quitting a bad job for a better one is actually a great move. In the eyes of the experts, looking up to yourself and to the marketplace means evolution. According to recent reports unveiled by the Wall Street Journal at the beginning of 2014, 2.4 million Americans quit their jobs, with a large majority going to another one. According to analysts,
When times are good, people quit more because they are more optimistic about their prospects. And often when a worker quits, it creates an opportunity for someone else—a new graduate, say, or a person who lost their job—to find work.
But why do people quit their jobs? And most importantly, why should people quit their jobs and when? Should job quitting be related only to financial gain, career prospects, personal satisfaction, or do the reasons represent a mix of many more variables? And what are the warning signs that you should start looking for a new job? Looking at what specialists from the Business Insider and the Time Magazine narrowed down as green light signals for job quitting, we will analyze ten of them and invite you to thoroughly analyze your professional and personal life.
1. You are so sick of going to that job, it really makes you sick
Some people wake up in the morning happy to go to their jobs. Others feel nauseated and in physical pain only at the thought of it, and we are not speaking in metaphors. Stress and disgust can be manifested physically and just as the experts say, if you dread the very thought of going to that place, it’s time to quit.
2. Your health is in peril due to stress and exhaustion
Some lucky ones have satisfying and rewarding jobs that don’t ultimately affect their health and life. Others live in a constant state of pressure and tension, with consequent health damages. High stress levels have been found to influence cholesterol levels in young people, cause insomnia, cardiovascular problems and gastrointestinal issues, so the matters are serious.
3. You drift apart from your loved ones
One of the most powerful warning signs that you should start looking for a new job is your loved ones reproaching you have become a complete stranger to them. You may love your job, but if it makes your wife and kids feel separated from you or you forgot when was the last time you had some fun with your friends, maybe it’s time to reconsider your career path.
4. The boat is slowly sinking
We can talk about loyalty from here on end, but if the company you work for is going down for no matter what reasons, if your job is threatened, together with the future of all people working there, jumping into the life boat and sail for sunnier shores is not a matter of being a coward, but of being smart.
5. Your job took over your entire personal life
You may wake up in the middle of the night screaming, as you dreamed about forgetting some crucial reports you didn’t make. You can miss all your family’s moments or all your friends’ events and celebrations. But one of the most severe warning signs that you should start looking for a new job is your actual job taking over your whole life and this means annulling your hobbies, passions, all your free time, all your extra activities and all the possible ideas for future projects.
6. You have become a robot
Qualified people, skilled employees are great assets for a company. But if you do your job perfectly without even thinking about it, without feeling the need to learn anything new or without asking at least another opinion, it means you got a bit overqualified, you’re doing routine work and you don’t have a challenge anymore. If you can do the work that you do perfectly while blindfolded during lunch time, maybe it’s time to look for some challenges somewhere else.
7. You are asked to do things you don’t want to do
And this has nothing to do with using the printer or fixing the copying machine in the hallway. This has a lot to do with illegal or immoral “tasks” that one might find contrary to their professional ethics. Of course, some would ask “what’s in it for me” and go with the flow, while others would start looking for escapes out of that hole.
8. You have the boss from Hell
We have to agree with the experts,
The majority of people quit bosses, they don’t quit jobs,
Simply explained by Merideth Ferguson, assistant professor of management at Utah State University quoted by Times Magazine. And it is true. If your boss is beyond your power of comprehension or of enduring, maybe it’s time to look for another one.
9. You don’t have anywhere to go in that company
Maybe you are the settling type, happy with the working hours and the paycheck, but if you want more from yourself and your career and realize you have nothing more to learn in that company, nowhere to advance, evolve and grow, no other position to challenge your ambition and skills, maybe it’s time to look somewhere else.
10. You’re loaded with responsibilities, but not with money
Simply put, in the words of the specialists from Business Insider
Sometimes an increase in work without a pay raise is due to downsizing, and sometimes it’s just management taking advantage of you. Either way, it might be time to pursue options that compensate you fairly.
These are only a few warning signs that you should start looking for a new job, but if you read the expert reports and the statistics, you will understand that no matter how hard and annoying a job change can be at the beginning, sometimes it may be the only choice you have for a healthy life and a prolific career.
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