Anybody ever quit without something else lined up?

Yep, did once. Never regretted it, had another job before my 2 weeks were up. Life is too short to spend every day hating it.

Margie

My business is volatile, to put it mildly. Got let go a couple of times, was hired elsewhere within a couple of weeks. I did take myself two 'vacations' at someone else's expense ; once when company politics and a reshuffle squeezed me out, another when I moved up here and the Toyota place crapped on me (even the GM said it was dirty). That last time when I was done fixing up my house I put in 3 applications on a Monday, was hired by Wednesday.

Yeah, I've done it. Took me 10 years of work to get there. Went home, never came back.

Marjorie Suddard wrote: Yep, did once. Never regretted it, had another job before my 2 weeks were up. Life is too short to spend every day hating it. Margie

Quoted for truth.

I quit my last job 9 years ago. Probably the smartest thing I've ever done.

Duke wrote: Please tell you're quitting something else to work on our mutual project...

Yep. Among other things.

My W-2 job is sucking the life out of me. It's time to get back to what works best for me. Independence, mixed with a small dose of crazy, and a double dose of creativity.

It was never about the money for me...

I did it a few times. Once, I took the summer off. Once, I took over a year off. Both times I didn't go anywhere near what I left when I went back.

I'm in a unique position (no payments for house, car, or anything major) and I have ditched jobs with no new job all the time. I figure I can either pick up some CL jobs hauling trash, singing for weddings, or detailing cars if nothing else pops up.

I would advise caution. I know a couple of highly qualified people who did exactly that because the situation had become unbearable to them and despite them being people who you'd think would waltz into a new job two days later, it took them months to find something. Actually, I think one of the two is still entrepreneurially unemployed.

At least in my field - software - there is the presumption that either you are so good that you're perma-employed or if you aren't, you're to be treated with caution.

BTW, I did quit with no job to go to when I moved from the UK to the US. Those eight weeks with no work and no income were not pleasant, even though I had more than enough savings to cover up to six months of unemployment.

I'm very anti-slavery to employment, but I'd start looking for anything to fill the gap. Your part-time side job would be a good start, as long as the story holds to "it paid so well I wanted to pursue it more directly" or something.

In my case, as much as my job is sucking my soul, it's also enjoyable. It's the lack of time that I hate. If I could walk to work I'd be pretty happy. I miss being able to get lunch with my wife.

We'd really like to move, which may leave one of us without a job. Luckily that's a good resume excuse as well. Once you're married potential employers see your family as a whole. You can easily use stories like "I wanted my kids in a better school" or "I wanted kids in a better environment" or "My spouse got offered an amazing opportunity".

As someone who used to have a lot to do with hiring, I think the "gaps on your resume" issue is over blown.

Everybody knows why people have gaps in their resume, and why they were underemployed. The economy sucks.

Everybody also knows that there are LOTS of highly qualified people sitting on the sidelines. A resume gap is longer an indication of employability.

However, I would also caution that because there are so many qualified people on the sidelines, getting a job is no where near as easy as it once was, and pay scales (which are determined on hiring) are being forced downward.

I said I am about to do it, but that is not necessarily a recommendation for anyone else. I don't expect to ever have a "job" again.

In reply to SVreX:

You are so darn cryptic, but your elusive and varied employment history has me constantly intrigued.

I did it once but only because that work environment had become very caustic and hostile.

I was owed back pay due to being under paid for a few months so, once I was given that I left. No two week notice, I just packed my E36 M3 and moved 120 miles north.

Not something I would recommend but you seem to be thinking much more long term than I did at your age and at the point where I was ready to crack skulls I wasn't concerned with the possible effect leaving may have on my career.

After talking with my fiance, brother, and dad, I've decided for the time to shelve this idea--which was never more than an idea.

I do have a phone call scheduled with a recruiter today as well, maybe we'll be able to make something happen here.

I guess its too late to chime in now, but I won't let that stop me. I never left before having something lined up first. Your situation is different than mine though, I suppose if I was young with no dependents and had some money socked away I might consider it, but the older wiser me would still caution against it. How hard is it to put up with your crappy job a little while more until you find something else?

Good luck. The only truly sucky jobs I had were ones that I couldn't quit. Since I've been in the private sector, if I don't like my job, I've always found another before leaving and it has served me well.

PHeller wrote: In reply to SVreX: You are so darn cryptic, but your elusive and varied employment history has me constantly intrigued.

Not being cryptic, just living a life that is different than yours, so it may be hard for you to understand.

I've lived most of my life self employed. That is sometimes dangerously close to being unemployed.

I have often not gotten a "paycheck". At those times, I am looking for the next job or opportunity to grow business.

But I am not in love with money, which has been an Achilles heel for my businesses. I think everyone who owns a business should care about money- it's what defines the success of the business for everyone who works there.

I have provided for myself and my family for our modest lifestyle. I have never been able to build a business that would impress stockholders.

I am currently a W-2 employee of a company. It's not a great fit- I am hard to cage, and therefore not necessarily fit for a W-2 relationship.

So, I have learned some valuable lessons about who I am. I will be leaving W-2 employment and going back to what I am wired to be.

Which will give me more time for my Challenge build.

Now that I think about it I have never found a job while I was still employed. So that means, every job I've ever quit has been with nothing else lined up. So that's seven jobs since I was 15 that I've walked out on.

Not really bringing anything to the table with my ramblings, just started thinking back and never really realized this.

Took a sick day yesterday. Part mental health day, part food poisoning (I probably could have gone to work, but it would have been a very miserable day).

Mental health day was great, got what I wanted out of it. Got into work today with a great mindset. Lasted about 90 minutes, which was incidentally the time that the first email from my supervisor came in. Idea is back on the table! Still probably not happening, but hey, it is there. I'm just burned out here.

When was the last time you had a real vacation with a good long opportunity to decompress?

So, I get your background, but what is it that you actually DO? (other than post about how much you hate what you do on GRM)

mtn wrote:

z31maniac wrote: I have not and would not. There are some very frustrating things happening right now that management won't take care of (that I'm having to and aren't difficult). I have plenty of savings and my wife has a great full-time job where she takes home about our house payment more than me. I still wouldn't do it. Then again, I'd rather be exhausted/miserable than broke. Mainly because I've worked enough different places to know there are ups and downs everywhere.

Was hoping you'd chime in. I guess I disagree on the "exhausted/miserable than broke" part of it. I realize there are ups and downs everywhere--I've dealt with them here, I've dealt with them in college and in life. FWIW, posting this was mostly a thought exercise to see what folks would say. Chances of me doing it are slim to none, but the fact that it even crossed my mind is astounding to me. I've had a full time job of some sort since I was 13 if you count school as a full time job. And yes, I'm including the summers.

The main reason I got out of where you are is because I didn't want to get stuck with quick pay raises, etc.

Now that I've had a few other jobs, it was pretty gravy, but it was my first "real" job. I worked at QuikTrip in high school and college.

My current job isn't perfect, and as mentioned I'm getting frustrated to the point that when I took yesterday afternoon off, my boss asked if I was angry/looking for another job/etc.

But I'm not.

Yet.

z31maniac wrote: When was the last time you had a real vacation with a good long opportunity to decompress?

August, but even that one was filled with stressful life events that re-compressed me (relatives in ICU, bachelor party which was just stressful and not fun, relatives back in ICU, and 2 weeks later, a funeral out of state). We only get 2 weeks of vacation here, and when some of that is used for Christmas, you don't have time for a good, real 2 week vacation which is what all the studies point to as the minimum needed to actually get something out of it.

Paul_VR6 wrote: So, I get your background, but what is it that you actually DO? (other than post about how much you hate what you do on GRM)

Vendor Performance. I analyze the performance of our remarketing and repossession vendors. I perform allocation reviews and re-allocate the amount of work they're getting based on these performance reviews. I perform audits on them. I review their contracts. I deal with "issues". Overall, it would not be a stressful job if the situation was a little different. If this department were run like most other departments in this company, I'd be much happier.

^To be honest, I don't like vacations over about 7-8 days. Then I start thinking about everything I need to do when I get home, 1 week isn't too much to catch up on.

Look around the web for "PDCA forms" and get some books regarding them. Start looking for problems and coming up solutions. And use the PDCA form as your case for said change.

I've never quit without having something else lined up and don't think I would. If my job is that bad I'd make time to look for and find something else before doing anything drastic. I also think it's harder to just slide right into something else at higher income levels and, this one really goes without saying, but obviously competitive fields for your markets.

Ok, so what is different about this department and is there anything YOU can do about it?

Paul_VR6 wrote: Ok, so what is different about this department and is there anything YOU can do about it?

Is there anything I can do about this department being different? No, other than getting myself out. Which I am trying to do, taking advantage of most networking opportunities I can as well as checking the job postings every day.

What is different about it? Without going into too much detail, the attitude of the management. Our HR manual allows for a lot of perks, including WFM, 4x10's, flex-time... But because 80% of our department is a call center, they don't let anyone take advantage of any of these perks in my department. Highly annoying, because those perks were written into the HR manual because of positions like mine (which make up 10% of the department). A few people actually have HR complaints in because of it, but the way it is worded I doubt it will go anywhere.

EDIT: Also, they're trying to fit a round peg into a square hole with some of the ways they are making us do some projects. I understand where they are coming from, but it is proving itself to just not work. Oh, and the micromanagement is off the charts.