12 Signs It Might Be Time To Leave Your Job

With the start of a new year, many people think about making positive changes in their lives. We all know the common ones, like losing weight and eating better. But did you know that one of the top five resolutions in 2021 was career-related? It was “Pursuing a Career Ambition.”vGiven the “Great Resignation” made headlines in 2021, no doubt making a change in one’s career will rank high on the list for 2022.

So, are you thinking about one?

How will you know if it is time to quit your job?

12 Signs That It Might Be Time To Leave Your Job

For many people, it begins as a nagging feeling that something is wrong with their job. It could be a job that you used to love that now feels like a burden. Or you were never really enthusiastic about your work or the organization, but you now think why not try for something that is a better fit.

If you see yourself in any of these 12 situations, it may be time for you to pursue something else.

1)   I do not get along with my boss or those in the chain of command

There are some people that we get along with and others we don’t. The relationship you have with your boss is the most important one you have within an organization. If there seems to be a mismatch in expectations or working styles, this may be causing you stress and anger. Even if you have a great relationship with your boss but not others in the upward hierarchy, that too can be a problem. It can mean that promotions will be blocked or your work life will be made significantly harder. 

While I am always an advocate of trying to assess the root cause of the issue and see what you can do to make the relationship(s) better, sometimes it is a lost cause. You have to decide whether to live with it or find a new boss with whom you can have a more productive relationship.

2)      You have a high level of frustration

If you are coming to work frustrated by the previous days’ events, and you continue to be frustrated, even by little things, then it might be a sign that it is time to move on. Frustration is an emotion we feel when we cannot fulfill our desires and needs. Perhaps you cannot get the green light for a project you really want to work on. Or your colleagues are frustrating you by their disorganization. Some people can work through their frustration. But if you are finding that your response to frustration is passive-aggressive behavior or anger, then an option may be to remove yourself from the situation entirely and find one where your frustrations are minimized.

3)      You are bored

Boredom can be a big problem a work. Even when you are busy trying to accomplish many tasks assigned to you and you are working at a rapid pace, you can still be bored with what you are doing. If your job becomes repetitive with no variety in the tasks you are accomplishing, that may cause boredom. Or the tasks you are assigned just are not interesting to you. Or, perhaps, you simply are not given enough work to do, so that you are looking for things to do. When your job becomes boring, then the hours each day drag on. This may become intolerable to you and may cause you to want to start a job search.

4)      You are thinking often about what else you can do

If you find yourself sitting at your desk and often daydreaming about another career path, it might be time for you to leave a job. Engagement in one’s work is important for happiness. Engagement brings feelings of self-esteem, confidence, and even self-actualization. If the job is not bringing you these things, because it is a mismatch between what you are interested in and your skills, then it may be time to look for something else.

5) Management doesn’t care about you

Most people accept a job with the idea that it is a partnership. The employee will put forth the effort to meet the employer’s goals. And in return, these workers expect certain things in return. Yes, one is a paycheck, but there are others such as safety, security, respect, and a sense of caring. 

I read a story recently of how a woman unexpectedly had to deal with a health situation with her sister. She was working for two employers at the time. When she told each about her situation, one manager told her that family was most important and she needed to go and be at her sister’s side. The other manager, when told about the situation, was unsympathetic and guilted her for leaving the organization short-staffed. As a result, she quit that job. She no longer wanted to be a part of an organization that cared so little about her.

But it doesn’t have to be an organization that is uncaring about your personal situation. You can find yourself overly stressed about your workload or unhappy about a situation with a teammate and how it was handled. When you feel that people in the chain of command or your team do not care about you, your situation, and how you feel, it may be time to look elsewhere.

6)      You do not believe in the mission/vision of the organization or the leadership team

Many people want to feel a sense of connection to the work that they are doing. If they are going to spend 40 hours a week expending their energy to achieve an organization’s goals, they want those goals to be worthy of their time. What once was a mission/vision that was thrilling and fulfilling may morph over time into something that you find uninspiring or at worse, goes against your own personal values.

A change in leadership can also be a cause of questioning whether the organization is the right place for you to be. Leaders do not all behave the same and have different beliefs in what is important and how to get things done. There are numerous examples of changes in CEOs that had terrible consequences for an organization, such as Ken Lay at Enron and John Sculley at Apple.

If you no longer believe in the mission/vision of the organization or a change in senior leadership makes you think that the company is moving in the wrong direction, it might be time to go.

7)      You are feeling isolated at work

Isolation can result from not connecting with others or that others are trying to keep you apart from co-workers or superiors, perhaps in an attempt to not give you access to information or for political power. If it is the former, you do need to ask yourself are you putting in the effort to forge relationships. Perhaps with more effort on your part, this situation would change. But if you feel that you have, and there is a mismatch between your interests and values, and those of your co-workers, then you might not be in the right environment.

If the situation is the latter, and you are being “frozen out,” then it likely is a sign that either your growth opportunities at this employer are going to be limited or in the worst-case scenario, your employment may be coming to an end quickly.

8)      You do not feel you are paid what you should be

Perhaps you have been working at your job for several years and only have seen an average 3% annual increase since you started. Now you see you are falling behind the market. You have tried to ask for more money, but your overtures have been rebuffed. New people are being hired, and you know they are making more than you.

If this is eating at you, and making you resentful of your boss and employer, then you might think about looking elsewhere. One caution here. Understand first what will make you happy in your career. Will more money in itself make you happier? Sometimes people leave a good work situation solely for more money and find that their situation becomes worse because there are other issues that they find intolerable. Know always what your particular needs are and if you want to make a move, make sure they are all met, not just some, like higher compensation.

9)      You never receive any recognition for your work

Everyone wants to feel appreciated. From my days in HR, I know that people want to be acknowledged for the effort they have put in. It doesn’t have to be awards or money. Sometimes a simple thank you is all that is required. But many people do not even get that. Some employers still believe that a paycheck is all the acknowledgment that their staff needs. If you feel you give 110% to your employer but get nothing back in terms of any appreciation for your efforts, it might be time to make a change.

10)   You are not learning anymore

For many people, they want to constantly improve their skills and continue to learn so they can be better at what they do. There are times, though, when a person plateaus and either the organization no longer wants to invest in the individual or there simply is no more to learn. Maybe the company has slashed the budget for training programs, and you are not able to get the training you feel you need. Or maybe you have become so proficient in your job that you no longer are learning new things and your employer is unwilling to give you more responsibility.

If either is the case, it may be time to move to another organization where you can continue to grow. Because when one stops growing and learning more, their knowledge and skills can become obsolete.

11)   You don’t feel you bring value to the company

There may be times when you feel that what you are asked to do is not worth the money that you are being paid. I had a client that was great with strategy and loved doing it, but she was relegated to doing mostly tactical work by her manager. She felt very upset with the situation, and a lot of it was knowing she could do more but not being “allowed” to do so. Some people might look at this situation and say, “Hey, they are paying you for what they want me to do.” And if you are okay with that, fine. I know that there are other professionals who want to be looked at as valuable to the organization. Their sense of self-worth is tied to how they can contribute to the organization. If they do not feel their efforts are of real value, they might want to go to an organization where their work is more significant to the results of the organization.

12)   My job is not good for my physical and emotional health

Nothing is more important than your physical or emotional safety. If you feel that you are in physical danger at your job or you work in a toxic work environment where you are being bullied, discriminated against, or sexually harassed, then it may be time to look for something else. I wrote a post on LinkedIn that solicited many examples of toxic work environments where the individual felt they had no other recourse than to leave, many without another job in hand. To a person, none regretted their decision to get out of that environment.

Conclusion

You have identified the issue(s) at your work and now feel it is time to make a change. I would always caution, though, while it is good to understand what is not working, you also have to do the work to understand what is the best work environment for you. Don’t skip this step. If you do, you may find that you leave a position for a set of reasons only to find out that the new place has a different set of problems that are also intolerable. My golden rule of job search is to never focus only on fleeing a bad situation. Take the information as a guide to help you better understand the best work environment for you. Career success will come when you know, with clarity, the right type of work and environment for you and why.

To prepare you for leaving your job, you might want to read Thinking About Leaving Your Job? Do These 10 Things First.

Shelley Piedmont is a job search coach. She wants to help job seekers put their best foot forward by providing the tools for a successful job search. If you need career coaching, resume preparation, interview skills assessment, or LinkedIn profile assistance, she can help. Schedule a 15-minute no-obligation consultation.