Quitting a Job Without Another

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I quit mine with nothing to jump onto. Spent 6 months training myself in the ways of Web Development. Got a new job that I actually like, I'm now team leader and making more than I ever have.

With the amount of money you have behind you, start trying a few things out. If there's nothing else you want to do, you can always venture back into your current industry.
 
np89 said:
I'm 27 years old, been in what most would consider a great industry and I've made a decent amount of money along the way.

I have about 5 and a half years of living expenses saved up.

I am desperately unhappy in my job. The folks I work with are extremely political and throw you under the bus whenever possible. The work is really unfulfilling and the hours are 12+ hours a day.

I really have had enough, I am currently set on quitting at the end of the day. I said this before but didn't go through with it but am a lot more set on it now. I just wanted to get some other people's opinions to make sure I'm not making a dumb decision.

Searching for a new job while maintaining this one is very challenging. Can rarely get away during the day.
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I did this about 6 years ago.

Quit a job of 6 years when my first child was born as they treat their employees like **** and the final straw was lying to me and trying to make me work away from home when my little one was born.

Went in next day, put my company car keys and all my paperwork/laptop on the directors desk and quit, they asked me to stay (on their terms lol) so told them to jam it. Got the bus home and have never looked back. Had a year off with my first child and now been working in a great new industry for 5 years in a company which is perfect for work life balance.

Hard decision to make but the best one I ever made, got to make sure you can afford it though.
 
It's interesting to read how many others did the same as I did. I thought I was the only one stupid enough to actually do it but it seems not :D It also looks to have worked out for most people.
 
np89 said:
I have about 5 and a half years of living expenses saved up.
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Then leaving and taking your time to find something more suited and enjoyable should not cause you stress or emotion and if you are suffering depression seek help is my advice.
 
I did this and I'll be honest, it was the best thing I ever did. I quit in October, spent November - December in USA travelling seeing friends and relatives (which I wouldn't have had the time to do), back for christmas and now going travelling in SE Asia next week.

If you can afford it and you're unhappy, do it. Life is too short.
 
Glaucus said:
So what you actually do? Is it years if medical. Or more technician, photographer or something else. If it's even anything like TV shows.
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Well without derailing the thread too much, I'm a Trainee Anatomical Pathology Technologist. I work in a mortuary and do everything you'd imagine that goes with it. In post mortems I am learning evisceration etc and we do everything except determine the cause of death which is the role of the Pathologist.

It's a very sought after job that took me three years to crack into and I'll be learning on the job until I start the first of two 2 year courses early next year.
 
jkb said:
It's interesting to read how many others did the same as I did. I thought I was the only one stupid enough to actually do it but it seems not :D It also looks to have worked out for most people.
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I quit an oil and gas job many, many years ago because I hated it after 9 months and never regretted it for a second. I was single, living with my parents and had £8K in the bank at the time though.

Purchased a motorcycle, went on a month long skiing holiday and wazzed the rest up the wall. It was great to be 23 and minted.

Got bored after 4 months and strolled right into an electronic manufacturing job which eventually led me into telecoms.
 
Have a listen to this: http://freakonomics.com/2011/09/30/new-freakonomics-radio-podcast-the-upside-of-quitting/

You know the bromide: “a winner never quits, and a quitter never wins.”

To which Freakonomics Radio says … Are you sure? Sometimes quitting is strategic, and sometimes it can be your best possible plan.

To help us understand quitting, we look at a couple of key economic concepts in this episode: sunk cost and opportunity cost. Sunk cost is about the past – it’s the time or money or sweat equity you’ve put into a job or relationship or a project, and which makes quitting hard. Opportunity cost is about the future. It means that for every hour or dollar you spend on one thing, you’re giving up the opportunity to spend that hour or dollar on something else – something that might make your life better. If only you weren’t so worried about the sunk cost. If only you could …. quit.
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Applying for a job is a full time job so I really agree with the sentiments that if you are looking for new work and you can afford it just quit. Fid ing a new job while still employed is a bit of a luxory, must mean you have lots of free time, less responsibilities and shorter working hours - not everyone is that fortunate.

I think it is also good to take a few months and travel so you can think what you want to do next without rushing into something just because it gets you out of your current mess. In fact jumping jobs/careers without properly thinking it through can be vouch more damaging. A friend quit a well paid stressful investment banking job to do a a low-paid stress free web design type gig, strict 50 hour limit etc and not very taxing. The thing is he soon got bored stiff of course so quit to get back into something more engaging. The problem was with the web design work on his resume he was just constantly bombarded by more of the same and ended up having to completely clean his linked profile and resume from any links to his 12 month web design foray. He now has an awkward situation to explain what he did for the last year, if he was traveling it would have been simply and no one would have batted an eyelid.
 
If you have money behind you and you are at the limit with the current job then do it. Quit, enjoy yourself for a bit and try to clear the head.

I did it back when I was living at home, didn't lead to an amazing career change but did get me away from a horrible work atmosphere.

Wish I could do it now but the bills keep coming in. :o
 
I don't understand why you've not quit, with that much saved up?

Sure it won't seem amazing to future employers but your experience and such will more than make up for it.

From my point of view, you're in a dream position.
 
If you want to learn to be a programmer you don't need to go to school, people self teach at home, there are tonnes of resources and sites online to help you along the way Codecademy is a good start, it'll only ever work if you really want to do it. Requires a lot of dedication.
 
Right. Thought I could plow on like a few of you suggested but I can't. Called out sick today, plan to do so for the rest of the week. Going to quit on Friday. Absolutely not worth the mental anguish.
 
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