Five signs it's time to quit your job
As the economy improves, more Americans feel confident to look for work elsewhere. Here are five signs it's time for you to look for a new job.
Job seekers sign in before meeting prospective employers during a career fair at a hotel in Dallas in January. If your current job isn't aligned with your long-term career goals, it may be time to move on.
LM Otero/AP/File
Feeling like Sisyphus, the character聽 in Greek mythology damned to roll the same rock up a hill for all eternity 鈥� but for you that rock is your job? Maybe it鈥檚 time to put it down.
More Americans are leaving their jobs聽than since the credit crisis ground the economy to a halt in 2008.
After holding onto their employer by their fingertips after waves of layoffs, more employees feel confident to let go and look for work elsewhere.
Here are NerdWallet鈥檚 top 5 signs that its time to look for that new job.
You Are Bored.聽If the thrill is gone, it鈥檚 time to look for new thrills. Hard-working executives toil their way to the top, but get there and think, 鈥淚s this all there is?,鈥澛犅爋nce told me. Dr. Berglas is an executive coach and management consultant who spent 25 years on the faculty of Harvard Medical School鈥檚 Department of Psychiatry. 鈥淵ou have money, power and prestige . . . you look like you鈥檙e on top of the world, but you feel like you鈥檙e marking time.鈥�
Your Job is Mismatched with Your Goals.聽Where do you professionally and personally want to be in five years? Will your current position get you there? 鈥淚f not, it鈥檚 time review your career path,鈥澛�, The Occupreneur Coach. 鈥淧erhaps you can seek out a new position within your current organization that better aligns with your long-term prospects. Consider searching your firm鈥檚 jobs board or having a conversation with your boss or human resources manager about other positions.鈥� If you can鈥檛 find what you want there, move elsewhere.
Your Friends/Family are Telling You to Leave.聽 Sometimes, you need the feedback of others to point out the obvious. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the topic that keeps them up at night thinking, what should I do?鈥� Teri Hockett, chief executive of career site What鈥檚 For Work?,聽. 鈥淭hey consult with friends and family, seeking advice, to validate their reasoning. They know the answer, which always involves change, but the difficult part is making the change itself.鈥�
Your Company is Telling You to Leave.聽Nobody likes to quit, but your boss or firm may be doing you a long-term favor by dropping hints the two of you should break up. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e suddenly getting a slew of critical feedback in emails or memos, it鈥檚 a sign your job could be in jeopardy,鈥澛爓rites Alison Green, co-author of 鈥淢anaging to Change the World.鈥�
If you鈥檙e on a formal Performance Improvement Plan, that鈥檚 a big clue it鈥檚 time to move on. 鈥淚n theory, if you meet the terms of the plan, you鈥檒l preserve your job and be able to move forward,鈥� Green says. 鈥淏ut in practice, by the time you鈥檙e on one, it鈥檚 often because things aren鈥檛 working out and aren鈥檛 likely to.
You Aren鈥檛 Making Enough Cash.聽Classic sign it鈥檚 time to go 鈥� that your skills can make more money elsewhere. But there are factors that need to be considered: How much is the cost of the move,聽and is it tax deductible? Use the NerdWallet聽cost of living 聽to compare the cost of living in two cities.聽And check out聽聽to know where your best options lie.