The grass really isn’t always greener, that I can tell you with 100% conviction. Sometimes the debate before you leave your job is between the devil you know and the one you don’t. And often, the tiebreaker is money.
But the decision to leave your job really isn’t about money at all, here are a few important things you should think about before deciding to leave that aren’t the money:
Why Do I Want to Quit?
Getting to the root of why is arguably the most important thing to think about before you decide to leave your job. The why can tell you a lot about you, the job in general, and give some insights into any potential job you’ve been offered.
There are both positive and negative whys to leave a job, some of my past whys have been:
- I want to grow professionally and I’ve reached my maximum growth here.
- I want to go in a different direction with my career or move into a new industry.
- I want to get out of a bad work situation.
Once you know your why, you can answer the next question.
Will Quitting Solve the Issue?
Once you’ve figured out your why, it’s pretty easy to figure out if quitting will resolve the situation or give you what you want. If your goal for leaving your job is to move to a new industry, then any new job you might take on should definitely be in that industry.
Likewise, if your goal is to grow professionally, you’ll want to make a move of advancement, not a lateral career move when you leave your job. For a career move to be beneficial to you, it needs to move you in the direction you want to go, not simply pay you more money.
What’s Exciting About The New Job?
Jumping to a new job just because it’s new isn’t a great move unless the new job has something the old job didn’t. What I mean by that is, what about the job are you excited about? What do you want to experience that you can’t now?
Is there a cool new boss you’ve looked up to for the last few years? Are you taking on a list of new responsibilities you’re fired up about? Do you get a chance to travel? Before taking that new job, make sure you’re excited about it!
If you don’t have a current job offer, do yourself a big favor and don’t leave your job. Not yet. Wait until you have something in your back pocket and then go for it.
What is the Company Like?
Before you jump ship, do your research on your new company. Seriously, you’ll thank me later.
Read some reviews online, talk to current or past staff if you have a chance, and dig around a bit. Make sure there are no obvious red flags before you hop on over. Otherwise, you might regret the decision to leave your job.
Can I Afford This New Job?
This question is more relevant if you’re making a HUGE career change, like moving from an in-house marketing job to being a freelance writer. Or ditching your teaching gig to travel the world.
When it comes to big life and career changes, money really does factor in. If you can’t afford to “chase your dreams yet” it’s probably more financially responsible for you to stick it out until it is feasible.
Looking for More Money Insights?
- Money Problems: How To Stop Feeling Hopeless
- How To Avoid Fraud: A Quick Guide
- These Are Your Biggest Obstacles To Financial Freedom
Tae started out as a journalist before following the money into the corporate world. But it turns out that the grass isn’t always greener and now you can find her spending most of her time writing about all the things she loves. Namely, money, travel and business with a hefty dose of self-deprecating humor. She is a podcast fanatic, blogging aficionado and loves to find new ways to turn passions into cold hard cash!