Top Five Warning Signs for Quitting Your Job

This job is going nowhere! When you dread each day at work, it's time to consider the simple fact it's time to move on. If you're at the end of your rope and quitting time can't come soon enough, evaluate your job situation. Everyone has bad days at work, but when an individual hates every minute of their work week, half of your waking moments are misery. Total job DIS-satisfaction can lead to increased stress, depression, and general health problems. Let's take a look at five major warning signs telling you it's really time to quit your job.

1. "I hate my job." Chances are if you're unhappy, it affects those around you. After nearly four decades of work across the country and overseas, I've experienced times when I dreaded each workday. When I worked for the Community Action Agency in our local area, personnel changes combined with pay cuts and a family illness, making the job an unhappy chore. Part-time work was fun and I enjoyed the seniors. The community service focus was great for most of the 10 years I spent delivering homebound meals for elderly clients. When my boss retired and new people entered the arena, this job became a tiresome chore. One man's bossy and boring wife began to dominate the normally lively and varied conversation as we packed meals. I found her dull, prickly, and negative in general. After a major blow-up, I remember sobbing as I started my route. My hours and mileage were cut twice due to budget constraints, giving me the excuse to hang up my yellow raincoat and announce I was quitting. Most of the other drivers followed suit and turnover was high for several months. Although I missed the interaction with local seniors in the county, I devoted myself to care exclusively our family, the home business, and my elderly mother-in-law. After quitting, I felt as if I escaped from a prison.

2."My Boss Hates Me!" As a Military Police Specialist in West Germany, I experienced a personality conflict with our new platoon sergeant. My direct supervisor changed, and he didn't seem to like me either. Although I won an early promotion, my annual evaluation was tepid, at best. To top things off, my long-term boyfriend gave me the axe! After a 3 week school for Traffic Accident Investigation, I visited my best friend, a fellow female MP who moved to a nearby town, assigned to a different platoon. When I got back to my home base, I met with our Platoon Leader and the two supervisors, and simply asked for a transfer. I had discovered the other platoon wanted to trade off a "trouble-maker." (The other MP was great at his job, just had problems off-duty when he drank with his buddies.) The platoon sergeant at the other unit had headed the board that awarded me my early promotion and seemed impressed with me as an individual. In this situation, everybody won. I started fresh and earned great subsequent evaluations and opportunities at the new location. I was the first female in that platoon and fit in well with the new group. The other MP traded did much better in his new job, too. Both platoon sergeants lost their "problem child." I completed my term of service with an honorable discharge, a medal, and a top rated evaluation, none of which I could envision at the previous unit. Thank goodness I was able to get out before I was burned!

3. "I feel as if I'm going nowhere." After 4 years of working security jobs on Mackinac Island in Upper Michigan, I felt as if my career had stalled. I was a shift supervisor, but didn't see any opportunity for advancement in the near future. During my last summer, I applied for and received acceptances for two jobs! On my birthday in 1984, I was selected to attend Air Force Officers Training School (OTS) during the first week of Federal Marshal Service training for a downstate Court Security Officer (CSO) job in Detroit. I ended up finishing the training and worked as a CSO for 5 months, until OTS began. In retrospect, I really was leveled off at the security supervisor job. A good friend and fellow supervisor, Chris Craft, got the promotion to Security Manager after my husband and I left The Grand Hotel. Chris was single and more focused on the job. We returned years later and he elevated to the top management levels in security, purchasing, and receiving. He looked like he belonged in those expensive three-piece suits, and we were happier having served in uniform overseas. It's a good thing I left, because I know Chris would have beat me out for any promotions from the ranks of shift supervisor!

4. "My bills are more than I make!" My sister's husband left and she divorced him, coinciding with her quitting a job with the local university to pursue her dream of law enforcement. Although she successfully completed the police academy after her 40th birthday, the job as Chief of Police she won didn't match monthly bills and debt payments. Looking long-range to her child support and alimony termination date, Kendall knew she had to take on a second job. She charged into the newly formed Transportation Security Administration (TSA) which had expanded its scope under the US Department of Homeland Security in the wake of 9/11 and various terrorist acts at home and abroad. The new job included a promising pay scale and many benefits related to health care and retirement. When her hours were cut back on the "home job," the TSA supervisor was quick to make up the difference during the last few months. Always a high-energy individual, my sister translated these attributes into a money-making career change at an age when many people think they're too old to start over.

5. "I am definitely off my career path." My husband studied Art and Education at the Art Institute of Chicago during the 1960's. Drawing notice of the draft boards, he ended up in law enforcement down in Florida, hoping to elude the Tet Offensive with an exemption as a police officer serving in "Nixon's War on Crime." After 5 years, his interest in police work and the Vietnam Conflict both waned. Although the money and benefits were good, he missed his calling in the "World of Art." By living in a bungalow off his parents' home and minimizing expenses, he was able to go back to working full-time as a commercial artist. Similarly, my father-in-law was a Quality Control Executive in the automotive industry to support his young family following World War 2, unable to afford starting his dream and certification as a Doctor of Chiropractic Medicine. Returning to his hometown of St Ignace Michigan after retirement, having kept his license up to date, he enjoyed nearly a decade of post-retirement work in this chosen field. I've never seen anyone as happy and fulfilled as Dr. Percy Hagen. Twenty years later, we still hear from patients who remember his dedicated, through, and caring approach to his work.

For further advice, check out this expanded list of the Top Ten Reasons to Quit Your Job.

Kate gives innovative advice on how to quit in her article,"Creative Ways to Quit Your Job."