When to Quit Your Job

We've all been there, sitting behind a desk, attempting not to fall asleep, fighting the boredom of the dreaded "4-o-clock syndrome". I know you, playing pac-man on your computer, behind your bosses back of course. Stacks of reports to be read and went over, thousands of sticky notes with people to call back and appointment dates. Is this what you have been training for? Is this all you will amount to? Answer is, no, it is not. You did not go through all the training and hoops you have jumped through to be stuck a mediocre job that you have no passion for.

The first warning sign of the need to quit your current employment is when you start looking forward to, actually relishing, the thought of the weekend or holidays. It's okay to be a little excited to have a day off or two, but when you start counting your weekends as your sanity days, and your vacations as your retreats from madness, then it's time you look for another job. You should be excited that you have the job you do now, nothing should come between you and your work.

The second warning sign that signals that it's time for change is when you start calling in sick, when you're perfectly healthy. That not only screams that you don't like going to your job, it screams that you don't care if you get fired. You should never want to call in sick just so that you can have those precious 24 hours between days at your work.

When you have tried your absolute hardest to make things work, but they won't, it's time to move on. You should not have to put up with an extremely rude boss who makes every day you go to work a dreadful experience. Try to get along with your coworkers and boss, attempt to do your job without their interference. If you find that absolutely, 100% impossible, then it is time to move on. You should not have to work at a place where you can't stand anyone and no one can stand you. This makes for a very unhealthy working environment.

If no matter how hard you try, you are always digging your way out of your office, swimming in the paper mountains you have constructed on your floor, searching for your Blackberry on your very crowded desk, it's time for something new. If you are always working, ignoring family and friends, it is a definite sign that you are handling too much, and you need an easier, more flexible workload. No one can handle all that stress.

The final warning sign that should scream to you that you need a new job is when you feel like you aren't connecting with your coworkers and bosses anymore. If you feel left out, find yourself spending a lot of less time at the water cooler talking with people, then it is time to find something different. People need to be a part of the social structure to feel good about themselves. If you have no one to talk to, you may find going to work to be miserable.

So, what do you do when you finally quit your job? Do you lay around at home depressed having a date with Ben and Jerry ice cream and cheesy old movies? No, you become proactive. Look around in your newspapers, go to monster.com, find people who know of job openings. Fill out applications anywhere that you find would interest you. You are bound to get an interview. Good luck job searchers.