10 Good Reasons to Quit Your Day Job
July 15, 2008 – 12:00 am
I want to preface this by touching on three points. First, it’s important to note that when I say “quit your day job” I don’t mean for you to throw yourself on the unemployment line. Develop an exit strategy, find a new job or have your self employment objectives up and running and earning enough that you can afford to lose your day job income.
Second is much the same as the first but helps sum it all up. Never run away from a bad situation. Run TO a better situation whether it’s a better job or better opportunities within your same company. Pursue the positive rather than just fleeing the negative. Having said that, any of the items below, if they can’t be resolved internally, are incentive enough to throw that pursuit into overdrive.
Finally, loyalty is great when deserved. Corporate loyalty between employer and employee is a thing of the past and the only people to blame are the companies. The trend of casting aside people in the interest of profit killed the until-retirement-do-we-part mentality that our predecessors enjoyed. If you are a staunchly loyal employee (and I trend this way myself) you should recognize that most companies today don’t feel the same about you as you do about them. There is nothing wrong with making career decisions with your best interests in mind rather than your employers because you can bet your pay check they’d treat you no better if it meant a more profitable situation for them.
Now for the list.
1. Your boss is unreasonable - There’s a difference between a boss with better ideas and a boss who refuses to accept that a manager or employee may have a better idea. If your boss is brilliant at what they do and won’t accept a suggestion you’ve submitted because it really is inferior to their own idea, you can’t hold that against them. If, however, your boss simply refuses to bend from her ideas when your suggestion is clearly superior, you may be dealing with an unreasonable boss. One event is not enough to judge a person as unreasonable. After all, she may be privy to information you don’t have and which she can’t reveal. But if the behavior is chronic, it’s probably time to move on. You’ll never grow, advance or receive deserved credit for worthwhile contributions if your boss is constantly running interference.
2. Low pay - Know your worth. If you are below the industry average for your area but producing industry average or above work then you deserve better. If your boss isn’t amenable to a pay increase based on a valid request for above average work or to bring you up to industry standards then you are better off without the job. So many people sacrifice their valuable time in jobs that don’t compensate them reasonably for the effort. That kind of approach is fine when you’re paying your dues but once you are an expert in your field, it’s time to get paid or market your wares elsewhere.
3. Unrealistic expectations - You’ve landed where you are today largely due to attrition. Though still short handed at all levels, your boss doesn’t understand why you haven’t picked up more of your predecessor’s duties. You’re doing the job of 2 missing employees, your previous job, training a new employee and trying to absorb your new responsibilities. If your boss fails to understand circumstances like this, she has unreasonable expectations. Expecting you to cancel family vacations all the time, miss out on milestone moments in your child’s life, jeopardize your marriage or sacrifice your career dreams and ambitions are additional examples. Just be honest about what you’re dealing with and don’t self-victimize just because your job is challenging. Unrealistic and challenging are two very different things.
4. No work/life balance - When your job becomes such a dominating influence in your life that weekends and weekday evenings at home with the family dwindle away to nothing, you’re being taken advantage of. There has to be some you time. If there isn’t, you are practically guaranteeing yourself an early dirt nap. Ask yourself this - if your boss came up to you 3 years before retirement and said she was now going to shoot you in the head, would you embrace that offer? No. So what’s the difference between letting her shave years off your life in advance by denying you the simple luxury of taking YOUR time to recharge? Keep in mind, I’m talking about a constant here and not the occasional crunch we all have to put in for various reasons now and again.
5. Inadequate salary increases - A company-wide reduction in increases to get everybody through a rough financial period is normal, fair and to be expected. A consistent trend of low reward for high effort is not. Other mistakes I’ve seen in this category are rewards dolled out to the squeakiest wheel rather than the most deserving employee or increases based solely on longevity or popularity rather than performance. Inflation takes a bite out of your paycheck every year. If your company isn’t putting it back and (if you’re a strong performer) adding in something extra then you are essentially volunteering for a yearly pay cut.
6. Lacking or inadequate compensation for additional labor - Those of us who are salaried understand that there is a trade off for drawing in that steady pay. It’s expected that we’ll put in additional hours now and again without expecting compensation. If you do a job for $30K on an hourly basis and get time-and-a-half for OT and I do the same job for a salary, I’m going to expect more than $30K. The reason is that I will also get stuck working more than my regular hours but won’t draw additional pay for the sacrifice. Hence, a salaried employee might take the same job for $35-40K. Think of it as estimated up-front overtime pay. But what if you put in a ton of OT all the time? What If I ask for $5K more for my salary but I’m actually putting in $10K worth of overtime every year? If that’s the case, I’m getting screwed. If the boss isn’t willing to up my salary to compensate for the difference, I’m better off leaving. It’s up to you to track and determine if the compensation matches the effort and demand fair treatment. If it isn’t forthcoming, your path should be pretty clear.
7. Nepotism & favoritism - If the boss’ cousin receives better pay, hours or opportunities but puts in no additional effort, get the hell out. Sorry for being so blunt but if somebody is that sleazy you are hardly likely to change their mind. If the boss favors an unrelated employee, ask yourself some hard questions. Does the other employee work harder, do a better job, produce more efficiently or sacrifice more? This goes back to knowing your worth. Not being the best is not the same as being average or below average, though. If your counterpart performs at 120%, you perform at 110% and the rest of the staff does just enough to get through the day, you’re still deserving of compensation and reward as well (after all, you and the other guy have managed to turn math on its head and created 230%!!) Just expect the better guy to get rewards and recognition a little more often.
8. One way loyalty - At the beginning of this I discussed misplaced loyalty and the fact that it is an archaic concept in the modern working world. Despite that, I tend to be exceedingly loyal to people and companies who are wholly undeserving. I’m working hard to fix that. Always remember that you are replaceable. A company might suffer some short term pain for your absence but they will muddle on and adjust just fine without you. Most companies will gladly throw you to the gators if it’ll improve their standings with the stockholders and you’d be foolish to extend a courtesy to them they’d never extend to you. Be loyal to people and company while you are there but don’t let that loyalty blind you to better opportunities. There would be, I assure you, no hesitation were the shoe on the other foot.
9. No growth potential - I define this as career growth or skill growth. The benefits of career growth are obvious in that if you grow, you earn more and gain status. If there is no opportunity to move upwards in your company then there had better be skill development. Skill development might not allow you to grow in your current company but you are trading current upward mobility for future upward mobility elsewhere. If you receive neither career nor skill growth then you are spinning your wheels and wasting your time.
10. Depression - If your job makes you miserable to the point of depression and that’s a trend rather than an occasional pain, it’s time to go. Depression can become debilitating. Aside from affecting your health, it can lead to your work performance suffering. Eventually, your depressing job can lead to you performing poorly and your reputation winds up in the can. If your job is such a drain on you emotionally, move on.
And there you have 10 good reasons to quit your day job. Of course it doesn’t take a genius to decide their day job is worth leaving. More helpful might be a post on 10 things to do before you quit your day job. Expect to see it here eventually.
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