The Real Questions You Need to Ask Yourself Before Quitting

Often times, when we start thinking of our next steps in our careers, we hit a point where we go into the zone of self-reflection: Am I still on the path of achieving my personal and professional goals? You’ve probably read our post on reasons why good employees quit, and have contemplated on the idea of quitting your job.

But, please, don’t get too ahead of yourselves and debut that resignation speech just yet! Over the course of my job and career shifts since graduating from college, I’ve contemplated on this question way too many times, and when I do, I always dig in deeper into what’s really causing me to think such.

While reasons may vary from person to person, it will all boil down to the same set of questions regardless of what our personal intentions may be:

Am I still learning in my current job? 

Is your personal and professional development being met? If not, try to understand why, because once you have a better understanding of the reasons, it will be easier for you to determine the next steps. Feel like you’re getting stagnant because you’re not given enough challenges in your current position? ask for it.

Most people tend to feel insignificant and unmotivated seeing that their duties are not so much as important as the others. If you’re passionate about your job and the company you work for, and your seeking to constantly feed your intellectual curiosity, ASK for a challenge. But when a point comes that your ambitions get shunned, then it’s probably time to move on.

Am I still on a path to achieving the professional goals I was aiming for?

Next step would be to see if your company fosters career mobility. Career mobility refers to a movement in position where an employee currently holds—either for promotion or complete change of occupation. It is crucially important for every employee to get to step up in their careers as this is an opportunity for them to realize their full potential and achieve their career goals.

So, go into self-reflection once again and ask yourself what you want to get out of your current position, list it down if you must. Will your professional goals be met if you stay? Is your company open to the idea of giving you a promotion sometime in the near future for being so damn awesome in the job you do? If the answer is yes, then stay. But if possibility is as thin as a strand of hair, specially if you’ve been with them for some time already, then it’s probably time to move on.

How will my next step affect my personal life?

You’ve read it once or twice before—work-life balance is important to keep you going and sane. Without it, you’d probably be like a robot who’s sole purpose is just to work and not enjoy the fruits of your labor. Personal goals play a vital part in deciding if you need to switch jobs or not.

You’re reasons may vary from geographical (where you work is too far from where you live), financial, or as personal as starting a family or taking care of an ill relative; whatever the reasons may be, if work-life balance isn’t being met in your current position, even if in the two previous questions your professional goals could somehow become possible, then maybe it’s time to move on.

You can’t risk staying in a job that doesn’t give you the time to have a life outside the office. Think thoroughly about these questions before packing your stuff, because in the end, you will be the one responsible of where you decide your career path to go.

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