After leaving dozens of jobs over the years, I have become a job-quitting expert.
Carefully consider a few questions first.
Are there alternatives to quitting?
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Have you made preparations?
How can you leave on good terms in case you need the job back?
Are some bridges meant to be burned?
Can you comfortably lose the income, even if the loss is temporary?
To help you answer these questions, I put together this guide on how to quit your job.
Even if you love your work and have no plans to leave, that could change at some point.
And the idea of job security is not what it used to be.
Enough small talk.Here are some waysto earn extra cash, without all of the social stuff.
Use the money you save to fund your job quitting account.
If being properly positioned is important enough, youll find a way to cutsomeexpenses and set aside the savings.
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3.
Maintain a Current Resume
Keepa resumeready and up-to-date.
If youre qualified for several types of positions, make a resume for each.
I like to keep a stripped-down resume handy, with another document full of various possible sections to include.
Discretionary expenses refer to nonessentials, while fixed expenses refer to essentials.
Your fixed expenses are the ones that will bleed your bank account when you leave a job.
Consider Alternatives to Quitting
Maybe you dont need to quit your job.
Think creatively about the alternatives.
Whyyou are quitting will help determinehowyou prepare.
Add to your savings account.
Make a list of replacement jobs youre qualified for, and freshen up that resume.
If youre planning your exit with more time, you might make other important preparations.
For example, if youre planning to buy a home, do it before you quit.
Anew job looks bad on a mortgage loan software, especially if the position is in another industry.
Get your spending down to the level the new job will provide before you quit your current job.
That can come in handy if yourun into cash flow troubleand dont want to break into your retirement account.
How to Quit Your Job
Your boss might deserve to hear take this job and shove it!
as you walk out the door in the middle of the day.
But its usually a bad idea.
Give at least two weeks notice.
Tell your employer what you liked about working there (cmon, there has to besomething).
You might want the job back someday, or a future employer might talk to this one.
To the extent possible, leave on good terms.
More importantly, do a good job while youre still there.
If youre tempted to slack off because you hate the job or your boss, its time to go.
You deserve to be treated right, but your employer deserves to get what they pay for.
And if youre a good employee, quitting doesnt have to mean burning any bridges.
Put your resignation in writing.
If youre not sure what to say, look for templates and examples of resignation letters online.
3.Time your announcement properly.
Unlike when you quit, if youre laid off youll probably be eligible for unemployment compensation.
That will help your transition to whatever youre doing next.
What About Your Resume?
Yes, your resume and future job applications may look less than ideal if you quit too many jobs.
But there are a few tricks to making them look as good as they can.
First, leave a few things off the resume.
A job you had for a week isnt relevant, is it?
What about that part on the app where they ask why you left a previous position?
What about those gaps that employers hate to see in a job history?
The fact that you took a year off to read poetry wont impress most employers.
you gotta fill those gaps with something else.
One solution is to always have a small business on the side.
Then, if there is a gap in your employment record, you were focusing on your business.
It also helps to round off the dates of previous employment.
Just consider that part of the price you pay for job-quitting freedom.
Steve Gillman is the author of 101 Weird Ways to Make Money and creator of EveryWayToMakeMoney.com.
Probably not as good as youd like.
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