How to Change the Job You Want to Quit
You don’t have to hate your job to consider getting fired. Feeling indifferent to the work you do or the team you work with can be enough to make you think about how to improve your resume and start a new job search. Before you spend all your energy looking for a new job, it might be worth identifying the problem and seeing if there are ways to improve your current situation.
Below are a few options to consider before leaving your current job:
What to try for yourself
Your first step in changing your job is to assess which parts of your job inspire you and which tasks or responsibilities you don’t like. Of course, in every job there are things that you must do, even if they are not your favorites, but you can probably pinpoint some of the things that should not be on your plate.
Jenny Meyer, editor-in-chief of Muse , shares an exercise you can do to figure out the pros and cons of your role. She recommends that you ask yourself the following questions:
- What activities have you enjoyed the most over the past few months?
- What projects are you most proud of?
- What makes you feel empty or just lacking inspiration?
- What can you find out?
- Who can I contact?
- What skills can you add to your resume to get your next job?
With the above questions answered, look for ways so that you can work more on what attracts you, on projects or people you can learn from. This can manifest as energizing when someone you feel you can learn from asks for additional help with a project, or asks your manager for support in assigning to projects you enjoy.
Mayer also notes that you can stay motivated by reminding yourself how your current job improves your future career prospects:
Don’t submit projects thinking it will make your boss happy, but rather submit them thinking, “Doing this 110% will really help me get to what I’m going to do next!”
Work with your manager
You have to decide for yourself if your manager can support you in your efforts, and of course, not everyone has a good manager. If you have a manager who can help you adjust your role, schedule a conversation with him about goals.
Mayer suggests using this time with your boss to understand how your work and goals align with where the team is focused and, at an even higher level, with what the company is striving for. Knowing how your day-to-day work affects you can help you feel more motivated and fulfilled, even if you don’t like everything you are working on. It also gives you the opportunity to make sure that you are on the same page with your manager and team; You may have thought that what was key to your role was not really critical to the success of the team and could be minimized in favor of the job you enjoy.
As a final tactic, Mayer mentions that you can apply for an internal transfer. It can be a tough conversation with your manager or HR department, but if it means you can stay with a company you like and move on to a job that suits you best, it’s worth it.
If you decide things aren’t doing better and end up finding something new, be sure to leave professionally. Don’t brag to your colleagues about your new gig or talk about the job you’re quitting. Finish your projects as best you can and leave documentation for what you can’t finish. You want your reputation to remain strong and to keep those connections.