Next Move, Best Move

Chapter 12How to Know When It's Time to Go

Career Affirmation: I can walk away from a job or company that no longer serves me.

I could not write this book without discussing the right time to walk away from a job. Not every opportunity is a great one. This may be an unpopular opinion that perfectly fits into the “millennial mindset” that many other generations frown upon, but I'm going to say it anyway:  You don't have to stick it out. If you are unhappy, feel like your growth is being stunted, or learn there is a proverbial glass ceiling at your job that does not support your growth, you do not have to stay. Like Jim Rohn once said, “If you don't like how things are, change it! You're not a tree.” Sometimes, leaving a job can seem like an easy decision. However, I want you to be strategic and allow this to be a conscious decision, not just because you are frustrated, feel underemployed, undervalued, and underappreciated, which are all valid reasons, but because you are consciously choosing to embark on a job search to ultimately find a career for yourself, rather than just another job.

Before some folks tear me to shreds for encouraging you to leave your job, I will share that I believe it's important to exhaust your options and have a strategic career conversation before leaving. I also do not advocate leaving a job before you have another one lined up unless it's an extremely dire circumstance or you have six months to a year's worth of savings and you like playing Russian ...