Experts say it’s best to have a plan before you quit your job

Fascinated with quitting your job? You’re not alone.

Half of Canadian staff plan to search for a latest job inside the first six months of 2023, in keeping with a poll by business consulting firm Robert Half.

Those most probably to make a profession move include generation Z and millennial Canadians, tech staff, employees who’ve been with an organization for 2 to 4 years and dealing parents, the survey of greater than 1,100 professionals in Canada found.

The next salary, higher advantages and perks, more advancement opportunities and greater flexibility to decide on when and where one works were among the many top reasons that respondents said they might be in search of a latest job.

Nevertheless, while hitting send on a resignation letter can feel liberating and provide you with a way of fast gratification, experts say it’s best to have a plan before quitting your job.

“I might say the massive thing people have to work out before they leave is, what’s next?” said Sarah Vermunt, a Toronto-based profession coach and founding father of Careergasm.

You need to plan what your next chapter will entail — by researching requirements and salary ranges for brand new positions — so that you simply aren’t quitting “in a panic” and taking whatever job you land next without considering what would actually be a very good fit for you, she said.

If you happen to do make the leap without moving to a different job soon after, Vermunt said it’s helpful to think about how a niche in your resume could look to future employers.

“If you happen to’re someone who’s making a radical profession change, it’s totally wonderful to have in your resume that you simply just took a sabbatical to get some training to maneuver in a latest profession direction. That tracks and it is sensible,” she explained.

“But in the event you just form of quit a job and have an empty spot in your resume, that’s something that you simply’ll need to speak to.”

Having a budget or emergency fund to maintain you afloat during your profession transition period can also be useful, Vermunt identified.

“If you happen to understand how long you possibly can cover your expenses and if you’ve gotten at the least a general sense of what you desire to move to next, you’re going to have way less anxiety about quitting your job,” she said.

“And it’s going to feel more possible because you understand what you’ve gotten to do to get to that next thing.”

Kadine Cooper, a profession and life transition coach, echoed those remarks. Unless you’re in a “very toxic or unhealthy” work environment, she similarly suggests lining up your next chapter before taking a leap.

“Definitely provide you with a plan before you choose to simply walk away from what you currently have,” she said.

Cooper recommends networking inside your current workplace and externally to explore available opportunities.

“Internally, perhaps you possibly can do a stretch task or job shadow one other function before deciding that you simply’re going to exit the organization,” she said.

A former profession coach in residence on the Toronto Public Library, Cooper also recommends consulting with a profession coach or mentor to get a second opinion on whatever profession move you propose to make. Some places like TPL offer profession coaching services totally free, she noted.

Quitting on a very good note is crucial, Cooper added. This, along with continuing to foster and construct relationships along with your colleagues and employer, could land you a reference down the road.

“Your network is your net price,” she said.

“The world is such a small place — you only never know if you’re going to cross bridges with someone again, so that you never wish to burn a bridge with anyone.”

Gina Marie, 37, quit her job as a therapist at a mental health program in Toronto in September 2022.

Before leaving the corporate, where she said she was attached to the advantages and job security, Marie made sure to have a financial cushion to cover her rent for several months in case things didn’t go in keeping with plan.

She also considered whether she had enough training and skills to jumpstart her sex and intimacy coach business and pursue her dreams as an eventual psychedelic psychotherapist.

Moving into a psychedelic assisted therapy training program and having a profession coach gave Marie the boldness she needed to trust in herself and her abilities, she said.

The choice to quit her job was tough, she stressed, however it allowed her to comprehend her dreams, prioritize her health and work with greater flexibility to suit her desired lifestyle — she recently worked on her laptop from a jungle home just minutes away from a beach in Costa Rica.

“I used to be so petrified of it for therefore long. I used to be like, ‘Oh my God, how am I gonna make this work?’” said Marie, who can also be currently working as a personal psychotherapist.

“But I did it, and it was a little bit bit hard of (an) adjustment at first while I used to be still studying, but then, come December time, I used to be form of killing it.”

Her advice to other Canadians seeking to quit their jobs is to be patient and to talk to others who’ve made a profession transition that interests them.

“(This) also really, really helped me with, as an alternative of it … being like a dream, it began to turn out to be so far more real because I saw other people doing it and I got their suggestions and I did it alone time and now I truthfully couldn’t be happier.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 14, 2023.