kowen0001's picture Submitted by kowen0001 on
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Career Management

I am extremely unhappy in my career/job and am looking for a change. I am making myself miserable in my currently position and am contemplating quiting. I don't want to have a gap in employment and am thinking about doing temp work through an agency. My feeling is that I will be gainfully employed and build experience in more diverse work environments. Am I being too short sighted? Will working at for a temp agency hurt my job search too much?

I have my undergrad in psychology and some post-bac classes but no graduate level education. I currently work for a non-profit that specializes in early childhood education. I began in a entry level position and in about 4 years have worked my way up to being a front-end manager. This is the first 'real' job that I have had out of college, so minus working in restaurants in college I don't have a lot of work experience for my resume. I am interested in getting into the for-profit world and am leaning towards HR or marketing.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!!

IndianaRoger's picture
Submitted by IndianaRoger on Wednesday April 23rd, 2008 12:30 pm

I have done both (gutted it out and also quit before finding my next job). Here are some quick thoughts:
1. Do you have your finances in order? (listen to "Finances Rule Podcast")
2. Do you have your resume, interview prep and network in place? (Listen to the Interviewing, Networking and Resume Podcasts)
3. Do you have a family you need to worry about?
4. Can you get health insurance worked out? Cost of COBRA can be a killer.
5. If you don't quit will you still be in this job a year just because it is the "easy thing to do?"

Not knowing all the details... if you were to quit don't jump into the temp pool unless you think it may lead to another full time job. If you quit go into full time job hunt mode.

Perhaps you can make a deal with yourself. I am giving myself 3-6 months to get everything in order. If I have not gotten another job (or made this one better) I will resign from my current position. Don't be stupid but some times we need a little push. Have a friend hold you accountable.

During that 3-6 months continue to work hard. You don't want to burn any bridges. I also am guessing that knowing the future is going to change will affect how you "feel" about your current job.

Hope this gives you something to ponder...