Don’t quit your job unless ............ (please read the caveat!)

I live in Hong Kong, but I work across the world coaching people in Europe, America and across the Asia-Pacific region. This gives me an interesting insight into what the world economy and job market looks like, and what people are thinking. The world has been a pretty crazy place recently especially in Hong Kong where we’ve had protests and now the outbreak of Wuhan flu

The streets of Hong Kong have been deserted, everybody is working from home, people are going crazy being isolated with their families and kids for homeschooling. It’s been a challenging time.

There are many people who might have been thinking about quitting their jobs, have had enough, or at their limits with their capacity to continue working at their current company. However many are saying at the moment 

“Don’t quit your job unless you have another to go to or you don’t need one!”

The economy across the world in many places is potentially unstable and globally there is an unsettling feeling, with markets quickly rising and falling. Is this a safe course of action in the world today? 

Now, there is one caveat I would give to this - don’t quit your job unless you have another one unless it is affecting your health and well-being, or there is something else which is severely affecting you or others in an unhealthy or illegal way.  In that case now might be the time to think about what you can do for the future you, how you will make that move and what the potential outcomes will be. Here are some ideas to help you move on instead of making that jump without a plan so that you have an alternative focus to work on.

1. Remember your timeline. Think about how long you need to research your next move and make a plan as to how you’re going to do this. Does it need to be now? 
2. Weigh up the pro’s and con’s of staying and leaving. What is the cost of leaving without another job? Will this make you happy? What can you do to plan before you finish? Another few months to save money? Is it worth it?  
3. What can you do to plan before you finish? What resources do you have and what can you utilise to make sure that this move is right. People, money, unique skills? Ensuring you have a good plan is important especially at the moment. Have a look at the industries that you’re going into, all the companies that you want to go to and make sure that this is going to be the right move for you. The economic environment has been shaken and here are some areas which are unstable however there are other areas which are very stable. Choose carefully and understand the risk.
4. Is there a possibility that you could retrain? Can you do this alongside your current job? Can you use this as a goal to get through your current role and look to a future where you may be able to do something that you really love and feel rewarding?
5. Is there something else that you could do to make your current job more interesting? Is there an inter-department or move that you could make within your current company? Will they retrain you or help you with budget to retrain?

These are all areas to carefully consider before making the leap. Ensuring that when you make that move it is careful, calculated and you are in a place mentally to get ready for the next stage of your life is essential.

I help people look at decisions in life and work out how they choose direction. My mission is to provide affordable coaching so that people can be happy in their lives and careers. Message me for further details [email protected]