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quit with no job lined up and relocated
quit with no job lined up
currently looking for a new job
At first I would have said it comes with age, but I think you are very unstable for quitting your jobs and relocating with no prospects. You can't build contacts by hopping from city to city. No one wants to hire someone who hasn't put down roots anywhere, nor do they want someone who jumps from job to job for no good reason.
You also mention you haven't gotten to any higher level although you've gotten more money. You will hit a glass ceiling at some point if you continue the way you are. You're not getting promoted because your managers see your attitude and know you aren't there for the long haul.
No company is going to invest in someone who won't invest in themselves.
Last edited by convextech; 10-08-2014 at 08:38 AM..
Why are you quitting a job with none other lined up? That would not inspire a lot of confidence if I were a prospective employer. To me, it looks like you'll bail when something doesn't meet your expectations, and be so eager to leave you won't position yourself for something better. I was married to someone like this, and it WILL catch up with you. Change your behavior now
Another part to kinda factor into this is frankly on the other end of this businesses in that you don't know how many other competitors might creep up. The average small business can plan ahead perhaps as long as nine months. The average large corporation a year and a half.
Why?
Well competition drives things to be faster where they start to react rather then think. Add in various mergers and buyouts and eventually it makes it much harder to plan. I worked for a company that bought out part of another not because they wanted it but because they did not want some other company to have it. Buy it out and shut most of it down. Research and development was replaced with merger and acquisition.
"You can't build contacts by hopping from city to city."
Yes you can. If someone has contacts from just one location that is very bad. Name for me a specific form of employment of which their trade association has no state or national chapter? In government there's countless groups of state and federal levels as they lobby (they are not unions) and help set standards. The longest labor contract for a union my state is generally three years, even city and town administrators/managers are at three it is a state law. If it is out of out of contract the terms stay the same. With elections there are those that might only have one term at two years, it happens. So if someone is an assistant to a mayor and that mayor loses what then are they supposed to do then? You find another opening in another area. Eventually if you stay in one place you max out your contacts because it all might be in one area or company. I think you need to view some linkedin profiles.
"No one wants to hire someone who hasn't put down roots anywhere, nor do they want someone who jumps from job to job for no good reason"
But what exactly is "roots"? The other thing to consider is that as long as it is mostly in the same industry that also means there is something compelling that causes that person to keep getting hired. Whereas if someone just stays you have a plateau effect. Would it be better to leave on someone elses terms or your own? Sometimes you can tell quite a bit about the viability of a place by working there. Ever work at a place with layoffs?
Last edited by mdovell; 10-08-2014 at 09:37 AM..
Reason: adding more
At first I would have said it comes with age, but I think you are very unstable for quitting your jobs and relocating with no prospects. You can't build contacts by hopping from city to city. No one wants to hire someone who hasn't put down roots anywhere, nor do they want someone who jumps from job to job for no good reason.
You also mention you haven't gotten to any higher level although you've gotten more money. You will hit a glass ceiling at some point if you continue the way you are. You're not getting promoted because your managers see your attitude and know you aren't there for the long haul.
No company is going to invest in someone who won't invest in themselves.
What are you talking about? I have never gotten a bad performance evaluation. Always "on target" or "exceeds expectations." So I'm not a bad worker or anything. Geez.
What are you talking about? I have never gotten a bad performance evaluation. Always "on target" or "exceeds expectations." So I'm not a bad worker or anything. Geez.
As a manager deciding on whether to promote someone, I couldn't care less about your stellar job performance if I know you aren't going to be here in the long haul. Your resume says it all.
The fact that you quit twice without jobs lined up would make me toss your resume in the trash. Being laid off you cant help....but quitting.....twice.....then expecting to be paid more than most Americans will ever make?
*worked at AARP as an accounting clerk, and that was for some 6 or 7 months or so before i was presented the chance to study overseas. i ended up studying overseas for 2.5 years
*came back and began an admin position at what was back then one of the big six. was there for 3 years
*started in 1997 at another rather large government consulting company. left there in 2004
*after that, began working at a telecoms company that was acquired by Verizon. that lasted a good 9 years
the last 3 jobs I had (this covered a good ~19 years) were good but due to not my performance, but the nature of work (i.e. decline of work in the field i was doing) they either combined the position i had or moved to totally different state).
I would say ~19 year, having 4 or (4.5 jobs) is not jumping around. it shows i guess you call it loyalty (if that's still valid to say these days).
I don't get why people are absolutely ragging on the OP. I wouldn't quit with nothing lined up either, as this is very risky, but if he has the means, great.
OP makes decent money, but it would only be equivalent to $45k-$55k in most parts of flyover country. It's not life changing money, and it's probably below what he would make (adjusted for COL) if he had some more logical progression in flyover country. It would probably be worth about $50k here in Indy where I am. While that's a reasonably good living for a single person, it's not enough for a flashy lifestyle, and owning a home on a single $50k income can be tough if you have other debt or financial disruption in your life.
I certainly don't get the argument to "stay until you have tenure." It's not like the OP is making chickenscratch or may even find a better deal, but the same logic applies to low end jobs. I've had six jobs since I graduated in 2010, five of them doing the very same thing, and the last one paid the least - $11.68/hr. Should I have stayed there until I "built tenure" in order to avoid being labeled a "job hopper?" No, and if I did, I'd still be making $11.68/hr and not going anywhere. Instead of accepting that, I sought to better myself, and now make more than double my last wage. I doubt the same thing is going to happen to the OP, but one should always keep one's eyes open. Complacency and being out of touch with the labor market may kill your career.
We don't even know why he's not getting responses. Maybe there are simply people more qualified. Maybe it's the issue with him being nonlocal. There's no way to tell.
Excellent post!!!
I don't get the stigma with job hopping either. I just assume the folks who are staunch believers in company loyalty had a different life experience as they entered the workforce in a different economic era (and are thus "out of touch"), before the bottom fell out after the late 90s boom.
Myself, I entered the work force when Michigan's unemployment rate was 15%. The average place was on a hiring freeze and very few pay raises/promotions were being given out to anyone. I witnessed friends/families who gave their blood/sweat/tears to a company tragically lose their job/tenure because of "cost cutting."
I can understand things from an employer's perspective, as far as spending money to train someone who will soon leave, but at the same time the employee owes no one nothing. They're trying to progress up the ladder or success just like their employers.
Last edited by 313Weather; 10-08-2014 at 10:37 AM..
As a manager deciding on whether to promote someone, I couldn't care less about your stellar job performance if I know you aren't going to be here in the long haul. Your resume says it all.
You must be older than the age of 40 or something, to be that out of touch. Don't you realize that promoting someone could actually encourage them to stay at their job?
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