In my years of experience working in corporate Canada, including working at two of the largest investment banks in the country and now at the largest insurance company, there are a few truths that I’ve learned about when to leave a job.

#1 If You Have A Bad Boss

The  #1 reason people leave jobs is because of a bad boss. The main reason people stay in jobs is because of their bosses. Do not underestimate the impact of your boss upon your life.

Working anywhere from 35-50 hours a week at your job and having a boss that demeans you, is incompetent, hates you, is evil and generally makes your work day hell will have an impact on every aspect of your life. It’s not worth it. Take it from me, I know of which I speak.

While I worked at the #1 investment bank in Canada, I had 5 managers in 6.5 years. Some were let go because of the economic times, one because of a merger, and one retired. Sometimes, if you are very lucky, your situation will change and your boss will be let go or move up. Time will take of the problem for you. But, if that hasn’t happened within a reasonable amount of time, say 6 months, then it’s up to you to get yourself out from under a bad boss.

I believe in Pareto’s 80/20 Principle. If you like your job 80% of the time and can live with the 20% of the time when it feels like “work”, then stay. If, however, you are absolutely miserable 80% or more of the time, then it’s time to move on.

#2. If You Are Crying At The Office

If you end up crying in the bathroom at the office (which has unfortunately happened to me), then you know that it’s time to move on. Your mental health is too important to stay in a job that makes your cry and question your self-worth. Why give your power away a faceless corporation or worse yet, to pieces of paper?

Trust in yourself and believe that you deserve to have your mental health taken care of and find something else to do with your time. There are so many different ways to earn money. You will find something else and keep your mental health intact.

If you end up crying and wondering if life is worthwhile, you need to take action as quickly as possible to alleviate the situation.

Call in sick, update your resume, call some recruiters and schedule interviews. No job is worth your mental health. I repeat, no job is worth your mental health.

 #3. If People Are Ignoring You (Or If You’re Not Invited To Meetings)

It’s a sad fact that if you find yourself out of the loop at work and aren’t being invited to meeetings, or worse yet, are being disinvited to meetings, then the writing is pretty much on the wall and you should be looking for a new job.

People talk at work. They may not be talking to you because they know something that you don’t and they’re just afraid of telling you. No one likes to be the messenger of bad news, so they are avoiding you. Or, they don’t want to be associated with you just in case it rubs off on them.

If you find yourself with nothing to do at work and are twiddling your thumbs because you don’t have any tasks assigned to you, that’s a sign that management doesn’t trust you anymore with deliverables.

It’s time to find something else when this happens. Particularly, if it’s dragged on for a few months. Don’t wait long if you find yourself in this situation. If everyone is busy, except you, then that’s a major red flag. It’s time to update your resume.

#4. If You’re Considering Taking Anti-Depressants (Or If Your Doctor Wants You To Go On Stress Leave)

This is related to #2. If you hate your job so much that it’s affecting your entire life and your doctor thinks that you should either go on anti-depressants or take a few weeks off of work, then that’s a major reason for you to change jobs.

Going on stress leave is the kiss of death. If you are at the stage that you have to do this because you hate your job so much that it’s affecting your health, then it’s time to look elsewhere for your livelihood.

Has anyone ever come back successfully from a stress leave? Not that I know of. When you get back to the office, everyone will be gossiping about you. Your co-workers and management will be tip-toeing around you and wondering what will set you off next. They will question whether you can handle the stress of the job and wonder what’s wrong with you. Having that month off work is not worth it. Unless you spent the time updating your resume, looking for a new job and scheduling interviews.

If you go on stress leave due to some other personal or family reason, then you have chance. That’s legitimate. If it’s due to your work situation, it’s not worth it.

I’m not knocking anti-depressants at all. It’s very important to look after your mental health and if there are a combination of reasons to go on anti-depresssants, then definitely you should go on them. But, if the reason only is because you can’t face getting up in the morning and going to work, then you need to find a another job. Pronto.

#5. If You Haven’t Had A Raise For More Than 2 Years

If you haven’t had an increase in your salary for over two years or some kind of increase in your benefits or some indication that you are valuable to the company, then it’s time to look elsewhere. You do realize that if you haven’t had an increase every year that you are making less and less money, right?

You should be able to justify a cost of living increase, perhaps 2-3% to keep up with inflation. If you can’t get that amount, then it’s time to seriously look around and give yourself a raise.

When I started looking around after being with a company for 4 years without a signifcant increase in pay, it took me about a month to find another job with a $20 000 increase.

One Friday I was making $X and the following Monday I was making $X + $20K. I could have kicked myself for waiting so long and losing so much money. I won’t make that mistake again. Money isn’t everything, but it’s pretty darn important.

Not everyone works for money, I realize that. But, it’s very important and you are short changing yourself if you are too timid to ask for a cost of living increase.  If you didn’t have valuable skills, then they wouldn’t keep you. Maybe they can’t find anyone cheaper than you. Don’t be that person. You deserve so much more.

If your boss keeps promising you over and over again that you will get your increase, you can either believe them or see the writing on the wall.

If you’ve asked for and can justify the increase, waiting six months for it to take effect is not unreasonable. If, every six months you are getting the same spiel and you’ve heard the same story for over two years, then you have your answer.

I wish I had learned this last point in my first corporate job and didn’t wait around for four years before realizing that it wasn’t going to happen without me taking action.

Of course there are other reasons that you should leave your job. These are just the Top 5 Reasons, in my experience.

Remember: You have to have faith and believe in yourself. You already possess the skills necessary to better your life situation.

Take as many baby steps as you need to get yourself out of your current situation. Do something, every single day.

If you are 25 years old and have worked for a company for 5 years, you need to realize that you have 40 years left in your work life. Sometimes, it hurts to realize how much time you’ve wasted with a company that doesn’t appreciate or value you, but believe me, there are other jobs out there.

If you are 40, then you have 25 years or so in your work life. That is plenty of time to go back to school or upgrade your skills and start a fresh career. There are so many people who have had to start over. You can do it, too.

One thing that I have learned in my corporate life is that it gets easy and easy to recognize bad situations and to get myself out of them. My patience level for staying miserable in jobs has decreased significantly the older I get. Life really is too short to be miserable every day.

My motto is: “If it’s going to be, then it’s up to me”.

Take this to heart and believe it. No one is going to hand you the perfect job. It’s up to you to actively search for it. If you can’t find it, then you may have to create it yourself by going into self-employment. But, that’s an article for another day

Good luck. Believe in yourself because you can do it!

Do you agree with these reasons or have anything to add? Feel free to leave a comment.

Photo by libraryman

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