Is one year long enough to stay at a job? There are some jobs we never want to leave and there are others which we die to leave. However, we fear the tag of a job hopper and a bad resume. We are constantly anxious about not getting a job after quitting it. We get these nightmares of having financial difficulties due to leaving the job. But now you don’t need to worry because we are here at your rescue!. This article focuses on the title ‘How long should I stay at a job before quitting’ and answers very deeply.
Factors to consider to stay on job before quitting
How long is too long at a job? The answer to it can vary according to various factors and the answer to it is not a one-word or a specific answer. We will lay out those factors for you so that you can do quick and feasible decision-making without being stuck in dilemmas.
Is it helping you grow?
You need to stay at a job enough to evaluate whether it is helping you grow or not. Sometimes, they don’t give constantly varying work to the new employees and let you be comfortable with the work environment. After you gain some experience over 6 months, then they tend to give more work which will let you grow.
This is a very significant factor that decides how long you can stay at a job before you quit it. However, it is very significant that you ensure to evaluate your growth after at least 3 months. Your results might be wrong if you do so before 3 months. It also shows how important honest communication with your seniors is.
Toxic work culture
Various workplaces can be racist or discriminatory which can make your life a living hell. There can be instances of sexual harassment and abuse at your workplace. Even if you get to hear any recent case of any employee in present or past, then you should not delay quitting such a workplace.
Even if the incident isn’t this serious, there may be negligible incidents like favoritism, corporate politics. But if they are affecting you in any way then you should not ignore them. The more you delay quitting, the more you are likely to suffer. You should not put yourself through all these for the sake of having a good resume.
Mental issues
We all have adjustment issues, stress, and anxiety at the beginning of a new job. However, if it persists for over 2 to 3 months without any sign of recovery, then it is time for you to quit the job. It is not your fault. You should not blame yourself and push yourself to continue doing the job.
You can try taking leave for some days and see if you just needed a break. If you feel better after taking a break, then you can continue with the job. Other mental issues include toxic colleagues who gossip, backstab and snatch credits from your work. Your senior might be passive-aggressive or overly strict. But whatever it is, if there is anything that is not conducive to your mental wellbeing, choose health over money without any regrets.
Your motivation and interest in the job
You might have joined the job just to add to your income or to add it to your resume. If these are the causes of your low interest and motivation towards the job, then it is not the right reason to quit the job. But if your interest and motivation were high initially and then it kept on dropping constantly, then it is time to think about quitting the job.
You might feel stagnant in the job due to some work. It might also happen that you feel inferior due to overwhelming expectations of the job and then you just stop trying. The ambiguity of job profile and less job satisfaction are some of the reasons for low interest and motivation. You will grow, succeed and be the best at a particular job only when you do so wholeheartedly. So, even after many attempts to increase interest and motivation, if it is still low, then it is time to quit it and seek something you like.
Better opportunities
Sometimes, the competitor company gives a job offer and you are just stuck as to whether to be exploratory or loyal to the current company. You need to look at things practically rather than emotionally. If the job offer you received is better than your current job, you should accept it. Thinking about loyalty is foolishness because if you deserve better, you should just go and get it.
You should also keep looking for better opportunities with an open mind. Having a resume full of working with various organizations will frame a great picture of yours. Moreover, you will also get a lot of varied experience and important lessons which no educational institute will teach you. Thus, think practically and with an open mind and accept better opportunities.
Job satisfaction
Job satisfaction is a very significant topic of research in industrial psychology. But I won’t bore you with its definition and technicalities. You can assess your job satisfaction through various scales available online. But they are not very reliable. You can take the help of your therapist to help you take a reliable job satisfaction scale.
Many times, we may have mixed feelings about the work we do, on a surface level. But such objective measures help us get a very satisfactory and reliable answer. You may also feel like not working at all. You will feel professional burnout too. When you get yourself assessed for the job satisfaction scale, you will know exactly whether you should stay at your job or quit it.
Your long term goals
Being near-sightedness and narrow-mindedness may be good sometimes but not always. You may have accepted a job for the sake of urgent money or experience. But once these short-term goals are fulfilled, you should seek your long-term goals such as excellence in particular job skills, versatility, growth, development, and achievements.
You might have to sacrifice a short-term goal for the sake of a long-term goal. For example, you might have to adjust with less salary but get a good skill development. So, if your job does not fulfill your long-term goals, then it is a good idea to look for one which fulfills it.
Several job changes in past
This is a very important and practical thing to consider. If your resume pronounces your work experience as a job hopper, then you better have good reasons to give to the recruitment committee. Otherwise, it is better to stay at this job for at least a year.
If you keep changing one job to another for silly reasons which they won’t approve of, they will not give you jobs in the future. It shows that if several workplaces do not want to keep you on board, it means that you are at fault or have some shortcoming. They might also contact your past bosses to get feedback on your job performance. So, if you are someone who has changed jobs several times in the past for unprofessional or silly reasons, then it is better to stay at this one for a year before you quit.
Job type
There are some jobs which include quick changing of jobs while others are very skeptical about it. If the industry you work in, frowns upon being unstable in job experience, then it is better to stay at a job, no matter what. It is because if your reputation is spoiled in your industry, then you might face difficulty in getting a job again.
However, if the industry you work in appreciates the exploration, learning experience, and variety of work settings in your resume, then staying at a job for more than 6 months would be foolery. Hence, based on your job type, you can decide the number of months to stay at a job.
Career stage
If you have just begun your career and are unsure about what settings to work in, it is very much okay to keep changing jobs. It is considered a positive thing to be flexible, open-minded to newer learning experiences, and risk-taking. But when you are already aware of the available work settings and experienced them, changing from one job to another may be a sign of your indecisiveness, low self-esteem, self-doubt, and inferiority complex.
Professionals may also look at it as your lack of skills required for the job. Hence, if you are in the initial career stage, then you can quit your job immediately. But if you have enough experience then it is not advised. Decide on the basis of your career stage about the consequences of quitting your job.
Salary
If you are working a lot and receive no less salary then try to communicate it to your boss. Even after the interaction and waiting for 2 to 3 months, your salary is the same then you can leave the job. Money is a medium for better functioning and you should not be ashamed to ask for it. Monetary benefits boost your motivation and interest. There are high chances of increased productivity with an increase in monetary benefit.
If you delay losing a job with less pay, the frustration will build up and it will harm you in serious ways in the upcoming months. Hence, try to repair something before it turns irreparable. There are also chances that your salary is less in the initial months. But you need to wait for it to increase. Simply leaving the job in the first two months is a big no. They may promise to increase the salary after 6 months or so and don’t increase it.
There might also be clashes between you and your spouse about your less salary and adjustment issues, broken dreams, and low standard of life followed by it as an outcome. Thus, if you deserve more salary and don’t get it after several efforts, improvements, and all the wait and hopes, it is better to quit the job right away.
Your job purpose
It is possible that you have various jobs and this one is just for the sake of experience. Some jobs are permanent and some are temporary. If the one that you have joined is a side job and temporary, then there is no point in waiting to quit it. However, if you wish for a stable income in life, have a house to run, so you should not be quitting your job.
However, if your job purpose is just to have the company’s name on your resume or just to experience a different working environment, then it depends on when your purpose is served. Once your job purpose is served, you can always quit it.
Work-life balance
Your boss calls you for work at non-working hours? Have you been working on holidays? If you have been labeled as a workaholic, now is the right time to do something about it. You might justify your overworking by the number of achievements that you have received by doing so. But if you are not doing self-care, spending some time with your family and friends, then it is going to come back in uglier ways to you.
When your body and mind reach their threshold, then you will see how you get several physical ailments or even mental issues. You won’t be able to bring those moments back. Your kids would have grown up and your friends would have drifted apart. Your spouse must be habituated to your absence.
Hence, work-life balance is very significant, and yet we usually just brush it off very casually. If your job does not let you maintain the work-life balance, then it is better to quit rather than regret it later.
Conclusion
Thus, these are various factors that you can consider while deciding how long to stay at a job before quitting. But it is always important to communicate with the seniors about the problems that you are facing at your current job which made you quit it. Quitting the job should be the last resort to the problem.
Since it is a serious and significant decision that can affect your chances of future employment, it needs to be well-thought and comprehensive. You can take the advice of your friends or parents or any other well-wishers about it. Seeking professional advice from a life coach or industrial psychologist is also a great idea.
