Should I resign or wait until I have a new job?

Similar questions are asked on a weekly basis – should I stay or should I go? Only you can answer that question, but to help make your decision, I’ve put some questions and tips below to reflect upon.

It’s important to think about your values – both personal and career; if flexibility is important to you and you’re not currently getting that, work will be draining for you. What motivates you? What excites you each day? What gets you out of bed in the morning? Think about your answers and reflect on these things – it sounds like the answers to these questions will be missing in your current role and the only way to get these back in your life is to move to a different role.

From what you describe, it sounds like the ‘difficult’ relationship you have with your manager is unlikely to change, and good that you’ve come to the conclusion you want to move on – it’s just the question of ‘when’.

That’s great that you’ve done some research into the number of vacancies in your sector – there will be aspects of the role that you can compare like for like (e.g. hours, salary, job content etc), but what’s hard to glean from a job description is the culture of the organisation and leadership/management styles. What will help is attending various interviews as you’ll start to pick this up and, of course, learn more about your manager and the way they work and whether that’s in alignment with you and your values.

The last two years have been very abnormal when it’s come to job hunting – roles are out there, but what’s become clear is that people are looking to work for companies who can provide flexible working and work in an agile way. It’s an employees’ marketplace.

If you’ve worked in your current role for 11 years, think about updating your CV – make sure it’s achievement-led, focussing on what you’ve achieved over the last 11 years; this will show a sense of progression and that you’ve appreciated as an asset. A strong CV will get you an interview so it’s worth spending time on this.

You essentially have two options – to stay (and resign later) or to resign now. I’d recommend you write a list of the pros and cons of each option and weigh them up. How many months can you survive on without working? It could be quick and take one month, but equally it could take up to a year to find a role.

Mental health is a huge subject, that’s even more important in times like today. I believe that if your job is really getting you down and if you have some savings, work out how many months you can survive on and if you can afford to resign now, you can 100% focus on your job search which will increase your motivation as you plan for the future and ‘what next?’ Life is too short to feel miserable and stressed.

If, however, you’re not enjoying your role and you lack motivation, but it’s not getting you down too much, you might prefer to job search in your current role (if you can bear it – and continue to save) and then resign when you land a role.

Don’t forget that it is a full-time role finding a job.

*Liz Sebag-Montefiore is a career coach and Director of 10Eighty, a strengths-based HR consultancy. For more information, please visit www.10Eighty.co.uk.

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