What’s your experience of handing in your notice without a job to go to?

[MsStillwell]

And should I do the same?

I don’t think anyone can answer that question for you. Is it detrimental to your health to stay in the job? Can you afford not to be working ?

I have done it very recently. It's terrifying, and I would only recommend it if you really need to do it - especially in the current climate. You also need to have some savings behind you, as I don't think you'll be entitled to benefits if you have made yourself intentionally unemployed.

I did it once before nearly 20 years ago, and it worked out fine. Hopefully it will this time too. I have an interview for another job next week, so fingers crossed.

Never done it and the thought of it makes my blood run cold - especially in the current climate. However, fully admit I am risk averse (and lucky enough to have never had a job that caused mee serious mental health issues).

What’s your experience of handing in your notice without a job to go to?
Terrifying and a relief at the same time. Terrifying because I didn't know what would happen, and a relief because it was really damaging my mental health. Fortunately I found a new job pretty quickly.

And should I do the same?
Maybe. Depends how bad your current job is, how urgently you will need to find a new one, and how realistic it is that you can find a job you will enjoy more than your current one before you run out of money.

Mixed. Did it once voluntarily and walked into an amazing job within 5 months. Ended up in a similar situation (Compromised out in very tricky circumstances) with better experience, amazing references and a network that was pulling for me and it took 18 very tough and soul destroying months to find something that was a step down.

We are in a very challenging economic period so I really wouldn’t do it now if you can avoid it. But that doesn’t take account if why you want out. Mental health can be a very big factor.

It really depends on your circumstances.

Can you afford to be out of work for a while?
Do you have a partner who is willing to be the main earner?
What do you see yourself doing next?

I did it in January and ended up setting up my own business which is very successful. But I had savings to live off, and DH earns well and was happy to pay the lions share of the bills while I set things up. I now work 20 hours a week (ish, it varies) and make the same amount as I did when I worked full-time.

However a lot of that is luck and good timing and I wouldn't recommend you take such a big risk unless you had support or savings to fall back on.

I think it also depends on your skill set and how employable you are. There will be a lot of people looking for work right now.

Did it 10 years ago. Signed up with temp agency and got a job within a week. Stayed at new job 8+ years, given rolling contract first then being made permanent after 2 years.

I've done it a few times. It depends what your interview to job offer ratio is? I wouldn't do it right now as unemployment is going to be huge at the end of October and UC is a nightmare as you can't go in to speak to anyone. I think there's so many weeks you need to have without income support if you leave your job voluntarily too.

I've just offered myself for voluntary redundancy so similar I suppose but with a bit less financial stress as I've been there years so should get a decent amount to tide me over.

It's scary but I'm also sort of excited for a fresh start after the aforementioned many years in the same place.

What's the reason you're thinking of leaving OP?

I did but I’m highly employable due to career choice and experience. I was working for myself shortly after despite my plans to chill for a bit.
I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t have savings and a reasonable expectation of a new job being quickly available. Particularly in the current climate.

I've done it a couple of times and managed to get another job quite soon after. Not sure I would be so confident to do it now though.

I did it once. Scary and relieved at the time, but glad I did it - looking back. I think of it as a big achievement of mine now, walking out on that job. Not easy when you are in it though. Takes courage.

I've done it a few times and have been very lucky to find another job within weeks.

However I'm in a similar position now where I'm desperate to leave my current job as I just cannot stand it or the bitches in my team but due to the current climate I'm terrified I'll be jobless for ages so am staying put until I have something else lined up. Unfortunately it's slim pickings at the mo :(

Surely the only answer is 'it depends'.

I did it a few years ago. Bought a house a few hundred miles away and the day I completed, I left my job without anything to go to. But I had enough savings to support me for at least a year and skills and experience that would make job hunting a bit easier. I waited six months before I started to job search and it took around 3 months to find the right job.

I was burned out so the break between jobs was mandatory, imo.

I came within a hair's breadth of jumping before I was pushed from a horrible stressful job a few years ago, but fortunately was offered another job just in time. In the hope of feeling in control of the situation I had calculated how long we would last on DH's salary and credit cards and it was a surprisingly long time (though we'd have been paying the debts back forever) but it was a really, really stressful time in our lives. If you're at this point and rely on your income to pay the bills then I would strongly recommend looking very hard for another job starting now and casting the net as wide as you possibly can, and see if you can find anything else before handing in your notice.

I ended up with a complete career change and only a small drop in salary, and the company I left is now laying people off, so it was definitely the right thing to do in retrospect. But it could easily have gone horribly wrong, and that was pre-COVID.

Husband has done it a few times. When he was trying to find a job over 20 years ago and if it wasn’t right for him he walked rather than waste his and their time.

In February he was miserable so he left his job and reckoned would take about 6 weeks to find something...it was soul destroying as there was nothing suitable and the covid arrived. He took temp roles and only now has a permanent role. Right now jobs are having thousands of applicants!

I did it in February. I'm currently focusing solely on my PhD and my life is so much better. It's a huge risk but I don't regret it at all.

Massive relief as I hated that job. I did already have two interviews lined up though before I handed in my notice and I got the first one. I will admit I wouldn't do it at the moment though.

I can't imagine doing it, not least because I am the sole employed adult in our house at present.

If I could manage financially and thought I had a decent enough chance of getting a new one and my current job was awful, maybe, but it would genuinely terrify me.

I did and it was the best thing I ever did, I hated the job and the people I worked with, was stressed out to high heaven and miserable. I found another job within 4 weeks

Idid it once; I was being bullied by coworkers, and was fortunate that I had enough savings to give me 3 months of income. (I didn't use those, as I was very, very lucky and got a stop gap job a week later).

My friend quit her job eight months ago and she has only just found another job, which starts in a few weeks. Her mental health has been worse during unemployment than it was in her last role.

My partner did it a couple of years ago. He started a new job which was awful. Nobody trained him but he got reprimanded for not knowing the processes, there was no new starter induction and he wasn’t introduced to anyone. He was expected to pick it up as he went along, and figure it out himself. The staff were openly rude about their colleagues and rolled their eyes when mistakes were made.

He became very stressed, thinking he was just not up to scratch and failing. He became distant and couldn’t sleep worrying about the next day, Sundays were always spent dreading about starting a new week. Eventually after he got a loud telling off from a manager over something minor he walked out at lunchtime. He went straight to his GP who took one look at him and signed him off as he was so visibly stressed.

It was like a weight lifted. He handed in his notice and started looking for something else immediately. It was like he returned to himself overnight. In the end he was out of work for about 2 months, but we had a savings buffer and he lived very cheaply (no commuting costs, simple lunches at home, skipping expensive nights out) so financially it was fine for us.

I think it’s always best to have a job to go to, but if your current role is affecting your health and you can afford to be out of work for a short while then it’s OK. Although I’m not sure how long we could’ve sustained it if he had been out for longer.

I've done it once - or at least I tried to. I handed in my resignation and my employers came back with the offer of a calendar year's unpaid leave, with the option of resigning after that if I did not want to return.

I took the offer and went back after the year and worked a further 5 years there until I was made redundant.

I needed the break, had saved to make sure I could manage with no income for a few months until I got another job, so knew I would be okay. Work were right that I hadn't finally had enough of them. Just enough of them at that time!

But whether you should do it? Noone can say.

How employable are you? How competetive are the jobs you will be going for - especially now with many redundancies upcoming? How long can you manage without an income? What will be the consequences if you don't get another job after that time? Or a job that pays enough? Are there other people this could impact that you need to discuss this with?