To quit my job

[Fedupofmyjob]

I am so fed up of my job. Client facing role in a big 4. Sick of politics, but also constant deadlines, having to keep up utilisation, client facing, etc.

I not sure how much longer I will be able to remain on this job. Feel like dropping everything tomorrow. It is taking all my will power to stay here.

How do I cope until I find a new job?

not quite old enough to draw down form pension then.

Worth exploring the EAPs etc - they're usually all confidential.
Our one offers six counselling sessions, and a load of wellbeing / stress management videos.

If you're going to take a week off, email yourself the details and explore.

I feel the same (also an accountant).

I manage just about, but I’ve had enough of the constant stress. I used to thrive on it.

I’ve definitely found it harder as I’ve got older, and I’m thinking about ways to simplify my life too!

Good luck 💐

So not the exact same thing - but my tax account told me they are desperate for people at his place.

Maybe you could switch to doing that.

My company has thousands of employees who all make over 100k or whatever it is now, who use self employed accounts to do their year end.

I use the guys attsched to my ifas.

You could set up as self employed once you get some word of mouth referrals you're set.

Self certify for 5 days and during that time get to the drs to get signed off longer..

I will call the GP and get myself sign off? But what will happen after that? I honestly had enough and don’t want to go back.

Part of the problem is that I feel I am slowly being managed out and this has ultimately taken a toll on my mental health. I no longer want to return or do anything. My motivation, mental health and concentration levels are on the floor.

Will it be wise to mention this on an email to my Manager?

How will the sickness impact me for future references? What happen after the 2, 4 weeks. Just want to hand everything and never see them again.

Thank you all.

I have taken the day off sick. I need to check what support is out there and what my sick pay is like and call the dr for an unfit to work note.

But I need to get myself together first as feeling very low and demotivated. Feel terrible about letting people who trusted me down but ultimately I am not myself. I slept 2 hours last night.

I connected this morning for an hour to send the email and hand over/re assign dome tasks.

I am concerned how this will impact future references, etc. I lost all confidence and can’t even think of job hunting at the moment. Was really trying to hold it together.

OP please go to the Dr and get yourself on HRT. The anxiety and low mood symptoms along side not sleeping and stress really impacted me. HRT is a game changer.

Thank you. I will but I am not entirely sure it is the menopause only but things going on at work. Even the youngest people seem down and fed up at the moment.

I also work in this sector and the pressure to be 100% utilised and make fee recovery close to 100% wip is madness.

Back in the 'old' days, utilisation was expected to be c 75%. They understood we needed coffee breaks, brain breaks etc.

Don’t self certify - call your doctor and explain you are really struggling, tearful, unable to sleep well, constantly on edge, etc. explain that work is overwhelming and you just can’t do it anymore and need some time. I would expect your doctor to certify you for two weeks with work induced stress.

you drop everything and ignore work.

then, when you’ve have space, you decide if you want to continue or need to leave. You may need a further sick note if you need longer. You’ll be referred to OH, like I was.

DonI t use vacation for this - you are ill.

Then, if you really have hit the end, contact HR and tell them it’s work related stress, you’re not able to return, and you want to negotiate an early exit. They should pay out your holiday accrued and let you go early.

And you need at least 2 weeks off sick. It takes the first week just to calm down a bit.

This.

OP, you’re ill, you aren’t letting people down, you’re looking after yourself and you will never look back and regret giving yourself some space and time.

i also echo other posters about HRT - whatever resilience you had pre-menopause, it’s worn extremely thin but the lack of oestrogen and progesterone. It can take around 3 months of use for some people to feel the benefit - for me if was literally just a few days and I started to feel more like myself again.

The GP can sign you off as ‘not fit’ with work related stress or even menopause symptoms - I did this a few years back for 3 months and I don’t regret it for one moment. I actually stayed with my job and with HRT and making a bunch of changes day to day I’ve found it more bearable.

Please take comfort this week and allow your body to wind down and take all the time you need.

Thank you.

I will call the dr on Monday. I reached the point of not return. We do have income protection insurance, perhaps I can use that. I need some time off; not feeling myself and dreading job hunting.

This job has killed my confidence, mortivation, impacted my mental health.

Everything started a few months ago when I noticed the partner attitude towards me changed when we moved teams and I started to feel my profile doesn’t fit the new team culture anymore due to my age. It got worse when she gave me a performance review of 1. I have been trying to hold it together and keep strong, not to let my colleagues down but sadly can’t cope anymore.

I do need to connect on Monday to hand over some further tasks.

Well done for deciding to see your GP and get some time off to try to deal with your stress/burnout.

If you are being treated poorly at work because of your age, which is obviously illegal in the workplace, I would also speak to ACAS or Citizen Advice Bureau because if you are forced to resign because of their behaviour you can claim constructive dismissal. Document everything and consider making a formal complaint with HR. They might end agreeing to a settlement...

I am angry on your behalf.

Are there any objectives measures of your performance that could evidence that grading was unfair? E.g. if you billed more business or got better client feedback or whatever measures can be used than someone who scored higher then I think you could make an accusation of work place bullying or age discrimination. Would your manager be able to defend their score - with evidence- relative to your colleagues?

Is the scoring inconsistent with your previous appraisals in the organisation?

Surely scoring like that shouldn't be a bolt from the blue but should have been preceeded with support/training/communication about performance.

I'm sorry you are having such a rough time. Have you asked your partner if they are happy to support you for a while or would you have your own savings to use for a while? What advice is your partner giving you?

I have only spoke to my PL but is the partner who makes the decisions.

I doubt it the partner wants to support me; it is clear they want me out. I got some good feedback but that all got ignored. My PL said it was due to utilisation which was 50%. I finished a big project last year and have been reaching out for new clients work which have been coming slowly,

I have lost the will to fight, don’t have the strength at the moment. I am literally crumbling.

I will get the dr to sign me off sick and contact HR to see what mental and financial support is there. See if I can recover in that time, be transferred or quit.

Thank you. Not sure I want to fight the culture, They are probably used to let many people go this way.

I think my immediate Partner is basically following instructions from other Partners in the team.

....easier said than done but try not to take the current job too seriously. Just get by and do the minimum for now whilst you're looking for a new job.

I’ve always thought when reading that posters on here work for ‘The big 4’ on here it meant Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda or Morrisons, I just googled it and I stand corrected

Was trying to do that for first few months; but no longer copying; it is a client facing role where you need to give your all, be focused or things start going wrong and it shows; ultimately impacting company reputation.

Hi @Fedupofmyjob I just want to share my experience with you as it's similar.

This time last year I was management level in a financial reporting team of a fund admin. So I was the other side of you being audited but had the constant deadlines, overworked and stressed. Auditors on one side, clients on the other and us in the middle.

It was destroying my personal life because it turned me into a nervous wreck. I took a month off sick and started looking for another job. While I was working I didn't have the mental capacity, time or confidence to put together my CV to look elsewhere.

I wanted to take a step down out of management and applied for non managerial roles. Within 6 weeks, I had another managerial role in a new company. They didn't want to give me the junior role I applied for and offered me the manager role. I took a gamble and it was the best thing I ever did.

Now nearly a year in, its much less stress, no overtime, im respected, mental health improving and I have more willpower to try to sort out my weight.

So my advice is to take some time off work sick and focus on finding something else and getting back to your best you.

I would advise you to gather evidence regardless. It can be very useful as leverage to increase your mutually agreed departure payout.

Don’t worry about your references most places don’t offer much more than a name, rank and number type of reference as offering an opinion puts you at risk. Your reference is likely to be “Fedup was employed as an Accountant by us between date and date.”

Truthfully, if they are managing you out then they aren’t going to want to fetter your ability to move to another firm.

Take some time to get your head straight and be utterly selfish / self interested. You are tying yourself in knots about being loyal and fair to a faceless company that definitely won’t return that loyalty. Look after yourself and your own interests. Ditch the guilt, these firms don’t feel as shred of guilt for working people to burnout then pushing them out.

Grab every bit of support they offer and then if leaving is still the right option, do it without a backwards glance.

I’ve worked in the City for years and I have no illusions about the big 4, magic circle law firms or big financial institutions; you are just a number on a spreadsheet to senior management.

How on earth can your manager give you a rating of 1?! I would be absolutely fuming, wanting to grab them by the neck and hurl them straight through the glass walls of the client suite.

Of course, the above is not helpful.. Did they give any indication they weren't happy with your performance before then? Have they given you any positive feedback at all? This could be constructive dismissal. But more of that another time.

You have work related stress. Your doctor will see this immediately. Don't put on a front when you see them, don't make excuses. Just tell them what is going on, what has happened and how you are feeling. Stress is sickness. If you choose to go back after being signed off you'll be meeting occupational health and have recommendations put in place (reduced hours, working your contracted hours with actual lunch - what?! - or some other alternatives). They will be shared with your manager and they will have a responsibility that this happens. OH will then check in with you after a few weeks to see how you are going and recommend any additional adjustments. You can (and will) come back from this and you will know what you are and aren't willing to accept in future. Smaller firms are crying out for good audit and tax people so when you are much better, speak to a few recruitment consultants and check out vacancies on local/regional firm websites. You can check out Glassdoor or Indeed for honest reviews from former employees. Right now, just focus on you and getting better. A very big hug to you.

Thank you. I never felt treated so badly in any job. This is a company that always talk about mental health, inclusivity, flexibility.

It is clear they want me out due to age. This has seriously impacted my confidence. I got about 12 pieces of feedback, that all got ignored.

Whats a big 4?