Have you ever just left a job...

[TourneeDuChatNoir]

... without having another job to go to? I need a bit of a reality check because I'm very unhappy in my current job but I've been applying for other things over the last six months and have got nowhere. I don't think I was being over-ambitious with what I was going for. I'm in the Civil Service and I've only been looking at level transfers (and even a couple of demotions where it's looked like an interesting role), no promotions.

I have been involved in recruitment this year and I've seen one role attract nearly 300 applicants, so I know how fierce the competition is and how difficult it is to make your application stand out - but it's still dispiriting to not even get an interview for a job that's a grade below the one I'm already doing.

I'm starting to feel desperate and liable to do something silly like jack it in and use my notice period to intensively apply for whatever I can. I have about enough money to keep me going for three months out of work, but I'd obviously prefer not to have a career gap that I have to explain away (and then what if I still have no job in three months?). I realise I should feel fortunate to have a job at all but I struggle to do that when it's making me so miserable all the time.

I did once; I was doing part time and the work load had pretty much became full time as the company grew; I was exhausted with little kids. I also needed to finish some exams to complete my qualification. It was a good decision and I passed my exams and eventually found another job which gave me the flexibility I needed with kids.

I would be very cautious to do this with current economic situation, the job market doesn’t seem very strong at the moment; Maybe use some coping techniques, treat it as just a job, find other things you enjoy outside work, do some meditation, music, etc.

If nothing helps and you are really miserable, perhaps do consider quitting; but 3 months is not much, maybe try to save a bit more.

Best of luck

i did. I was on my knees with stress and in a toxic workplace. I took a leave of absence for 3 months to deal with a very ill DS1 then just quit when they started pressuring me to come back after a few weeks.

I took time off then joined a temp agency. I am still with them but have been offered to go full time in every single temp job I was given. I have so far said no (I am working about 6 months a year and that's fine for now) but know i have options when DS1 can cope without so much support and parental input.

Has anyone looked at your applications for you? Also are there any EOIs you could go for, these often have simpler application processes?

What is an EOI please? And no, I haven't asked anyone to look at my applications, but that might be a good call. I don't think I'm very good at coming up with those behaviour-based examples that the Civil Service like. Well, obviously I'm not, otherwise I would be getting interviews.

I should maybe have added that I live alone, no dependants, so I only have to support myself. But then again, being a single-income household, I have nobody else to help with bills and mortgage so I do need to work full-time and have some form of surety about future income. I've temped before and was not lucky with converting any roles to permanent ones.

Yes. I was treated so appallingly that I simply walked and never went back.

I’m not sure that I would do that if you’re not having any luck. Get someone to check over the application form.

If it is so stressful, could you go off with stress and this would give you time to apply for other jobs but with some security?

Similar situation but so far I think the toll it would take on my wellbeing to be stressed about running out of money would be even worse. I have been applying for roles longer than you and nothing (different industry though), so I’m glad I didn't just go for it. But I think there’s obviously a line - depends how bad it is and your mental health is the most important thing always. Take care of yourself.

I did once. Toxic boss with a 3 month notice period. I got an offer in the notice period for a much better job. This was back in 2006, so lots of jobs available. I don’t know about the current job market.

what would happen if you didn’t have another job after the 3 months? Could you cut back to bare bones now to extend it to cover you for 6 months? Start saving furiously now. Are there any courses or certifications you could do to give you a better chance of a job? Maybe set yourself a series of goals. 1. save a 6 month emergency fund. 2. Gain a new certification. 3. Job hunt hard.
once you have your 6 months ef and your new certification, put your notice in. Use your notice period to apply for anything and everything. It does sound a bit stressful though. Good luck!

Yes, I did. The girls I worked with were a nasty pair of bitches, the senior staff unsupportive and I just been through a terrible break up and couldn't take it any more and basically told them to take their attitudes and stick them somewhere uncomfortable much more politely but without any doubt that that was what I was really saying!

This was on a Wednesday and on the Saturday I bought the contents of a shop that was shutting down, started my own lease on the same premises and had a good little business for a few years!

but I was very young at the time, had moved home to my parents after the break up because the people we were renting from (despite being friends of my parents and having known me as a child) didn't want to rent it to me as a single person (in case I totally went out of character and started being a complete party animal in their new rental property 🙄🙄). So I didn't really have any responsibilities or worries about paying the bills or a mortgage.

In your position only having three months expenses behind you in this employment market, no way would I do the same thing!! But I've never really been in a position where I couldn't walk into a temp agency and be working the following day/week, so if I had a little bit more money behind me and no dependents then yes, I would.

I did. I was working very long hours and busy and awful, and I didn’t have the energy to also job hunt. I also knew my best bet was word of mouth, which turned out to be the case, and luckily I had my new job lined up before my last day. The fact I had barely any notice left to work went very much in my favour. I think new boss also respected the fact that I had made the decision to just resign. (I’d been in my old job for 15 years so not like I was flighty).

BUT sometimes I can’t believe I took that risk - we didn’t have lots of savings and we had huge childcare costs, and DH had just started a new job (and I was the higher earner). But I was leaving right before old-work busy time, so I knew that if I asked to stay on an extra 3 months they’d have been happy to agree.

Yes, it's definitely a balancing act. I've been in this role for three years now - before, I was on the pay grade below and quite happily getting on with the job, and I felt like I was good at it. Then this came up, and I was encouraged to apply, despite having misgivings that it was going to be too much for me, and I ended up getting it. It was a mistake to apply and I should have stayed where I was comfortable, but hindsight is a wonderful thing. Now my situation is a weird mixture of being underutilised (I'm constantly being passed over for interesting work and projects because there are other people who are more experienced and are therefore safer bets than me) and then being given things to do that aren't properly explained and just left to get on with it with no support. I try to do a good job but my manager is useless and never gives me any feedback. I feel completely superfluous to requirements most of the time.

before, I was on the pay grade below and quite happily getting on with the job, and I felt like I was good at it. Then this came up, and I was encouraged to apply, despite having misgivings that it was going to be too much for me, and I ended up getting it. It was a mistake to apply and I should have stayed where I was comfortable, but hindsight is a wonderful thing

Sympathies. I’m in this position too, except I am overutilised. I’m trying to do the work of two people in one full time role and it’s insane. I have flagged to my manager that I am on the verge of going off with stress but the reality is that it was a mistake to take this job.

I’ve not done a single day of training for it because there’s not been time, I’ve just had to learn on the job and work things out myself. We’re going through significant changes at work as well as having to make cuts to staffing and it’s just shit because of course the workload hasn’t decreased, it’s just got worse. I have absolutely had enough but I’m so tired and burnt out that I don’t have the energy to do job applications at the moment.

I don’t mind what I do so I don’t think I’d be out of work for long but equally I have low outgoings so there’s less risk. I have quit with nothing to go to before, and it worked out fine, but I was 15 years younger then and it was a buoyant job market.

I have left a job with nothing to go to (and also nowhere to live because the accommodation came with the job) because I thought staying was terrible for my mental health, and there were things in the workplace that I didn’t want to be associated with professionally.

I was reasonably sure I could find another job quickly, but I was willing to relocate to pretty much any area, so I had a big ‘pool’ of potential jobs.

In your situation, would it be feasible to drop some hours and go part time to allow you to job hunt (makes the workplace more bearable, no CV gap, spreads your savings longer?) It might also be worth seeing if you can widen the net a bit (in terms of applying to different sectors outside the civil service, or a wider geographical area for instance) and would definitely recommend getting someone to look over your CV / some actual careers coaching to help you secure more interviews.

I have twice. First time it worked out fine, got a better job where I stayed and was steadily promoted for years. Second time, I was there about 7 weeks, hated every day of it. It was much higher money and bonuses, people got trapped by that and their behaviour was feral. It took me a year to find a job, which was unbelievable as I’d always had lots of approaches during my career. We almost had to lose the house as we need both salaries.
If you are struggling to get an offer whilst in work, sit tight.

Yes me today. Begging old employer for the temp job back I thought I just coped with but will also start my own search to as they are probably killing themselves with laughter and I can’t blame them.

Arrived 8:30 bored again so asked if I could sit with someone but got barked at not until 9am. It was the final straw.

loads of issues from it being one of those employers demanding everyone back to office, mega massive building with a car park of 8 spaces to the point you get blocked in, who wants that after a busy day.
People of long standing / number of years in situ appearing incompetent - do they get the string of new people to do all the work? Was the only conclusion I could draw.
Arrived to find it is quiet workplace on the phones …because… they have a team answering calls who work from home. The irony.
12 months till you can even make a flexible working request.
Asked on the first day to fill in a replica of forms by hand I submitted electronically already on a portal 3 weeks ago.
They had a month to prepare for my starting, was promised a lively environment but isolation reigned whether I work from home or non remote.

Why do employers do it to themselves.

I'm about to. I've got a few hours work in between. I have been looking for 6months but now I'm just exhausted with it all.

Its stupid. We can't afford it but I can't do it.

Think EOI may be expression of interest. We have an newsletter that has links to external opportunities and EOI.

I haven't just left a job but seriously considering it. I am so tempted just to hand in notice and look for temp job if necessary. My younger self would have done this without a second thought.

Looking for and applying for jobs is time consuming. After a rubbish week the last thing I want to do is spend time thinking of behaviour examples at the weekend. One of the reasons I am seriously thinking outside CS.

Almost, I left s miserable permanent job for a temp role around 18 months ago after unsuccessfully trying to get a new perm role for around 6 months. Was it worth it? In a normal market I'd say yes but we are not on a normal market and I struggled to get my next role after it ended. I'm on my.third interim role now ( with 6 months of unemployment in-between) and hoping it goes perm, otherwise it'll probably be another interim role/ possibly months of unemployment.

You're swapping the witch for the bitch, beware!

It might be easier to find something outside the CS - but for various reasons I don't have any references from before I joined, 8 years ago, and it's always difficult to explain that away without coming across as dodgy. Also, I don't want to lose my CS pension, as I transferred a couple of old schemes over to it. But I agree, those behaviours statements are bloody awful. I'm sure most people just invent scenarios where they don't have a real example that fits, so they're more of an exercise in creative writing than a demonstration of how well you might do the job. I don't know why the CS is still using them.

I am one here and still unemployed.

I have mentioned my story to various threads.

Worked for almost 17 years at a supermarket. I was doing OK until the latest store manager came in May. He took the mick of my dyslexia. Planted some two cases of produce which was a couple of days out of date on the shop floor. He came up to me asking who did the code checking on produce the previous day. I said it was me. He showed me the two cases of produce. My fellow code checkers remember that section was empty for 2 days. He marked my file with this. Cost of the produce was £53. Yet myself and others have found cases of out of date food with a higher value, both on shop floor and in the chillers. Did anyone got their files marked? No. I was victimised. My dyslexia wasn't much an issue at work until he came along.

They were definitely planted as two cases on the shelf would be too high for customers to reach - we only put a case (plus a few packs on top if needed). For the next three months (time from incident to me leaving) he kept going on and on about these two cases.

He is a nasty bully and at his previous store manager roles, he made staff upset and leave. All decent workers too, including two lovely managers who both worked at the store I worked at.

I raised a grievance which achieved FA. Was the 8th colleague to leave under him in the 5 months he was a manager at the store due to his vile behaviour. Out of the 8, 1 retired when she said she could work for another year and 2 had a job to go to about a month of leaving. Needed the time off between leaving and starting to recharge themselves.

Couldn't face going into work as crying as couldn't stand the sight or voice of him. My colleagues could see I was a shadow of my former self. I felt suicidal too.

I don't have a mortgage - that was paid off for my 40th birthday by parents as it was lockdown, couldn't do much. Good job they did that! My parents pay the bills and with JSA, I buy food and other things.

It became unbearable and got sick of crying before and after work. I had a holiday in October and thought, hand in my notice that will cover the time booked off. Wanted to enjoy my holiday without the thought of returning to see him again.

Two weeks ago, the store manager got demoted, yet his name still appears on the store's info page on the website. It happened suddenly and colleagues don't know the whole picture, probably never will, which is a shame. Colleagues want me back but I am not sure. If the store wants me back, they need to contact me.

My dyslexia has affected me getting a job as 99% of interviews are STAR questions. I have ideas for many questions but if they are rephrased differently, I panic. Plus many companies scan CVs using AI software which does not understand transferrable skills. As get rejected at application stage when I have done bits of everything at previous jobs. I am seeing someone at Job Centre the week after next who specialises in job seekers with disabilities.

I've done this twice and while it's worked out Ok in the past I would not do it in the current climate. The jobs market is brutal. Worse than 2008. I've been intensively looking since October, and haven't got anything at all yet. I'm self-employed so still have work on, but in the past whenever I've wanted to go back in-house I've usually managed to find something appropriate within 2 months.

Instead I'd "quiet quit" and spend as much time as you can on applying for other stuff.

I pulled out a job I was to start later in the month in 2007 as I dumped my ex. Finished the previous job the week before. I couldn't afford to live in the place alone in those days. Moved back to my parents 110 miles away.