When Should You Quit Your Job?

Moe Taxes asks: "I want to hear from Slashdot readers who have quit jobs or turned down offered jobs because it was not what they wanted to do. Why did you do it? Was it ethics, ambition, pride, or disgust? And how did it turn out? Did you get to do what you wanted to do, are you still looking, or did you come back begging for another chance? I have always written software for windows, but never with Microsoft tools. I don't feel like I have enough control over the product when I use Microsoft programming environments. My company was bought recently, and is in the process of becoming a C# VisualStudio shop. I said thanks, but no thanks and left. Am I a fool for giving up steady work and good pay?"

When your paycheck fails to clear.

[Nonesuch]

If your employer misses payroll, it's time to take a hike.

True even if (especially if) you are self-employed.

Well, it depends

[Sycraft-fu]

I'd say your reason for quitting is a bad one, unless you have another job lined up. If your only complaint is that the Microsoft tools don't give you enough control, well that's a pretyt minor one. I mean it's work, not play, who cares if you don't get your ideal dev environment? You also ought to know that you can ignore their IDEs and just use their compilers, in which case there's really no way that they limit you.

Now it's different if you've got another job you could walk in to that you'd like more. Even if it pays less, if you enjoy the work more that's often worth it. Never let money get in the way of quality of life. Happiness isn't how much you have in the bank. I'd take a $40,000/yr job that I lvoe any day over a $80,000/yr one I hate.

However it sounds to me like a minor complaint, and also your tone would infer you have nothing lined up. In that case, quitting is a bad idea. You can be looking for other jobs, but just running away with nothing plannedbecause you don't like the VS IDEs is silly.

Also, this sounds like a chance to push your boundries and grow. A whole lot of people use VisualStudio, including some very well respected programmers. So, maybe there is something to it. Look at this as an oppurtunity to learn a new method of development. See how the whole RAD model works and see what oyu think. Maybe you discover it blows and you don't want to do it, maybe you discover it's a valuable new tool in additon to how you already know how to code. Who knows?

Now if you've already quit, well then I dunno what to tell you excpet find another job as soon as you can and hope you like it. I wouldn't go begging back to them, they aren't all that likely to hire you.

In the future don't leave your job unless you have a very good reason. These could be (but are not limited to):

1) A significantly better monetary offer.
2) A job that you feel you will enjoy more.
3) A severe ethicial conflict.
4) A work environment that streeses you to the point you'd rather work minimum wage if it came to that.
5) You win the lottery.

However do not quit for silly reasons like "My boss makes us go to too many staff meetings" or "I don't like the dev tools we use" and so on. IF you find the work at least tolerable and you've got nothing better lined up, keep the job.

Re:This is really extrang

[udowish]

Education is very important, you can't unload trucks when your 55 for a living anymore. That being said, turning down a promotion can be a serious CLM. You need to decide two things,

1. Are you going to stay in the IT industry for your entire working life? (don't downplay this thought, and don't make swift decisions, on average people change careers three times threwout their professional working life).

2. What will be more important in the future? not now or even a year from now, think 5 years out. Will you be better off with an education? or just with a better job?

I can't answer any of these issue for you, BUT I have a B.Sc (in Canada we have diferent scripts, I think in the US you would call it a BS..haha that cracks me up...sorry...) and I think it was the best thing I have done. I majored in EP (Engineering physics) so I can go anywhere and do just about anything if this IT gig of mine gets old. You don't have an option like that (please do not take offense to that). Your 27 and have limited experience...I think personally, the best bet for you is ...school. That is coming from a guy who is only 32 but spent 10 years flying jets in the Airforce, has managed a small business, used to fix cars for a living and now manage an IT team that supports a large user base and goegraphical area. I dont' mean to sound harsh but your "only coding" skills just wouldn't cut it anywhere else but where you are...

food for thought.

Re:This is really extrang

[Anonymous Coward]

Once you get into the upper ranks of any organization, you'll find that the elbows get sharp. On thing they will pick on is your lack of a degree. I don't have one, and degree snobs irritate me. I consider it a bad deal when a company gets picky about my lack of a degree during an interview. If they are capable of that sort of orthodoxy, they will apply it elsewhere. I'd rather be practical, and I think my 20 years of frontline development experience speaks for itself. If they can't see that, then they can't hire people like Steve Jobs, and Bill Gates, who also didn't get their degrees.

You should note that staff and middle management come and go, but the executives and the troops who produce the value are the ones who stay. The high paying job might be the one at the top of the list when the expense cutting starts to happen. If they are spending money like drunken sailors on salaries for 27-year-olds, then they will run out of money sooner rather than later. Then where will you be? The lower paying job that requires you to move carries risk too, but the employer may take your willingness to make such sacrifices as loyalty, and reward you for it. Who knows?

I'd go with the job that best fits what you are going to get out of it in the next couple of years. Learn as much as you can, and keep moving toward learning more. Also, stay near the good job market, which means don't move to Podunk, South Dakota, because getting laid off will mean moving back.

BTW, 27 is not "old".

Re:Better have something inline

[studerby]

He said "my company". Probably, "my company" == "the company I work for", and not "my company" == "the company I own(ed)".

It least, that's the colloquial usage where I'm from.

Re:Leaving MS for FOSS

[Foofoobar]

You are so close, it's scary. The head of the company (and the owner) went to a Disney management school... I kid you not. And they follow these Disney like rules in an obsessive compulsive manner so as to border on insanity at times.

Re:Never Quit!

[Anonymous Coward]

When I got out of college I turned down an excellent offer with a defense contractor (they are the one of the ones who make black boxes in planes). I turned it down because I would've had to move to a city that was not that exciting, it was a mostly Microsoft shop, and they did drug tests. It was really hard to turn it down because I had no other job offers at the time. I would've pissed clean, but I didn't want to give up the good herb.

Also note that this was in the beginning of 2001, right after the dotcom bubble burst. And this company was doing very well and would have been extremely stable job.

I turned it down, and a few weeks later I took a job with a very small company. The people are really cool, I get to choose the direction of what kinds of technologies we use for our future products (which generally means open source), and no drug testing so I can toke up on my own time. I also am living in a city where many of my long time friends are living and there is plenty to do here.

Needless to say, I'm happy. Though I could use a salary increase :)

Re:I don't know about that

[Anonymous Coward]

Here's a couple of books to consider if you run a business or are planning to start a business. Five Lessons [amazon.com] and E-Myth: Revisited [amazon.com]. These books have helped me look at things differently and actually see how the majority of us are uninformed about money and business. I'm starting a business and getting very excited. It's going to be hard at first but will get easier once I know the ins and outs.

Re:Always have another paycheck lined up...

[angle_slam]

It depends on your field. But I know plenty of people (including myself) who job searched while still working at another place. In fact, I don't think I know of anyone who voluntarily left a job to become unemployed. Everyone I know who switched employers switched fairly transparently.

Most people have vacation days--use them for interviews. Polish up your resume after work hours. It shouldn't be that hard.

Re:I just turned one down last week...

[ocbwilg]

That means that if they don't have a better product or service to offer than the company he is working for now, he won't consider. He wants to work for the market leader.

I quit my cushy govt' SWEng job

[ichthus]

I worked at Hill Air Force Base as a "Software Engineer," or so the title was. I actually did maintenence and bug fixes on old ATLAS code that ran on HP 1000s configured as F-16 black box test benches. The pay was decent. The stress level was next to 0. No mandatory OT and all the voluntary OT you wanted. I had a LOT of freedom -- leaving early if I wanted. Hey, this was the government. I [practically] couldn't get fired. Lots of sick and vacation time too.

Problem was: I hated the work. It was not at all fulfilling or rewarding. All the perks were there: pay, security, personal time off, and very low stress. I just didn't enjoy what I was doing. So, I applied to a company in the private sector, got an offer (albeit for more money,) and now I'm a REAL engineer will more stress, let time off, less security, and higher accountability. And, I'm loving every minute of it -- simply because I feel like I'm actually contributing. I'm actually doing something worth while. I enjoy what I do, and that, to me, is more important than all the other aspects.

Re:This is really extrange

[AnxiousMoFo]

I know people don't hire older programmers, and being 27 this is something that's hainting me.

Where I work, there are QA people in their 20s and early 30s, but most of the developers are in their late 30s, 40s, or 50s. The hot-shit developers (the ones who drive the swanky cars and have "Senior" in their job title) are all in their late 40s or older. (For the record, I work for a company that makes desktop software mostly used by graphic designers).

Re:Better have something inline

[Anonymous Coward]

I'll be the first to not be an asshole, it's Multiple Sclerosis. Here's some info: http://www.msfacts.org/info/info_symptoms.html [msfacts.org]