I’m a serial leaver. I’ve had 3 jobs in the past 5 years. My most consistent “job” is a podcast, which I guess now is my full time job. Or not. I’m not sure.
They say doing something 3 times consistently is like being an expert. So I’m an expert on leaving.
Anyways, Let’s talk about leaving, when to leave, and how to leave.
And also a few tips on taking what you’ve learned in your own job and forging something that will get you the next one.
Should I Stay or Should I Go?
For me, every six months, I feel like I need to do something different. So I reflect on what I’ve learned and decide what to do. I guess 3 of those times, I’ve decided to leave.
It’s mostly the same every time. I’ve had a tough day at work, and late at night I just look for jobs. Sometimes I fill out the application, but most of the time I don’t.
Because I’m a serial leaver, I guess I have some advice if you’re thinking of leaving your company.
So my rules for leaving is this:
- Are you learning anything new?: My most important metric. If I’m flatlining learning, I will find other things to learn, even if it’s a project outside my normal 8 to 5. This is how many of my weird side businesses started. If I can’t handle both, drop one. Sometimes it’s the side hustle, sometimes it’s the job.
- Are you affecting anyone by moving?: Moving sucks. If you have a wife or kid, then it becomes complicated because they also have to adjust. You also might have a house, or a group of friends, or grandparents who want to see you. Those are all huge factors in leaving a job. Luckily, I’m a lone wolf. A free soul. So I can move whenever I want. This is generally why a lot of people in their 20’s don’t stick around. They don’t need stability yet. Consider who you’re affecting when you make a change.
- Are you miserable?: My rule of thumb is that if you are reflecting and you’ve been miserable in the past 3 months, consider leaving. Though great things come to those who stick it out, life is too short to be miserable. Plan your exit strategy, as you don’t want to quit without a proper plan. If you’re quitting with no back up plan, make sure you at least have your financials in order. Or just quit. It’s your life.
Surprisingly, a lot of people I know have never interviewed for a job while they were employed. They can’t imagine playing sick, or taking care of your grandpa, then lying for a job interview. Statistics say that it’s better to get poached when you have a job than being unemployed when it comes to getting a new job. Sadly, the more you’re unemployed, the harder it is to work. Take a mental health day, or blast through your vacation days. Your choice.
Acquire Something To Talk About
Generally, employers look for people who can generate them money to do a specific task. Though most people cruise through life, A-players will go above and beyond to do better.
However, I know plenty of A-players who have a really tough time solidifying their accomplishments and when it comes to resumes, not talking about your accomplishments leads to your resume in the trash pile.
So accomplishments need to be talked about and I highly recommend that you stick onto a company and work on how you contributed to the company’s growth.
Though I can only speak about product development, here is what you need to leave in to have an edge up against the competition. These are generally easier to think of when you think of careers based on accomplishments.
- Numerical sales numbers: The more precise your numbers are, and the bigger they are, shows managers that you know how to value your work, and if the growth is big enough, shows you can innovate. Examples: A product I made is in7000 stores or my new products have made $15 million in new product sales.
- Project completion: It’s much easier to say “I got a product in stores from start to finish” rather than “did benchtop work”. Smaller, private companies usually get a product out the door faster. Big companies will lock you into a task. If you’re in a big company, ask your boss often for different work, or other department’s bosses.
- A recommendation: I have three really good recommendations from my bosses on LinkedIn. This matters a lot because it gains a layer of trust that even though this person was in the company for a short time, he did such an amazing job that I want to see him succeed in other areas. Though whatever job you’re in matters, the people you help matters much more.
On Leaving on Good Terms
In this industry, reputation matters and ideally, you should leave on good terms. But sometimes you can’t.
Because people get fired, or they leave in one month because they have another job lined up. Things happen but people usually forget bad things. It’s petty not to.
This is why having a personal brand is very important. Having a personal brand isn’t just posting on LinkedIn or Facebook, and you don’t need to launch a podcast to have a brand. You can be known as an industry rockstar who knows their stuff and can get stuff done by not even being online!
So in this context, you can look at it multiple ways: If you’re known in the industry and relatively searchable, you should have a higher hit rate than someone who isn’t. Fortunately, it’s very easy to get your resume out in the open and there are recruiting services specifically designed for that.
However, if you’re LinkedIn shy, here are some other methods:
I still keep in contact with very important salespeople. In fact, without them, I could not have created products at Better Meat Co when I transitioned from Isagenix. It’s paid off for some of them. Me being the instrumental person buying things from them allows me to transverse the food industry waters because they are following the money.
When you commercialize your products, it’s important to get in front of the sales reps. Especially if the sales reps were formally scientists. Because technical communication allows us to pass the middlemen, you become valuable.
Yes, extroverted people generally have a better reputation than introverted people but I’ve known some people who just get things done, are fun to hang out with and are very knowledgeable who are introverted. The people who appreciate your work will keep connected.
Most jobs in this industry are based on referral for good reason. If someone fits a heavily specialized role and they know the channels, it just takes the right opportunity.
I did not like my manager at my first job in the granola bar factory and I burnt that bridge. I would say that it did not impact my career at all. There are people I do not like at all in every job and there are a handful of people who don’t like me. But the people who value my work, love me. That is sometimes not everyone, so keep note. Take time to recognize the value of a connection if you decide to burn a bridge. People tend to forgive or forget in less than a year unless you do something harmful.
It’s better to have people either absolutely love you or absolutely hate you than being mediocre, modest and blend into the background. Everything popular has haters, but they also have people who love them fanatically. Go out, do great work, talk about your work and you should have no problem finding a new opportunity.
Because I just did.
