Listen to the Episode
Wayne: Today, we’re gonna be talking about, or asking the question, specifically, “What’s the best way to quit your job?”
Cem: Wey-hey!
Wayne: Woo-hoo! Freedom! Freedom! First bit of advice, which I think is most important is; don’t just quit.
Cem: I mean, people get caught up in that rage.
Wayne: Oh yeah. I mean-
Cem: They’ve had a bad day. The boss has had a go at them.
Wayne: The amount of times I’ve walked to work being like, “Today is the day.” Today is the day. If somebody says the wrong thing to me, today is the day I go, “Do you know what? I’m outta here.”
Cem: You woke up feeling brave.
Wayne: Not even brave, just grumpy.
Cem: Just fed up.
Wayne: Just fed up and grumpy. And like, “Do you know what? I don’t wanna take any of your shit.”
Wayne: First of all, don’t just go quit and, in that rage, because actually, you’ll only end up going back with your tail between your legs when things don’t pan out. You gotta make sure that you’ve got things in place first.
Cem: Even though you might have watched a lot of those YouTube ads that tell you, “Go quit your job.”
Wayne: Go quit your job.
Cem: You’ll live this life.
Wayne: Pursue your passion. Quit your job, and then next week, you’ll be on the beach in Malibu with a cocktail and lots of pretty ladies.
Cem: I think the one things you’ve always got to-
Wayne: Or man if that’s-
Cem: Whatever you’re into.
Wayne: Yeah.
Cem: I know when it came time for me to quit my job, I knew that I’d saved enough money to go traveling. And that was the plan. And so, you’re a lot more committable whereas if you’re quitting a job with no actual idea of what you’re gonna do, or actually any money in the bank to make sure you can survive, then it’s just gonna quickly become a very depressing place. Psychologically, you’re just gonna be out of control. Although, initially, probably as you’re leaving the office, you’re gonna have that massive euphoria, that massive jump of adrenaline. But then after, you’re gonna be like, “This was a stupid idea.”
Wayne: Yeah, at first, you’re gonna get home to your girlfriend or your parents, if you still live your parents. And you’re gonna be like, “That is the best decision I have ever made in my entire life.”
Cem: And everyone’s gonna be like, “Go team. Go you.”
Wayne: Yeah, and then you’ll be like, “Right.”
Wayne: And then the next day, you’ll be like, “I’m gonna give myself the day off, ’cause I’ve just quit my job. And do you know what? I can.” And then you’re gonna give yourself the day off. And then, the panic’s gonna set it. And then the next day, you’re gonna be frantically looking at job websites, looking at exactly the same job that you just quit, because you’re like, “I know I can do that. I can get that job, ’cause it’s safe.”
Wayne: And then you will just … it won’t be worth it, will it?
Cem: Yeah, the main thing is, you’ve just gotta make sure, if you’re quitting, you’ve gotta have a plan whether that’s going out and starting your own business, whether that’s deciding go freelance, whether it’s quitting just ’cause you wanna go get yourself a new job. But at the end of the day, you can do all these things while you’re in your job. You can start that side gig while you’re still working. You can get a few freelance clients. You can kind of already begin planning that job and the next job, or the next stepping stone out of that business, it’s just stupid to kind of jump completely out.
Cem: I know some people say, “Well, actually it’s nice to have that sort of freedom to actually really put the effort into trying that business, or the effort to really go into handing in your CV, or sending your CV off. A lot of people have never actually had to manage their own schedules. So, I think sometimes it can be quite overwhelming having all of that time on your hands, whereas, if you’re at work, you kind of still got a structure. And so you have got that time to do these things.
Wayne: Yeah. I gotta say, when I was working in the daytime, at home, a few years back when I was working the day job in the evening, the keeping to a schedule in the day was, it was a challenge. ‘Cause you’re like, you haven’t got a boss breathing over you, being like, “Uh, you need to get this done like now.” So, yeah, you’re right. It can be a challenge.
Wayne: If you’re gonna quit your job, and then you’re gonna be in a position where you’re kind of going, “Okay. I’ve got two weeks to find a job, otherwise I haven’t got a home.”
Cem: Those desperate CV emails.
Wayne: Yeah, “Or I can’t eat.” Then quitting your job might actually have been the worst decision that you could make ’cause you’re only gonna be ending up in a place out of desperation, rather than a place of, “Yep. I got this.”
Cem: Lastly as well, is just don’t burn the bridges. Obviously all of these people you’ve been working with before are contacts that could help you into future. Maybe they have a connection in another company that’s similar to what you’re already doing. And maybe they can put that good word in for you. I know, when I quit my job, my first thing was to bring in some donuts for the whole office, and get myself some reviews on LinkedIn so that people could put a good word out there, and I would have all of these kind of quotes about how good Cem is to work with. And it worked well in terms of-
Wayne: Did it make you feel cheap, Cem?
Cem: It did make me feel a little cheap. But, sometimes you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.
Wayne: And were they Krispy Kreme donuts?
Cem: They were, actually.
Wayne: Of course, because otherwise-
Cem: Exactly.
Wayne: Anything less than Krispy Kreme, and that would backfire big time.
Cem: I was at the laptop beside me, “Write a quote about me. Get a donut.” I wasn’t that bad really.
Wayne: You’d done a nice graphically designed poster. “Free donuts. All I need is a quote.”
Cem: Yeah, exactly. So, that’s a good method.
Wayne: You drew a face on it, like cheesy grin, like thumb’s up.
Cem: Yeah, “Tell me how well do you like this guy?” But no, it’s a good way just to kind of … Don’t go out there and tell everyone, “No, you guys are suckers still working for this boss. And I’m out of here. You guys are wasting your lives,” or whatever. You wanna kind of go out of there, make sure that these people are potential connections for the future, ’cause they are gonna move on. And they’re gonna be around to kind of potentially help you into a job after two weeks of being at home.
Wayne: Yeah, and most definitely not with your boss, right? You definitely don’t want to be like, “I quit. And do you know what?”
Cem: “I hate you.”
Wayne: “I’m gonna tell you a few hard truths about this company. You suck.” Because, the boss is just gonna be like, “Okay, get out. I don’t wanna hear from you again.”
Cem: Yeah.
Wayne: When actually, particularly if you’re going freelance, it could be beneficial, because then they might actually hire you and be one of your clients later on for some other work.
Cem: Don’t forget, you’re gonna need those reviews if you’re going just into another job as well. You’re gonna need someone to be your reference. Review.
Wayne: “Well, actually, as he left, he told me how much of a knob I was.”
Cem: Exactly.
Wayne: “Don’t hire.” Yeah.
Cem: So that said, you wanna quickly round that up, Wayne?
Wayne: Yes. So, best ways to quit your job, A, don’t just quit. B, have a safety net/buffer, at least financially. C, make sure you have a plan in place. And D, don’t burn those bridges on the way out, ’cause you might have to go back across it with your tail between your legs.
If you want any questions answered, or if you have any ideas for anythings you’d like us to address, send us an email, Wayne@powerfulnonsense.com or Cem@powerfulnonsense.com, or you can look us up on the Twitterz @PN_Podcast, and we will take it into consideration. And also, please do leave us a nice little review on the old iTunes. It really does help get the word out there for the show. Five stars or more, greatly appreciated. Or, do you know what? Actually, if you’ve got a friend that’s like, “I need to quit my job.” please do share it with them.