Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: 3 Questions to Ask if You Want to Quit Your Job

Each week we present our Daily Leap Career Video of the Week. The video we share presents news or advice related to career and life development, searching for a job, the economy and employment, and other career-related topics.

The video below from Fast Company highlights three questions you should ask yourself if you're thinking of quitting your job, starting with "why do I feel the need to quit". Check out the video to learn more.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: Why So Many Employees Quit Within The First 6 Months

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

• Why So Many Employees Quit Within the First 6 Months: "when managers take an active role in onboarding, 'employees are 3.4 times as likely to strongly agree their onboarding experience was exceptional'."

• 9 CEOs Share Their Favorite Interview Question: "This helps me get at what really motivates people and how passionate they are about the work they do."

• How to Know Which Ideas Your Company Should Pursue: "our method might not make it easier to pick great ideas, but it should make it easier to avoid picking bad ones. It helps to prioritize ideas or consider which ones should be more thoroughly evaluated."

• 4 Tips for Prioritizing Your Health: "We make it a team commitment to be healthy. Lunches are catered at work, and we hold each other to picking the healthier options. Every hour on the hour during the work week, we do a short round of exercises."
• 4 Tips to Achieve Work-Life Balance:"In many cases, I would delegate something and then grab it back if I started to see a problem. Thankfully, I eventually learned to simply oversee the process and help freelancers bring their output up to my standards."

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: 4 Signs You Need to Leave Your Job Right Now

Each week we present our Daily Leap Career Video of the Week. The video we share presents news or advice related to career and life development, searching for a job, the economy and employment, and other career-related topics.

The video below from Fast Company discusses four signs you need to leave your job immediately, starting with not feeling like your work matters. Check out the video to learn more.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: How to Get That Promotion You Want

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

• How to Get That Promotion You Want:"Challenge yourself to list three reasons the responsibilities of the new role are better than your responsibilities now. If you can’t answer this, you have homework to do."

• Uncertainty is a Key to Success: "some of the world’s greatest thought leaders didn’t succeed because they were dead sure that they would; they succeeded because they wouldn’t allow doubt and fear of the unknown to keep them from succeeding. In other words, they embraced uncertainty."

• Why Good Leaders Delegate: "She worried that staffers might be overwhelmed by taking on work she had done, for example, handling the initial phone call with a prospective client."

• How to Make the Best of Failure: "Mentors, coaches and leaders are in a position to teach because they have made the mistakes. Failing their way through is what gave them the wisdom to lead others."
• 5 Questions to Make Sure You Want to Quite Your Job: "It’s easy to underestimate just how tightly the fabric of your daily life is knitted around your job. So, think about what you will lose and how it is likely to affect you."

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 5 Signs it's Time to Quit Your Job

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

• 5 Signs it's Time to Quit Your Job:"The following exercises will help you shift your thinking so that your exit strategy can become a powerful experience rather than a slow motion trainwreck."

• The Simple Productivity-Boosting Method You're Probably Overlooking: "The National Safety Council has estimated that fatigued employees cost employers about $136 billion a year in lost productivity."

• Should You Take That New Job or the Promotion?: "Which of the two companies can give you better long-term opportunities in which you can make a difference? A difference maker is someone who can see the impact of his or her work on the organization."

• 5 Strategies for Enjoying Your Workday: "
  Your company might provide snacks, board games and holiday parties, but it doesn’t hurt to customize your workday for a happier you
  ."
• 4 Easy Ways to Recognize How Your Work is Meaningful: "these are all ways that your work – and the money you earn - is meaningful to you and your family."

Do These 3 Things Before Abruptly Quitting Your Job

Many of us have a moment in our career when we'd love to head into our boss's office and shout, "take this job and shove it."

Fortunately, we usually avoid making a scene when this urge hits us. But just because we're tactful doesn't mean we make the right decision about our career. There are times, of course, when leaving a job is the best thing for us. However, it's good to exercise some caution before abruptly firing that email off to your boss or the HR department announcing that you're quitting.

When you have the urge to get up and leave do these three things first.

Wait 24 hours. In most situations things will look a little different the next morning and we might be more appreciative of our job or the people we work with once we've had a chance to get away from the office. Everyone experiences times of struggle and these are usually the times in our lives and careers when we learn the most. Sometimes a desire to quit is a desire to avoid doing something difficult but necessary for our career.

Discuss with your family, a mentor, or a trusted friend. Sit down with those closest to you and ask for advice. Often, those who love you and know you best will see some part of the situation that you haven't considered yet. Use this time to listen well.

Meet with your boss. You likely won't feel good about leaving your job without laying all your cards on the table with your supervisor. Well, almost all your cards. Avoid anything that seems to blame others or appears to avoid taking responsibility. But if you don't feel like your work is recognized, think you're overdue for a promotion, or want more responsibility, a clear and honest conversation with your boss might just bring you what you want.

If not, you'll probably have earned your supervisor's respect, will feel good that you addressed the issues head-on, and can leave knowing that you didn't run from a tough situation.





 

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 6 Ways to Make Better Decisions

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

• 6 Ways to Make Better Decisions: "The best solutions come by spending more time defining the problem. Clarifying the problem, goal or objective crystalizes the information search."

• 9-5 is Out. Try the 1-6 Instead: "Being committed to the three things I outlined above has shown me, clearly, that my eight-plus hour work days were really just five hour work days dragged out over eight hours."

• 8 Ways to Run Effective Meetings: "We are very clear of what our goal is in the meeting and what our deliverables are coming out of the meeting."

• 4 Habits of People Who are Always Learning New Skills: "But those who persevere generally have their eye on a larger prize — a new job, a promotion, or the chance to lead a project. I encourage people to determine a specific career objective and keep it front of mind as they learn."
• 3 Ways to Avoid a Nasty Breakup When Quitting Your Job: "I have often gone into telling my boss that I’m quitting with a copy of my resignation letter, which has helped me to stay professional and focused since it can be used like a script. Then make sure that it gets sent to your superiors and HR."

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: Why People Really Quit Their Jobs

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

• Why People Really Quit Their Jobs: "The decision to exit was because of the work. They left when their job wasn’t enjoyable, their strengths weren’t being used, and they weren’t growing in their careers."

• Unpopular Career Advice that Might Save Your Career: "Practice patience in the new year; just because you aren't where you want to be right now, doesn't mean you're not well on your way to getting there."

• How Your Office Should Recognize Martin Luther King, Jr. Day: "Gather a group of coworkers—or make your own plan—and contact local nonprofits to see how you may help them."

• Quit Your Job and Move Abroad: "It's the ultimate fantasy: Escape the 9-5 by moving to a place where it's so cheap you barely need to work."
• 5 Must-Have Traits of Successful Leaders: " In today’s business climate, you are quickly becoming a dinosaur if you believe that the personal side of leadership is unnecessary or unimportant. You are managing people, not robots."

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 10 Reasons Good Employees Quit

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

• Top 10 Reasons Good Employees Quit: "They realize that it's up to them to have the career they want, and that their hopes of having that career with their current organization will never come true."

• How to Stay Focused When You're Working from Home: "It may sound silly, but if you want to have a focused day of work, pretend you’re not working from home."

• 10 Simple Ways to Build a Collaborative, Successful Work Environment: "The more compelling and exciting the mission, the easier it is to inspire team members to want to be a part of what the company aspires to accomplish."

• Why You Need to Make Over Your To-do List: "Instead of doing a million things poorly, the goal becomes to do a few things incredibly well--or better yet, do one thing better than anyone else in the world."
• The Health Benefits of Gratitude: "Whether you’re penning a note on personalized stationery, scribbling in a journal or just meditating, a deep contemplation of gratitude will probably be a tune-up for your mind and body in many ways."

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: 9 Things Managers Do That Make Good Employees Quit

Each week we present our Daily Leap Career Video of the Week. The video we share presents news or advice related to career and life development, searching for a job, the economy and employment, and other career-related topics.

The video below from Entrepreneur points out that people don't leave jobs; they leave managers.

High Five Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 11 Secrets of Irresistible People

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

• 11 Secrets of Irresistible People: "Whether interacting with their biggest client or a server taking their drink order, irresistible people are unfailingly polite and respectful."
• 4 Ways to Overcome Digital Distractions and Be More Productive at Work: "Being highly productive and achieving beyond the mediocre level can still be done — it just requires two companions: presence and commitment."
• 5 Ways to Make Enough Side Money to Eventually Quite Your Job: "Nearly everyone dreams of quitting his or her day job, whether it's tomorrow, next year or in the next decade. However, there is a wide chasm between 'dreams' and 'action'."
• 5 Habits of Creative Working Parents: "Yes, spending time with your kids is important, but so too is finding space in your life for the people who help energize you about your creative work."
• 6 Character Traits to Consider Before Becoming an Entrepreneur: "Jumping into entrepreneurship isn't something to take lightly, as there are many things to consider before you do. At some point, you have to stop the questioning and business planning to take the plunge."

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: 7 Businesses You Can Start Tomorrow

Each week we present our Daily Leap Career Video of the Week. The video we share presents news or advice related to career development, searching for a job, the economy and employment, and other career-related topics.

Tired of your job or your boss and want to strike out on your own? Check out the Forbes video below and learn about 7 businesses you can start right away.

5 Tips to Leave Your Job on a Positive Note

Very few of us stay in one job during our entire working lives so we will likely go through the experience of changing jobs.

It can be important to your future career to ensure that you leave your current employer on good terms.

Here are 5 tips to leave your job on a positive note.

1. Give proper notice. Some companies require giving a two week notice when leaving a

job. Be sure to follow your company's requirement here and provide the appropriate notice when leaving your job. You don't want to quit suddenly and leave your employer in a difficult position. Your employer will be less likely to recommend you to a future employer.

2. Get a recommendation. While you are still employed ask your direct manager or someone else familiar with your performance to write a letter of recommendation for you. Do this while your skills and abilities are still clear in the mind of your manager.

3. Connect on LinkedIn. Make your LinkedIn connections with coworkers and managers before you leave the company.

4. Remove personal files. If you have a company provided laptop or computer be sure to remove any personal files on it. You don't want someone else reading about your personal life or seeing how many times you updated your resume while at work. The same goes for any paper copies of personal items.

5. Provide contact info. Be sure to let co-workers, managers, and customers know how they can reach you in the future.

Leaving a job positively can support future job opportunities and can pave the way for you to return to a company at a later time.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share these every weekend so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

© Bellemedia | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos

• Kick-Start Your Career Dreams in 3 Weeks: "For the next three weeks, invest 10 minutes a day to get your brain on the move and thinking big."


• Inside Job: 5 Reasons You Should Tap Your Friends and Contacts to Get a Job: "Statistics consistently suggest that employee referrals are the most desirable source of hiring at practically any company."


• 30 Motivational Quotes for Job Seekers: "Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm."


• Is it Time to Quite Your Job: "You may fantasize about telling your boss to take this job and shove it, but that will only give you short-term relief and could possibly ruin your professional life."


• Hate Your New Job and Want to Go back? Here's What to Do: "It takes time to feel at home in your new job. People who have changed jobs before know that well. But it’s hard for everyone the first time." 

5 Signs It May Be Time to Quit Your Job

For the last few years, as the job market has been challenging, many of us were just thankful to have a steady paycheck and a stable job. Now that the market has been slowly improving, you may be thinking about whether or not you are happy in your career. Of course, I always recommend putting a lot of thought into this decision. However, there are these few situations where you may want to consider making a change.

Your values don't match the company's values.
This is a deal breaker for most people. If you feel that ethically and morally the company's decisions do not match your own, it may be time to move on. You should seriously consider moving on before you compromise your values and beliefs for a job.

The job is making you ill.
There are jobs out there that are quite literally making people ill. Your job may be asking you for physical exertion beyond what your body can handle, or you may not be getting rest because of stress or long hours. Are you being mistreated at work as the victim of harassment or discrimination? What about that sick feeling in your stomach every day when you have to go into a job that simply makes you unhappy? Sometimes the only answer to taking care of yourself is a change of environment.

You have no passion for your job.
A job will always just be just a job if you do not love what you do. In order to reach your full potential, do what you are passionate about. There is nothing like a day at work that flies by because it is so enjoyable. Think about what it would feel like to be paid to do what you love! Find your passion and pursue it as a career.

You are not being paid market value.
We have all tightened our belts and been willing to wear extra hats in our jobs for the last few years. However, as the economy strengthens, your company may not change its expectations back to where you were before the recession. Do some research in your industry and in your local area to see if you are being fairly compensated. If not, try to have a conversation with your employer. If they are not willing to budge on your salary, you may have to look elsewhere.

Your company is floundering.
I talk with people all the time that claim to have had no idea that they were about to be laid off. When we begin to talk about their company, the signs that the company was in trouble were everywhere and they just chose to ignore them. Keep your eyes and ears open to what is going on within your industry and your company at all times. Know your competitors and build relationships within your industry. Open your eyes to the writing on the wall and get out before you get dragged under with the sinking ship.

Three Tips When Transitioning Out of your Job

There may come a time in your career when you amicably transition out of your current job and into a new one. This may be at your current company or at a new company, but - regardless of which -  it will reflect positively on you to make your transition out as smooth as possible. Read the tips below to finish your tenure in your old position strongly.

Strategize with your supervisor: Work with your supervisor to determine what would be the best way for you to spend the time you have left in your position. Undoubtedly there will be projects for your to complete, but which ones should be completed by you as opposed to which ones should be handed off to someone else should be discussed. Ultimately it will be your supervisor's decision, but offer your input based upon your experience and what you think would be best for the company.

Document practices and procedures: Your job may be second nature to you, but to the person (or persons) who will be stepping into your role, it most likely will not be. Create a document detailing the appropriate steps to accomplish certain tasks that are unique to your role and your company. These can include reserving conference rooms, utilizing special pieces of software, a curriculum plan for classes you teach, completing a project proposal, or any other endeavor you feel is important. Further, create a timeline of daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly tasks so he/she knows what to expect and do when. 

Train your replacement: If you are in the position to be able to spend any amount of time with your replacement, do so. Sit down with her to demonstrate the ins-and-outs of your job and provide an orientation to your work unit. Have her actually carry out the tasks and consult with you regarding any questions she may have. With your guidance, she will be able to become acclimated more quickly and feel more comfortable in her new role.

What else would you do when amicably separating from a company so that they are successful? Put your suggestions in the comments below!

High Five Weekly Career Transitions Roundup

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share these every weekend so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!


1. What Can a Three-Year-Old Teach You About Getting a New Job?
"Waiting can be tough, but you can endure anything if you know there's something better coming along."


2. 5 Ways to Get Yourself Out of a Career Rut
"If you find yourself in a professional rut and think a career-limiting behavior may be holding you back, consider these five ways to pull yourself out."


3. Top 10 Mistakes That Interns Make
"Internships can be incredible learning experiences, but they can also harm your reputation if you don't conduct yourself professionally during them."

4. The 9 Best Tips for Submitting an Online Job Application
"Statistics show that approximately 50 percent of mid-sized companies and almost all large corporations use an applicant tracking system (ATS) to screen candidates for job opportunities."


5. How to (Finally) Quit Your Job
"As you ride the elevator to the lobby, you visualize your last day at the company. You fantasize about walking into your manager's office, tabling your resignation letter, and cleaning your forsaken cubicle for the final time."

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share these every weekend so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

1. Reading List: 10 Insightful Books for Career Changers
"With the economy improving, you might be considering a career change. Maybe you'd like to quit your present profession and do something completely different, even start a business ... Whatever the motivation, here are some helpful books to guide you."

2. How to Use Your Contacts to Land a Job
"Here are a few tips to help you get into that next gear and to make sure that you are working your contacts to help you get to where you want to be without being overly aggressive."

3. Passed Over for a Promotion: How to Deal
"Whether we like it or not, the workplace is full of politics. People trade favors and help make things happen for people they like. It’s not always a bad thing…it’s just the way the world works."

4. When Should You Quite Your Day Job 
"You need to know how much you're willing to lose before you even start thinking about starting something new."

5. 5 Ways to Probe a Company's Culture
"A lofty compensation package, spiffy title, and corner office are all great characteristics to look for in a job—but if you're looking for a happy job, a great cultural fit is equally important."

Making a Graceful Career Exit

It was 9:30pm and the party-which began 12 hours previous-was heating up. Their kids under the watchful eye of babysitters, the crowd I was hanging out with were free to cut loose and enjoy themselves. As I looked at my watch and surveyed the scene, one thing became clear to me:

It was time to leave.

I have no kids, I had a place to sleep that night, and I had nothing to do the next day. So what was my problem? I intently thought about this on my drive home, and it surprised me how closely the answers I came up with correlated with one's career. Sometimes-despite what logic may dictate-it's time to make a graceful career exit.

Values: Values are at the core of who you are, guiding your thoughts and actions. When I thought about staying longer at the party, I literally did a value check: how would staying later resonate with my values? While I had a blast up until that point, I noticed my values of peace and rest were winning over my value of socializing. They won, so I left. When it comes to your career, your values are an essential barometer of your feelings. You could be very successful in a career field but feel it conflict with other values: family, recreation. money, responsibility. Action To Do: Assess your current job with your values and see where it is meeting and not meeting them.

Time: Coinciding with values, time was another factor I considered. When I was at the party, I had a lot of fun! I was eating, singing karaoke, and socializing with old friends. As the night went on, though, the return that I was getting on my time was lessening. I had caught up with my friends. I was full. I didn't need to sing any more songs. If I had stayed longer than I had, the good time I had would have been colored by how much I didn't want to be there anymore. In your job, what could have been an enriching opportunity in the beginning may have run its course. Action To Do: Assess the time you have put in to your current position: have you received the benefit from it that you feel you need to receive?

Social Pressure: This is the factor that I struggled with the most, as I'm sensitive to-for better or for worse-what others think about me. When deciding whether to leave I had an internal dialogue, debating how my departure my be perceived? "Is he mad at us?" "Why is he being a jerk?" Social forces are powerful and need to be overcome to make a decision that resonates with you and your career? Action To Do: Assess the social forces that are keeping you in your career. Are they playing a bigger role than they should be?

Your career is the party, but there are other parties out there. Connect with yourself to make the best choices for you.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share these every weekend so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

1. Career Change--Tips for Successful Transition

"Leverage your strongest skills that transfer across any business or industry."

2. How to Land a Job when You are Overqualified

" ... when you continue to send out applications and resumes with no response to positions for which you are overqualified but under-experienced, how do you work around that issue to land employment?"

3. Interview Beyond Your Reach to Achieve Your Best

"You know in your heart that special job you want for your own to advance your career, but it is seemingly out of your league.  Stop. Think again."

4. Ways to Stay Organized on the Job Hunt

"The more organized you are, the easier you'll find the job search and managing the appropriate next steps."

5. How to Quit Your job with Grace

"Recently I made a job change that required me to reevaluate my career goals, step out of my comfort zone, and resign from my first professional position."