What would you do? (Job Related)

[Arelle]

I'm so torn, I need honest opinions from an impartial view.

Basically, I am miserable in my current position. While I very much enjoy the basic job duties, the company culture, industry, management team and schedule is a total opposite track of what works best for me.

In a nutshell, I'm an upper level manager for a large scale cash advance company. I travel all over filling in, doing audits, running help desk, etc. Jack of all trades.

When I got the job, I was told the company was transparent and that the travel was 50 -75%, depending on the season. I had spicifically asked about transparancy, as without it I become nervous and anxious. As I understood it, I was fine with traveling that much - home on weekends, usually two weeks out every month.

It has not been like that. While I am home on weekends, I go out for weeks at a time on short notice and then come home and am out again the next week. For example, I just got a phone call telling me to book a flight to wisconsin for all of next week, fly back thursday night. Oh, and ps, you're going out for six weeks on Jan 4th.

I'm at the point where I want to throw in the towel. Not only is this exhausting to me, but its starting to affect my relationship and my animals. My dog doesn't come out of my closet while I'm away and I can't keep my horses at any reasonable fitness level like this. I've been paying for training rides just to keep them in some kind of routine.

My problem is, I know the job market is awful. This job pays wells. If it weren't for the money, I'd have been gone two months in - when I found out how it really worked. Now I've been here for 9 months. I have been sticking it out, hoping it would get better, but it simply hasn't.

I have enough savings to take care of things for 4-6 months, barring any major expenses. I also have a trust that I could dip into if I absolutely needed it (but heavily taxed).

I'm in dallas, the market is okay for jobs - but I can't guarantee ill be able to find work. I'm willing to wait tables if I have to, but I don't know how the overqualified clause works.

If you were in my shoes, what would you do? I either have to suck it up and be gone until mid February - leaving my horses, family, and unable to go on any promising interviews, or I give my notice monday and expect to be let go the same day as this company typically doesn't accept two weeks - they just escort you out.

[sublimequine]

Look for a job, and get one, BEFORE quitting your current job, even if it means going to interviews only on the rare occasion you're home.

[Melissa.Van Doren]

I hate for anyone to have to work at a place they don't like, but my advice is to stick this one out until you find something else. One good emergency can wipe out your savings and then you'll be in trouble. Leave your trust alone. Get your resume out and start looking. If the job market is good in your area, you might get lucky before you have to hit the road for that long stretch. Good luck!

[Curb Appeal]

Do not even hint to your employer that you are leaving until you have something new lined up. My mother left her chemistry job 2 years ago and has yet to find a new job that pays enough to live on, let alone support a hobby. She has been passed over on several jobs because they claim she is "overqualified".

My advice: Tough it out. A miserable job is better than no job at all.

[mickeydoodle]

STAY in the job until you have another one with a signed contract.

[Flashy Gray VA]

I'm going to be harsh here: I'd keep your job and because you travel so much, I'd seriously consider alternative arrangements for your animals, i.e. finding a new home for your dog, or shelling out $$$$ to put your dog in doggie day care when you're on the road, and leasing out your horses or selling them.

This is the worst economy since ... forever. You are lucky that TX has one of the better regional economies, however.

After only 9 months on the job are you prepared to explain to a new employer about why you left? Are you prepared to explain a large gap in your CV? Are you prepared for future employers to (admittedly unfairly) view you as a "risk" for departing on a whim (takes a lot of $$$ and time for an employer to ID and hire an employee; they're not looking to lose them within a year).

At what point in your career are you? If you're younger, you may be able to be quickly rehired elsewhere and get yourself on track. If you're older/mid-management - you'll want to consider your options very carefully.

You can have dogs and horses for your entire life, this may just be a brief season where having them is not feasible, is all.

[jenm]

Look for a job, and get one, BEFORE quitting your current job, even if it means going to interviews only on the rare occasion you're home.

This.

If you are the only person doing this job, you may be able to negotiate something like more money or more vacation time.

As Curb Appeal wrote: A miserable job is better than no job at all.

[kinnip]

Soul sucking jobs are the worst, but you'll get a new job faster if you're applying while employed. Being out of work just scares off employers. I sure hope things get better for you soon.

[JanM]

Since you are employed you need to stay there until you find another comparable job. There are people in this economy that lost their jobs due to conditions beyond their control, stay out of work for years, and then out of desperation take an entry level or minimum wage job just to survive. Don't be fooled by the re-employment statistics, and think that most people are getting a new job that is at the right economic level.

Can you support your lifestyle and animals if you can get re-employed for a long time, or at a decent salary?

[Arelle]

I'm not giving up my dog or my animals. My DH does take care of them while I am gone and my horses are in full care board.

As far as my resume, I am slightly concerned about the impact, but I'm also willing to take the hit as the rest of my resume is similar to what employers look for (I should know, I do hiring and firing for this company as well!).

I'm younger, about to finish with my MBA. I appreciate everyones input, although the jury is still out. I sound ungrateful, I know a lot of people wish they had any job - but I just cannot take much more of this.

[sublimequine]

I'm not giving up my dog or my animals. My DH does take care of them while I am gone and my horses are in full care board.

As far as my resume, I am slightly concerned about the impact, but I'm also willing to take the hit as the rest of my resume is similar to what employers look for (I should know, I do hiring and firing for this company as well!).

I'm younger, about to finish with my MBA. I appreciate everyones input, although the jury is still out. I sound ungrateful, I know a lot of people wish they had any job - but I just cannot take much more of this.

Apply for some very basic, entry level jobs.. heck, try Sears, McDonalds, Target, SOMETHING. Just don't be unemployed. It's a black abyss that's damn hard to get out of once you're in it.

[coloredhorse]

Though I feel for you, Arelle (and this sounds like a soul-sucking nightmare of a job ... all that travel would have me batshit crazy in far fewer than two months!), I have to join the chorus recommending that you start looking for a new job now, and wait to give notice until that job has been acquired (including a hiring contract with a firm start date).

You may find that just the act of finding and pursuing new job leads gives you the boost you need to tough out however long it takes to find new employment.

Another avenue you might explore is to develop a freelance consulting business. It sounds like much of your duties center around providing services that are not needed 100% of the time at various locations around the country; this sort of work can be easily outsourced.

When I was caught in a similar soul-eating job situation, this is what I did. I began taking a little work on the side and when I felt I had enough contacts to take a stab at self-employement, I gritted my teeth and leapt. I'd intended to just do that for a short time until I found another "real" job, but here I am today, still self-employed, running not one, but two businesses. It might be worth looking into. Who knows? There is a chance that your current company might be interested in changing your job to a contract position, thus giving you more control over your schedule (with the ability to accept or reject projects), and saving them the cost of a full-time employee.

[The Centaurian]

I would look around and see what's out there, apply, interview, send out resumes... but I wouldn't quit just yet. Even super-qualified people are having a tough time finding jobs right now, and next year is going to be even worse because jobs that were kept through the use of stimulus dollars are going to be terminated.

Since you are high-up in your company and have the ability to hire and fire people, could you hire an assistant for yourself or delegate some of your work to a subordinate? Could you discuss the scheduling issues you're having with your supervisor or with your team, maybe trade some assignments?

I know what it's like to be frustrated by an employer (see my earlier thread in which I consider working the graveyard shift), but my advice would be to exhaust all your options to make your job work for you before bringing up the Q-word at work.

While you are on the road, is there anything you can do to stay in shape, reduce stress, etc? Riding lessons, pilates, painting...? It sucks to hate your job, but unemployment sucks even worse. Hang in there!

[Flashy Gray VA]

Aha, you note that you're married, so animal care isn't solely on your shoulders - makes a difference, obviously. My bad for assuming for some reason that you were a single person and framing my earlier post on that assumption. That said, you might have to accept that the horses have to be pasture puffs for a while.

Here's an interesting proposition I've seen advanced by economists, etc. regarding the current job climate - that due to the uncertainty, people are simply gutting it out and holding onto their current jobs that they don't like. When hiring gets rolling again, it will be better for everyone - the "stay-puts" will have new opportunities to seek open positions they like, and in turn, their jobs will open up for others, as well.

Sounds simple but most economists can turn simple things into complex models of behavior!

Last thing I'll note to the OP - I've been in the miserable job situation, and indeed, it's worse than soul-sucking. I gutted it out for almost 5 years and it took its toll but the opportunities that availed themselves after "serving my time" were really really good.

I'm really sorry for your current situation, if you've got good basic care for your animals perhaps just let that part of life stay status quo for the time being, instead of becoming another stressor. Heaven knows that a tough job situation is stressful enough.

[stryder]

Start looking now. Finish your MBA. Think about what skills or interests can be moved to a new industry if you don't like the one you're in. But as everyone has said, it's easier to get a new job while you have a job.

Unemployment percentage for those with advanced degrees is under or about 5%. It's those with high-school or less that are into the double-digits. That said, there are lots and lots of highly trained and educated people who can't find decent jobs. Don't become one of them.

Use the travel to learn about other parts of the country - the cultural and natural history. Go to as many museums as you can, where ever you go. See whatever sights there are. Obviously you have work to do while you're there, but look upon it as an opportunity. In my previous career, I was able to go lots of places even though the work was challenging and I missed being home. It was an enriching distraction. But now, I do not miss being a road warrior.

Try to get your mind over your matter.

Good luck.

[onelanerode]

Soul sucking jobs are the worst, but you'll get a new job faster if you're applying while employed. Being out of work just scares off employers. I sure hope things get better for you soon.

This. Start networking and looking for something new now. Don't quit until you KNOW you have a new position waiting for you.

[coloredcowhorse]

Suck it up, at least for awhile. You HAVE a job when many don't. It pays well and provides benefits including paid travel. While traveling for your company you have opportunities to see new places, meet and network with people, try new foods and all while being paid.

I'm really sorry but this just doesn't seem that bad. I know that all jobs can be stressful but this, well, it isn't life and death, endless nights on duty with years without weekends or holidays off, or watching kids die while hospital administration is having hissy fits over brands of toilet paper and scheduling mandatory meetings in the middle of your sleep time (or on your only day off in two weeks).

If you really feel you have to leave find another job before quiting the one you have. Get a written job description and contract signed with starting date and everything else spelled out. You sound young enough that you aren't likely to get the "overqualified" (meaning either "too old and we don't want you" or "too experienced to put up with our BS") excuse for not being hired. You may have to take a job (just to get out of the one you have) that isn't exactly what you want. Happens. I've counted and packed fishing worms...not my dream job but it paid for what needed to be paid. Think outside the box....become self-employed doing something that you do enjoy and can do. You say you have savings so use that as a cushion while getting something going on your own. As someone currently self-employed though I will tell you you will work harder than you've ever worked before, with no days off, with your business on your mind 24/7 for probably a year or more until it is going well enough to take a day off.

You may have to give up time with the horses for awhile...you certainly won't be the only one (some/many have had to give up horses entirely...or sell them through auctions after losing everything else when they lost their job and couldn't find another). You are in an area with a much lower unemployment rate than this area (my town is hovering at around 17% and not getting better) so getting work shouldn't be really, really hard.

Good luck. My daughter in law has hated her job for the last 8 years...still there as she can't find anything else with the good things this one has so just deals with the crap.

[KateKat]

sorry your job sucks. I am on your husband's end of the same situation, my husband's job takes him away every week for indefinite periods at time. Only difference is at least its consistent. But, it is extremely difficult to travel and be away from family/pets constantly. These types of jobs are much better suited for singles who love to travel/explore new places.

If you're really that miserable and don't think you can tough it out another year or two (at least that's when the experts say the economy is supposed to start recovering...we'll see) definitely find something else before you quit. Also, having your completed MBA will make you more marketable so maybe hold off your search until then as well. Either way, good luck!

[Casey09]

I wouldn't like it either. In my experience, work travel gets very old very quickly. I am sure there are people who do enjoy it, but that would not be me.
I would definitely quietly start looking for another job. The job market is difficult right now, but you never know when something perfect will fall into your lap. I know that being away it will be difficult to arrange interviews, but you might find someone willing to work with you on that. If you are working on your MBA, take advantage of any career counseling available at your school. I would not quit without another job because you never know how long it will take even if you put all of your time into finding a new job, but I would definitely start looking as soon as possible.
You may have to be flexible in some areas. I've known people who have had to get out of jobs requiring significant travel, and most made less money at the new job. If you can accept a lower salary, that might help.

[Wayside]

I just got a phone call telling me to book a flight to wisconsin for all of next week,

Oh geez, that'd be a deal breaker right there. It's miserable here in WI right now

In all seriousness, I'd start looking for another job, quietly, if I were you. There's no way I could handle that much travel. Some people seem to thrive on that sort of thing, but I am not one of them.