It’s rare for people to stay in one position forever, but when is the best time to quit your unfulfilling admin job? Why should you quit your job? There are many reasons people decide to move on from their current jobs. Sometimes, it’s because they want a more challenging job or one that will satisfy them more. Other times, it’s become too stressful for them and they’re looking for a different work environment with easier hours or workload. Your needs play a huge role in determining your professional path and decision. It’s important to analyze your situation is so that you can make the best choice for you and your life.
In this post, I’ll share with you what helps me determine when I should start looking for another job.
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You’re Not Happy in the Workplace Because of Coworkers
Workplace satisfaction is not all about the money, though it’s pretty damn important (no one wants to do all this work for free – just saying). It is also about the people you work with.
If your workplace relationships are strained, it can affect your productivity and motivation to work. Furthermore, staying in long-term situations with people you can barely tolerate (or who can barely tolerate you) can be really hard to overcome.
Time is a major factor and can also affect your work relationships. Most of us hope that the longer we know, the better and stronger the relationship, but that depends on each relationship. Much like personal relationships, sometimes work relationships can simply grow apart over time. Everybody changes. It’s natural that your values and personality change. Who you were when you started a job 5 or 10 years ago will inevitably be different from who you are now, and that’s okay.
For me, working with people I can rely on and trust is important. If I feel like there isn’t mutual respect or understanding, I will think it’s best quit my admin job.
You’re Undervalued at Work
Fact: If you feel undervalued in a company, you won’t feel fulfilled or happy in your job. We are all human and we all have feelings of imperfection from time to time (or all the time), but that doesn’t mean that we should receive that from our peers every day. I’m all for constructive criticisms, but I’m not for people finding things to be wrong or insufficient. When those experiences remained unresolved and ignored for too long, they become resentful.
Being in this profession can feel demeaning starting from the job description.
Sometimes I feel like everything will eventually work out. I often won’t care about things like being passed over for opportunities or a raise at first. However, if this continues for an extended period of time, it can start to affect my view of the company and myself in that company.
When organizations make me feel insignificant, I will question the value of my involvement with them. Which, in the end, will empower me to look for organizations who might value more of my experience and input and quit this admin job.
I try to avoid sounding bitter on this blog, but it’s difficult to address major issues for administrative support professionals because they are issues. But I started this blog to talk about the things we typically don’t talk about, so I include everything. Our reality is not all smiles and happiness in administrative support.
No Room for Growth or Professional Development Opportunities
If you find that the company doesn’t give you room to grow or offer opportunities for professional development, this may mean it’s time to consider your future elsewhere.
It can be tough when a company doesn’t provide a path for professional advancement. If your current employer doesn’t support your professional development and that’s important to you, you might want to look for another job because it’s unlikely you’ll be satisfied there in the long term.
Conversely, sometimes there isn’t a way to grow professionally in some jobs through no fault of their own. If you still crave the ability to grow but want to stay in your job, you could take classes online or enroll in professional development classes outside of work. This could be a perfect time to take classes you’re interested in.
I’ve been doing this for years, and still do even today. I don’t think I’ll ever stop because it’s a wonderful habit to explore my interests all the time.
Lastly, I have run into instances where growth was fake supported. It’s the type of support where I can grow, but only in the way my manager thinks I should grow. My manager has their own idea of my position and how I should advance, regardless of my interests and perspective.
In this situation, I don’t have a choice to view my position the way I want to see it, or voice my opinion on how I should grow. My performance is based on their assumptions and views, not on what I saw as valuable or important.
Personally, I want to keep progressing professionally, and choose what I focus on and how I grow. Neither my manager’s or organization’s expectations of me will ever, or should, exceed my own.
This is another sign it is time to quit my admin job.
When Job Expectations Exceed Reality
When we start new jobs or have been growing over time, our responsibilities may become a lot more than we were expecting. The pay/title/workload doesn’t always reflect the job responsibility because, most of the time, they don’t increase at the same pace.
When you’re an ambitious employee, you might find yourself in this position more often. You’re constantly creating, problem solving, and developing – a lot! That means more work. It seems like a necessary evil, and you tell yourself that “when this issue is resolved, I’ll be on top of everything.”
Then, the organization expands or a new report/event/product/program shows up, and you’re back to square one. But now, you have all the work that you had before PLUS, you will take on new tasks.
This is a big failing I’ve found in many organizations. Most companies are fine coming up with additional work for employees but are rarely willing to pay for the extra work. They don’t keep up with the pace.
In the administrative field, our skill set can be quite vast. I find it fun to try out new skills and am happy to apply those skills to my job. However, if those continuous new skills become expected but aren’t acknowledged or compensated, I will start to feel resentment.
“Well, if they aren’t going to pay you. I’d stop doing [insert text here] if I were you.”
My response: Have you actually tried doing that? It’s not an easy thing to do. Most times, it appears as if you’re throwing a tantrum or are “not a team player.” It’s really not that easy to do. Our profession is often treated as “lesser than” and dispensable, so we’re frequently operating from a position of low/no power, so if you’re reliant on this job, you feel stuck.
If you can actually do that, please share your story, how you did it, and how it turned out for you! I’d love to hear your story!
Full disclosure: I haven’t been able to just stop doing a task once I started it. It’s hard to give less when you actively striving to be more. It’s not right or fair, so instead of fighting the unwinnable fight, I look for another job.
Conclusion
Ultimately, consider what is important to you in your job and what makes you happy. It’ll be different for everyone, so what I wrote here are not hard and fast rules to follow.
In fact, often, it still takes me a while to decide to leave a position if these signs are present. Sometimes, negative experiences are temporary, and there are things I can do to try to solve the issues I’m having.
It is not my personality to make impulsive, irrational decisions. So, I use these red flags as a way to ensure that I don’t lose too much of myself, my needs, and my happiness. Having an idea of what is important to you can help you determine whether you should quit your unfulfilling admin job.
I hope post resonated with you.
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