Decisions decisions decisions...

[Got Philk?]

I need to get something off my chest. Sorry if this becomes a self help kind of post...

This is my situation. I'm looking at quitting my current job. My job I have now is really a lot of fun. I do enjoy what I do for sure. But when I signed on full time, things were lots different. A couple things seem to have changed. For one, one of my managers has really gotten a big head and to be blatently honest, has no management skills. This could sound really immature by me, but honestly just last week, she met with the man who runs the gym b/c EVERY worker has had some sort of power tripping run in with this woman lately.

The other thing about this place is there is no place for me to go up on the ladder so to speak. It's sort of become a family business where the secretary, who was just hired, is the president's daughter, my main boss has been there for 12 years and was a family friend even before he worked there so is basically family. And the other management employees are not going anywhere any time soon as they have been friends since forever too. So I kind of feel as if it's a good time to get out.

My dilema comes after this. I get married in Septemeber. We probably are going to move after the wedding(my fiance could be getting a job in Florida). With my job in the summer, I generally have lost close to 20 hours a week. In other words, hard to survive. So, I have started looking for other jobs.

I have a job lined up for landscaping. I love landscaping, but looking ahead as far as my career building, landscaping doesn't really help my resume.

I also have a potential 40 hour position at a YMCA here in town. I interview later this week. If this works out, I'll feel a little better about quitting since it's in my field of what I like to do.

Look, I'm good with kids. I'm 24 and have an idea of what I like to do, but feel trapped in my job now and wonder what else is there. I'm sick of working from 8:00 am till 7:00 pm monday through saturday. I would like to be a manager and feel I can handle more repsonsibility. But all I need, or can get right now b/c of my situation is a summer job really b/c mine won't pay the bills.

But will it look bad if I quit this job? Am I stressing over my career goals or decisions too much?
If you read all this, wow...I love you.
Thanks for letting me type this all out.
phil

 

[anitram]

Well, I'm not sure I totally get the timeline of events but anyway...

I'd keep the job until I had another one lined up. And if I didn't get one lined up, I'd rather stay here and grab the money until September and then quit.

Basically I'm in a similar situation in that I decided to go back to school this September. I am really tempted to quit tomorrow, for 101 different reasons, but at the same time, the money is nice to have. And if you figure that you only have 4-5 months left there AT WORST (and that's if you don't get another job), it's not too hard to take.

 

[redkat]

Good luck getting the job at the Y

That used to be what I wanted to do when I grew up. I loved being a camp counselor and all the higher ups were so cool to work with. There is room to grow there as well. I believe the Y Directors I worked with actually made a pretty good living.

And I'd try not to quit until you have something lined up

 

[Got Philk?]

And I'd try not to quit until you have something lined up

Thanks for the responses. But this is really my big question. IF I quit this job like I want to, and don't get the Y job, would landscaping be "something lined up?"

What if I can't work my job I have now this summer b/c I would only work 20 hours or under(I'm paid by the hour) and I don't get paid enough to cover car insurance, rent, student loans, etc. See the dilema???

 

[anitram]

Well, you're right that landscaping probably won't really do much for your career wise if you're not interested in it. It's just a job that will pay.

If you don't mind doing landscaping for a summer and would make more money there than at your current job and it would make you happier, then maybe you should take it. You're young and you haven't yet started on the path to your career yet and even if the landscaping doesn't add much to your resume, I think most employers realize that young people just out of school are working all kinds of jobs to make ends meet, so I don't think they'd hold it against you.

And if you're moving this fall to another state, anything you take will be temporary anyway, right? So maybe temporary landscaping is better than being miserable where you are and also trying to survive on part time hours?

 

[redkat]

Thanks for the responses. But this is really my big question. IF I quit this job like I want to, and don't get the Y job, would landscaping be "something lined up?"

What if I can't work my job I have now this summer b/c I would only work 20 hours or under(I'm paid by the hour) and I don't get paid enough to cover car insurance, rent, student loans, etc. See the dilema???

Nothing wrong with taking a temp. job because it pays well. It may not be in your field but it still says something positive about you and it'll pay the bills.

 

[Liesje]

As your fiancee, I will input my two cents....

Quit Gymco, apply for the YMCA and accept ONLY under the conditions that they understand they can't keep piling on more tasks b/c part of the point of quitting Gymco is so that we have nights and weekends to plan the wedding and look for "real" jobs, and if that doesn't work for them, do the landscaping. Like I said tonight, the YMCA position would be good experience and good on the resume, but don't give in on your needs/wants simply because you're worried about will or won't happen in the future. If you have to do landscaping in order to be happy, so be it. Even "professional" people like my dad like my dad with decades of experience in sales end up working on paint crews during the summer and plowing snow during the winter to make ends meet.

 

[nbcrusader]

Large gaps in employment or frequent job changes can look bad on a resume. However, you are very early in a career and the significant transitions taking place will not have a negative impact.

As a general rule, it is best to keep a job until the next one is lined up. But if all this changes in a couple of months (post wedding), I say go with what makes you happy.

 

[Liesje]

As a general rule, it is best to keep a job until the next one is lined up.

One thing it looks like he didn't mention in the original post is that unlike a job like landscaping or whatever, it would be really hard for the kids if he stayed on the job for the first bit of summer and then quit if he did get the Y job. Coaching gymnastics is kind of like being a school teacher of sports. A lot of his kids are young, like 4 or 5, and some have mental disabilities so they need to bond with their coach and have consistency, so it's sad for them if a coach quits halfway through their program and the gym has no one else to cover so the kids either get screwed, or have to adjust to a brand new person without any warning. Many, many kids drop out once they pass a class or move to a new level because they just can't adjust to a new coach. I think Phil has the kids' best interests at heart so in fairness to their emotions and because parents invest a lot of time and money into their kids' gymnastics and would be quite upset if the coach quit halfway through, it would be better for Phil to quit in May even if he doesn't have something else set in stone.

I think he should definitely quit, and I think he should do it as planned, after Awesome Achievement Week, because then the school year programs are done and summer enrollment can begin fresh without him.

Also, I've been a part of this gym since I was 8 years old and like he says, there's really only one or two people at the top and everyone else is just high school kids working for maybe a year at a time. It's such a small place and they are terrible at marketing, make zero effort to encourage growth, that there's really no room for him. It's also a family run business and they clearly do favors for family members as opposed to more qualified coaches, even if they deny this. The woman that owns it hired her twin sister to do accounts payable and her bimbo, dumb as a doorknob daughter to be marketing director and treats the gymnastics program director like her adopted son, which he basically is since he's worked under this title virtually unopposed for 15 years.

 

[nbcrusader]

That makes perfect sense. If there is a natural cycle to a job (seasons, school year, etc.), it is better to end on the cycle instead of the middle.

 

[Lila64]

I have no comments, but wanted to wish Phil the best of luck in whatever he decides (And I can't wait for Fast Cars )

 

[Liesje]

Yes...what livluv said... I am fulfilling my contract and honestly leaving when most kids leave for the summer anyway.

I really hope I get this Y job.

Edit: Oops, I forgot to log myself in. Lies hates it when I do this.

 

[BonosBaby12]

If you feel this is what you want Phil than quit when the time is up. Hopefully you will get the Y job! Good luck I hope everything works out well for you There is nothing worse than being stuck in a job that you aren't happy at.

 

[Liesje]

Yes...what livluv said... I am fulfilling my contract and honestly leaving when most kids leave for the summer anyway.

I really hope I get this Y job.

Edit: Oops, I forgot to log myself in. Lies hates it when I do this.

 

[Tilli]

Gosh this thread had me very confused for a minute, until I clicked that you two live together I thought LivLuv was talking to herself

Good luck with the job hunting!

 

[Carek1230]

Decisions, decisions is right! I am not good at making them for myself, but I do it for a living every day. Go figure. I do know I would never quit a job without already having something else lined up. Good luck, no matter how it all pans out. I am sure it will be fine!

 

[Got Philk?]

Gosh this thread had me very confused for a minute, until I clicked that you two live together I thought LivLuv was talking to herself

 

[Liesje]

Gosh this thread had me very confused for a minute, until I clicked that you two live together I thought LivLuv was talking to herself

Haha! Actually, I live with my girl friends and Phil lives with my parents!

 

[Lila64]

does he have a curfew too?

 

[Techie2000]

Haha! Actually, I live with my girl friends and Phil lives with my parents!

Sounds to me like Phil might win some kind of "man that has the best relationship with his in-laws in the world" award soon...

 

[dazzlingamy]

I think its nice Phil that you are thinking of your kids you are going to teach, and not wanting to disrupt them by leaving half way through the season. You do seem to be in a bit of a hard spot so good luck with the Y interview, I hope you get it and it eases your mind a bit!

Its hard working for a place where you see no promotion oppurtunities. It gives you nothing to aim for and you feel like your floating, doing nothing... it can leave you frustrated. But at least you LIKE your job!

What career do you want to do? It sound slike you'd be an awesome Pe teacher for primary kids!