How and When to Say I Quit

I could have Googled till the cows came home about resigning from one job before the next is a done deal. And yet, impulsively, last Saturday I did exactly that.

Goal: to make myself available for a position that I hoped to win. I'd aced a phone interview...the company was interested...and I had a personal interview lined up for this Wednesday (6/22).
There were no guarantees, I knew, but I'd been told the company was willing to move quickly and I felt my chances were better if I could start by the 28th or 29th. A gamble, yes. And yet I rolled the dice.

My action flew in the face of the common wisdom:
1) Never quit a job until you have a new offer, preferably in writing.
2)  Always give 2 weeks notice.

I gave one week notice, based on the following facts. The present job was sucking the life force out of me. Most workers who quit there give no notice at all. And the company itself routinely fires staff with no notice or severance pay.

Experts say employers are reluctant to hire the unemployed. That can surely be a handicap if we present ourselves as unemployed or unemployable. But what if we put on a positive spin? E.g.: I left my job to free myself to find a more challenging and diverse position, something that makes use of more of my skills. What if we convey not desperation or fear of starvation but steely selectivity? What if we project a calm, determined search for high employment standards worthy of our skills?

Furthermore, what if our availability now can be presented in a way that creates a fear of loss? Tomorrow or the next day our hats may be out of the ring....

                                                                          *****

I write this post on Thursday at 7:30 a.m. While I wait for the company's decision, I've taken the following actions so far:

1) Called out absent on my next to last day at the current job.
2) Texted my contact at the staffing agency for feedback on the interview.
3) Sent my updated resume to the agency that landed me the current job and also to another agency I'd contacted last year.
4) Googled transit times to possible work sites outside Seattle: Redmond (impossibly far by bus), Kirkland (a 30 minute ride).
5) Strongly considered what I want in terms of work, pay and location. The interview yesterday took place in Capitol Hill--where I'd first hoped to live when I moved to Seattle.


                                                                         *****




Stay tuned for further developments. The road may be bumpy, I know and accept. But it's unwise and unhealthy to start each work day with a groan and then dive into bed, utterly drained, before 9. I'd taken to sleeping 12 hours a day.

If that sounds like you, then follow me and