Are you really prepared to quit?

Be sure to take time, consider reasons before big decision.

Before you give notice that you’re quitting, it’s smart to take clear-eyed stock of why you want to move on.

Credit advice from The Five O’Clock Club, a career advice organization for these suggestions:

Never quit quickly. Steps taken in anger often are regretted. Take a month to assess your work-life situation before walking out the door.

Ask yourself why — exactly — you want to quit. Is it the duties? The boss? Your co-worker(s)? Think through some possible ways to cope or work around the problem before you leap.

Have you honestly explained your dissatisfaction to your supervisor or the human resources department? People in charge can’t fix your issues if they don’t know the real ones. It’s worth a try to offer a valid suggestion for change.

Did you immediately realize the job wasn’t for you? Sometimes it’s better to cut bait early than spend months in an awful match. But regularly jumping ship soon after taking jobs creates an unfavorable work history. Job hopping happens a lot - often at no fault of the employee - but future employers still will wonder why you haven’t stayed at jobs for long.

Are there suitable options for you within the company? Apply. It’s generally easier to change jobs within an organization (assuming you have a good reputation) than to go through an outside job search.

What’s your local or professional job market like? Even when a nation is at “full employment” there are sectors that desperately need workers and sectors that don’t. Be sure there are openings that fit your skills and interests or you’re likely to face a long, unsatisfactory job search.

Do you honestly know what you want to do? If not, it’s time to employ a career counselor, take skills and interest assessments and interview people who do what you might like to do.

So, let’s say you’ve assessed your options and decided to look for a different job. You’ve done your homework, applied for appropriate positions and received interview offers.

Here are some ideas from a web service called Waggl that asked interviewers to rank their favorite interview questions.

The top ones to expect will be along these lines:

Tell me about your pivotal leadership experiences. What did you learn and how do you apply it?

■ How do you deal with someone who isn’t cooperative?

■ Tell me about an event that made you grow as a leader.

■ What is your personal professional brand?

■ Tell me about a time you overcame resistance and accomplished the business goal.

■ Who is your hero and why?

■ What excites you about this job?

■ How did you address negative feedback in a specific instance?

■ Here’s a real-world problem we’re now facing. How would you solve it?

AP PHOTO/MATT ROURKE, FILE In this June 23, 2014, file photo, a recruiter, at left, takes the resume of an applicant during a job fair, in Philadelphia. On Thursday, Feb. 18, 2016, the Labor Department reports on the number of people who applied for unemployment benefits the...