Ask Vicki: How do I quit a job when I have no idea what to do next?

Each week, Monster’s career expert Vicki Salemi — a former recruiter who utilizes 15plus years of experience in recruiting and human resources to empower job seekers — answers user questions on Quora. We’ll be republishing the answers here. If you have a question for Vicki, send it to socialmedia@ monster.com.

How do I quit a job when I have no idea what to do next?

There are several variables here, and without knowing about your specific situation — such as having financial support for a rainy day at the ready — if you’re at the point where you want to quit and don’t have a plan in place, my suggestion is to hold off on that move, and temporarily keep the job.

You want to do this to keep your skills sharp and continue to earn income as you formulate what you’re going to do next. Landing a job may take several months when all is said and done, so don’t jump into the process lightly (even if your current situation is challenging).

The best, most successful job search route entails being clear with your objectives — not only about what you want and what your goals are but what your strengths and weaknesses are. Without this selfawareness, it will likely take longer to conduct a successful, meaningful search.

You can figure out some of this and identify what to do next by doing a variety of tasks.

1. Talk to friends, talk to your mentor.

2. Identify your strengths and industries and/or companies which have current openings tied to your strengths, skills and experiences as well as values.

3. Conduct informational interviews

4. Reach out to people in your network (and always ask who they know who could be valuable for conversations as well) and tell them you’re ready for a change but you haven’t exactly figured out what the future looks like. Ask them about what they love about their job, what they hate about it, what they would do differently if they were entering their industry now instead of back in the day when they launched their career.

Treat this process like an adventure, a page-turner where you’re writing your own sequel! Rely on people, conduct online job research, check out companies online to figure out your next moves.

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