Avoiding Career regrets

In times of deep private introspection, I think there are many people who would look back at their careers and admit that they once made a resignation error. If you were to conduct a poll, asking people what they think was their worst career regret, I am convinced that wrong resignation would top the chart for more people.

“When is the best time to resign” is to ask ourselves if there is a “wrong or indelicate time or circumstance/reason to resign? There are.

• Done suddenly or unplanned – as much as you can, your resignation shouldn’t be sudden, it has to be planned.
• Done in response to an event – it shouldn’t be done in response to an event. It should be planned in response to several events and in alignment with future aspirations.
• New company wants you to come immediately – don’t reign suddenly because the new company wants you to resume with them immediately. A company that is willing to have you resume immediately and therefore puts pressure on you to disregard giving resignation notice to your current company; such a company would also not have any problem asking you to leave without a due process.
• New company promises you heaven – don’t be so easily enticed by promises made by CEO or personnel from the new company, to the extent that you become blind to professional considerations. This could be a career landmine.
• Established or unestablished company–going from an established to an unestablished company must be given additional thought with granular clarity on the exact value.
• Disregards existing relationships – as much as you can avoid a resignation choice or process that requires you to hurt or damage existing relationships.
• Your boss is a huge pain–the fact that your boss is a huge pain is not enough reason to resign. Except this person begins to mete out dehumanizing treatments.