Why I Quit My 6-Figure Job

"What happened?"

My accountant asked last April. He'd been doing my taxes for more than a decade and had seen my annual income rise well into the six figures.
"It looks like you took a . . . "—he worked over his calculator—"98 percent pay cut."
"Yep, that sounds about right."
"How did this happen?"
It was quite simple, actually. I went into my boss's office one day and quit. No severance. No other job. No interest in a counteroffer. I simply walked away.
At age 38, I'd decided to become an actor.

I went broke and found mental, marital and financial stability. By Steve Belanger, Men's Health
- read more

Okay, so I'd have to partially agree with this career move. While it is more important to enjoy your career than stay in the rat race or worship the mighty dollar, it is important to make a slow transition into an extreme career. Acting, in my opinion, is an extreme career move. In most instances, an actor is a starving artist. This guy was a VP for cryin-out-loud! Now, I know just because your a VP, you may not be happy pushing paper and people around. It looks good on the outside, but many high level office jobs suck just as much as retail work. You just get paid a lot more. So this guy probably made enough money to jump ship on a days notice, although this would be financial suicide for most of us. Make sure to do the following before transitioning into an unstable job:

1) Save a lot. Make sure to pack money away for a rainy day. As you transition from one career to the next, you may need some savings to fall back on.
2) While your exploring and planning your new career, make sure to keep your day job. Keeping your day job for a bit will keep an income coming in during the risky phase of your career change. After you build confidence that your new career will bring in more money, then you can leave your old career behind.
3) Plan at least a year in advance before making the transition. I would suggest planning and preparing for at least 2 years prior to transitioning jobs.

My Boss Wants to Befriend Me

Prospective employers also seem to have no compunction conducting searches on job applicants before they call them in for interviews. "We'll Google them and I know that we've done MySpace searches," says attorney Caroline Kert of prospective hires.

She's mostly looking for slams against a former employer or exposed proprietary information. She says she'd never hold against applicants something like, say, a photo of them wearing a fur bikini. Good thing. Ms. Kert, a regular at the Burning Man Festival, has pictures of herself sporting just that on MySpace.

whoa. Did I read correctly? Future employers actually sign up for MySpace and Facebook in the hopes of "catching" prospective employees in some sort of incriminating act or photos. Hold on one second as I now proceed to change my MySpace profile to "Private."

Lesson learned: If you're looking for a job, take down the photo of you in the hot tub with five other similarly attired strangers and instead, post the modest photo (i.e. you know- the one where you're the wearing pinstriped business suit, briefcase in hand, bright-eyed, big smile). Because Big Cousin is watching you!

- read article

Tips for quitting your job

Even if your current employer wants you to stay the customary 2 weeks or longer, sometimes its better to 'get out of Dodge' sooner rather than later. "Once you have given your notice, you become a lame duck," Hazan says. "You are not the go-to person any more; your projects and responsibilities get cut. In some cases, the sooner you transition out the better it is for you and your employer," she concludes.

read more -
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/Careers/03/21/cb.quitting/index.html

Exit Your Current Job By Building Bonds,Not Lobbing Bombs

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118583492772882721.html
Building solid bridges generates more than a rosy reference letter when you resign. It can boost your future job prospects. "Leaving well is a basic career competency," observes Dory Hollander, an executive coach at WiseWorkplaces in Arlington, Va. "If you leave on a high note with connections that are real and true, you create opportunities for yourself down the road."

In the 11 years that I’ve been in the full-time workforce, I’ve had jobs totaling all five digits on one hand and then some on the other. Needless to say, I’ve had a lot of experience resigning.

Admittedly, 10 years ago, when I resigned from my first “real” job, I didn’t exit as gracefully as I could have. In fact, being the fresh faced 21 year old that I was, I thought it was my civic duty to ream my lazy, fingernail-cutting-on-the job, reading-Yachting magazine all-day boss during the exit interview. The guy eventually retired a few years later, so I never saw him again after I exited the building.

However, three years ago when I quit yet another job, I left in a somewhat civil, if frosty, manner. In reality, I left for a much better opportunity and much more money. But my desire to leave was precipitated by a disagreement on how our department ought to be run. My former boss still threw me a “Sad to See You Go” party and asked to call me after I left, which of course, I said, “Suuuuure!” The phone call never came and I wasn’t disappointed. However, this time around, I did see my former boss….at a conference sponsored by my new employer, a large professional services firm. I didn’t know she was going to be one of the guests and she didn’t know I was going to be one of the panelists. Needless to say, it was very awkward during the Social Hour. Did anyone notice? Hard to say…. We tried to be congenial while at the same time avoid each other.
Lesson learned: Be nice to your former boss or colleagues on your way out because you WILL encounter them again.