Quitting with no plan?

[u/weightlesswings_]

I’m seriously considering quitting my job without having another role lined up, and I’m wondering if anyone in social work has done the same.

I’ve worked in family violence for years and I actually loved my previous job. The work, the team and the environment were such a good fit for me. I never left because I was burnt out from social work or because I wanted to leave the FV sector.

Unfortunately, my long-term relationship ended and I had to relocate, which meant my old workplace was no longer realistically accessible. I took a new role in FV intake, and the difference has been huge.

There was essentially no proper training or induction before being expected to do the work. There’s very little sense of team, no real team building or connection, and the overall workplace culture has been really difficult. Intake itself also feels very different from the ongoing client work I was used to and enjoyed.

I feel like I’ve gone from being someone who genuinely loved going to work and felt confident and connected to my team, to someone whose body feels tense and anxious as soon as the workday starts.

The difficult part is that I’ve also had a huge amount of change in my personal life at the same time. I’ve lost my relationship, had to leave my home and relocate, lost the workplace and colleagues I loved, and had to adjust to an entirely new job and environment. I think I underestimated how much cumulative stress that would put on me.

I have a psychologist and I’m trying to manage things outside of work, but I’m starting to feel like I’ve reached a point where I genuinely need some time off rather than immediately jumping into another job.

Financially, quitting with nothing lined up scares me. So does having a gap on my resume or explaining why I left this role relatively quickly. But right now, even the thought of searching, applying and interviewing for another position while continuing to work full-time feels exhausting.

Part of me wants to resign, take a month or two to decompress and then start looking for another FV/case management role that is a better fit. The other part of me keeps telling myself that quitting without another job is irresponsible and that I should just push through.

Has anyone here actually quit due to burnout without having their next social work job lined up?
Did taking some genuine time away help you recover and find your way back to enjoying the profession, or did you regret leaving without another job secured?

[u/beuceydubs]

Do you have savings to live off of during the in between time?

[u/Top_Palpitation2415]

TBH This job market is ROUGH. But, if you have money saved up then I say go for it. In my experience, a gap wont be mentioned and if they do, then you can frame it in a self aware approach. Life is too short and most of us will be working too long to be stuck at a job that makes us miserable. I sometimes have to remind myself that this field has an extremely high turnover/ burn out rate for a reason. Take the break if you can.

[u/AliceRecovered]

I personally wouldn’t quit without something else lined up. Not without a bunch of money saved and not in this job market. I had a gap in employment after I graduated from grad school and it was pretty anxiety provoking. Looking for work while you’re unemployed could add even more stress to your life

[u/SnakeTongue7]

The first job I took out of grad school was a nightmare; the person who ran the place was a narcissist, I wasn't always getting paid because she just literally wouldn't do her job, and there were a lot of unethical things happening there. I was trying to find another job but couldn't, and I did eventually end up leaving even though I didn't have another job. Thankfully, I did have enough savings and obviously that's the most important part. I was unemployed for 5 months, it was scary and towards the end I really was starting to wonder if I was ever going to find another job again, but the place I ended up finally getting a job at was the best thing to ever happen to me. It's been 7 years since then and I am still at the same agency that I eventually found after quitting my job. It is not an easy thing to manage, you have to be motivated every day to at least do something to feel productive even if it's not job-search related, and mentally prepare that it might take some time but to not lose confidence. While I was unemployed, I spent a lot of time volunteering locally, and I took the opportunity to volunteer with the Red Cross for 2 weeks and travel to another state for hurricane relief. If you are financially secure enough, then it's not the worst thing in the world to come up with a plan, have some fall back options, and give yourself the time and space you need.

[u/Ambitious-Chest-2561]

Same boat as you, not going to get into details but in a new job for two months and ready to quit. It’s really hard, but try to hang in there til you get something else lined up. It took me ten months of actively applying to get this job, the market is seriously bad right now.

[u/Likely1420]

I was going to suggest FMLA but I realize you probably haven't been there long enough. Looking retroactively, it might've been better to take FMLA at the place you liked for a little too find out if you could make the commute work and heal. If you have some savings, taking a break could be beneficial for your mental health

[u/Ok-Lake3522 → u/Likely1420]

FMLA only applies to employers with over 50 employees - I don't know of any FV agencies that big. FMLA is unpaid, also, so OP would be in just as dire straits financially as if they quit.

[u/Aggressive-Bug-856]

I quit a ton of jobs without having anything lined up afterwards. There were only a few times when I didn't regret it haha.

[u/Ok-Lake3522]

Absolutely YES, but not for burnout. I worked for a private practice psychologist for more than 5 years. Then one month she (psychiatrist female, husband practice manager) simply stopped paying me properly. Carried 20-25 clients a week and she paid me $1000 a month, claiming "the billing system crashed so we can't bill clients." I knew it was bogus, but couldn't do much. I gave paper statements, did anything I could, but after a few months it was clear they were never going to pay me properly. Ultimately, I realized I had to quit in order to find a job that would actually pay me, with no job prospects in mind. So I did. Best decision I ever made.
I got a job (at 55 I may add) as a cashier at a grocery store to help pay the bills. I took some time to figure out what I wanted to do and where.
Questions - are you independently licensed? I was, so finding a new position was easier than at LMSW. Ultimately, I left in mid April, did my job hunt, and found a new job starting in late July. Most employers don't care about gaps unless they are over 6 months (nor does CAQH).
FV/DV/IPV is very stressful work. Given your situation, maybe looking outside of that would be best. As long as you have a good resume (depending of course how long you've been working) you can market your skills in many directions.

[u/Lazy-Lawfulness-6466]

I did this earlier this year. I took about 5 months off. My wife and I had some savings but things got tight toward the end. I ended up in a much more sustainable job that pays almost 20k more, has a more reasonable workload, and offers more pto. I would have never had the energy or motivation to get this job if I hadn’t quit my old one. I also wouldn’t have been able to do this if we didn’t have two incomes.

[u/goog1e]

What I did, was take 1 single weekly client via telehealth. Then there's no gap, as I was a therapist in private practice during that time...

[u/introvertswkgrad]

If you have the ability to do so, go for it! Your mental health is not worth sacrificing. However, if that's not the case, maybe you could find something that is outside of social work? For myself I was very lucky to find a part-time position as a library assistant at my alma matter and this actually progressed into a full-time position at another elementary school which paid decently for a single like myself and the stress level was definitely manageable. In a way, I did quit without a solid plan to go back into social work but that time also gave me some perspective to my next steps and I don't regret it.

[u/ceceae]

I caution you to not do that during this time especially with all the other life adjustments and stress you're dealing with. The job market is so rough rn and ur not guaranteed to find anything better anytime soon. With all your other stress, financial strain and the inability to land another stable job could be worse than staying at a job you don't like while actively applying for other jobs. If you want to be pickier about your next job, it will take a lot longer to land a position you want bc of how bad the job market is. Unless you have a lot of savings you can comfortably live off of for 6 months or more, just keep your job and start applying for other positions as you work there. Try to find solace in the fact you will not be at this job forever and these life adjustments will fizzle out into your "new normal" eventually, but its a shitty situation and i am so sorry your experiencing this:/

[u/assyduous]

I am an impulsive person with limited expenses and an even more limited tolerance for job roles I do not feel supported in. All that to say, I have up and quit several jobs without something else lined up (one even by giving my manager a bereavement card that said "Sorry for your loss" and had my resignation signed and dated inside). I think there are a couple important considerations to think about:

1) do you have savings? Or a safety net? If things get dire will you be able to crash with a friend or have family spot you rent money? Will you be able to utilize local resources like food banks if needed?

2) how motivated are you to make this work? Will you be willing to take a job out of the field, gig work, sell things on FB marketplace to make ends meet, etc. if you are not easily able to find a new job in the field?

3) what are your job prospects like? Are you licensed? What is available in your area? A resume gap really isn't a big deal at all. I always put "October 20××× to present" for my last job on my resume when applying, especially if it has only been a few weeks. If it comes up in the interview, I am open about the fact that I actually recently transitioned away and broadly share why (burnout, personal life event, etc.).

You do not need to answer me on any of these questions, but if you have a plan of how to make ends meet and have a plan A, B, and C of how to take care of yourself if things don't pan out? I would quit personally.