As a blogger who talks about career advice and professional development, this has been something extremely difficult to share but just as difficult to keep from my readers. I’ve been meaning to publish this post but have been putting it off because I was busy getting married in the middle of March. Now that the nuptial has been completed, I am ready to roll this news out.

First, let’s get the shocking facts out there. I quit my job in the second week of February. Yes, it was the amazing company that I joined last year in the Fall. And yes, I handed in my resignation the same day I cleaned up my desk and walked out of the building. And yes, I may have, possibly, more than theoretically, burned some bridges.

In the last month or so, I’ve had ample time to reflect on why I felt compelled to make this decision, why I eventually did it, and how I could’ve done things different in hindsight. And most importantly, what I’ve learned from this to help me make better decisions in the future.

Why I decided to leave the company:

1) Conversations with my then manager revealed that there were many other priorities in the department, and my development plan was falling to the wayside.
2) The details and timing regarding what was going on with my role, without disclosing confidential information about the company, was not aligned with my long-term goal in this career track.
3) My working environment was so bad that in the long-run I knew I was going to develop mental health issues if I didn’t do something about it.

Professionally speaking, this job/work environment didn’t fit into my career path forward anymore, but I also had a few personal reasons that made it a safe and comfortable decision to leave:

1) I had become debt-free (more on this later!!) in the last few months of 2016, and I know exactly how much monthly living expenses are. Between my fiance and I, we will be perfectly fine with just one of our incomes.
2) I have Cubicle Chic which is my passion and what I’ve dedicated my personal time to. Without a 9-5 job, I wouldn’t feel like I don’t have a goal to pursue or targets to accomplish. In other words, I would still get to have a sense of personal worth and value coming from “work”. This has always been important to me.
3) All my family members and close friends supported my decision 100%.

It took a lot of courage and introspection before I came to this conclusion, but the rest of the process was pretty simple. I had a long but very detailed conversation with the HR manager, and with his help, considered all aspects of my decision.

Looking back, though, I think there were a few things I could’ve managed better in this process.

1) I could’ve involved my teammates a little more, earlier on. By the time I decided to leave, I started having more open conversations with my teammates who all were under the same manager. Themes and patterns started to emerge and it was clear we were suffering alone by not talking about things in the open. And because I had started these conversations so late, my decision to leave was probably more startling than it should’ve been.
2) I could’ve been more proactive and reached out to more people and create a stronger network during the first three months when I didn’t have a manager. It wasn’t as difficult leaving the company at the end because I hadn’t created that many contacts. But I missed out on having more support and a network to lean on in times of distress because I hadn’t reached out as much. Ultimately it made my departure rather frictionless. I don’t regret this decision at all, but I do think about how differently things would’ve turned out if I stayed there.

All in all, I am in a much better place now, enjoying my new Mrs. life while starting to job search again. I will keep you guys updated on what happens next!  Until then.. see you around Cubicle Chic!