Quitting before or after the start of a project

Question

I have been at my current job for a little more than one year. I get paid about half of what my position should be, but I got this job right after I graduated, so I still appreciate them taking me because I really do need the experience. My employer is pretty nice and I get along with my coworkers really well too but my current salary is just way too low so I plan to quit soon. However, they have already assigned me to a new project. The training for the new prpject will take a couple of weeks, so they will be paying someone and myself for those time just for training. If I put in my request now I can still quit before they start my training on the new project, but I will have no income until I find another job.

My question is should I quit before or after the start of a new project? My employer has some connections in my field so I don't want this to end badly and having bad reference in the future, but I'm also worried about quitting before getting a new job and how long it will take for me to have income again.

I hope what I said makes sense, thanks in advance for anyone who give me advice. I'm not sure what to do right now....

EDIT: Thanks to everyone who answered, after I read the breakdowns I won't quit until I find another job. I didn't realize there's such a a stigma of people who are unemployed looking for work. In terms of salary, my current wage is $16. For most people entering their first job in my field their salary is usually around $20/hr, after 1 year it should be close to 30/hr or even above if they are lucky enough to land in a great company. I know for sure there is no chance for a rise that can cover the gap because the managers talked to us in the beginning of the year about how to get a 2% salary increase if we work hard enough.

Related: Why is quitting without having a new job lined up seen so negatively by employers? — Bernhard Barker, Aug 20 '18 at 19:12
If you're asked to sign something committing to staying at the company for some time (which is often the way companies try to ensure a return on investment for training), you may also find this helpful: How should I handle refusing to sign a document that may indicate that I plan to leave soon? — Bernhard Barker, Aug 20 '18 at 19:19
To be honest, your current employer has got to have a lot of experience with people quitting at inopportune times to go somewhere that pays better. They'll survive another one. — David Thornley, Aug 20 '18 at 20:14
Rather than just quit, have you asked your manager for a raise? Just because they talked about a 2% salary increase for hard work doesn't mean they wouldn't double your pay if they felt you were worth it. Ask them for a raise to the amount you want. Then let them talk. Either you'll get a plan on how to get there or you'll find out for sure that you need to find another job. — NotMe, Aug 20 '18 at 20:58
Instead of editing your decision into your question, you should either accept the answer whose advice you took, or leave your own answer with the course of action you took (or plan to take). Relevant question/answers on IPS meta: How should a question asker explain the results of using specific advice? — V2Blast, Aug 21 '18 at 07:08
It's not a "stigma". It's the fact that you don't have any money coming in, which may put you into a bad negotiation position. — gnasher729, Aug 21 '18 at 11:45
Possible duplicate of What is the rationale for 'Don't quit your job until you have a new one'? — Dmitry Grigoryev, Aug 21 '18 at 11:47

score 56 · Answer 1 · edited Jun 16 '20 at 10:59

56

After.

You don't have a job; you're suggesting you quit so that you can start looking for a job, and that's just not how it's done.

It might take you months or even years to get a new job. You don't want to be both out of work AND worrying about your employer bad mouthing you (and they might when ever you quit).

You're more desirable if you're already employed.

If you had an offer, you could go back to your current employer and ask them to match it. You might even be able to argue that with your new training, you're simply worth more.

You might also be greatly over-estimating (or even under-estimating) what you're worth.

edited Jun 16 '20 at 10:59

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answered Aug 20 '18 at 19:15

Dark Matter

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That last part about over-estimating or under-estimating is key. It's a very good reason why someone should not threaten to quit or even quit before finding a new job that pays what they believe they are worth. – NotMe Aug 20 '18 at 20:59
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Also, OP should remember to *never* reveal his salary history to anyone, regardless of how much pressure they try to put. It's none of their business. – code_dredd Aug 20 '18 at 23:18
@code_dredd +1 because yes, absolutely, never reveal your current or previous salaries with any recruiters, HR people, interviewers, etc. But I would add the note that telling people your desired salary is generally fine, as long as it's reasonable. – Aug 20 '18 at 23:30
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@NicHartley No. Let them make an initial offer. If you don't like the offer, then you try to negotiate and reveal your desired salary, but not before. There's no good reason to reveal your hand before it's needed; you'll simply get out-flanked in the process. – code_dredd Aug 20 '18 at 23:34
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@code_dredd Thank you for the advice. I would never reveal my salary to employer or people I work with. The only reason I know about the general salary is from my teacher who helped a lot of his students at finding a first job. He told us not to expect high income for a first job which is why I didn't mind the salary, but now I think it's time to move on. – KSha Aug 21 '18 at 01:41
@NotMe I know the gap I said sounds like a new graduate with an unrealistic expectation, but I have talked to my teacher and people from other companies who give me suggestions about moving on after a year. My current company is pretty well known for recruiting people with minimal experience so that they don't have to pay the standard salary. I'm not looking for a huge jump on salary like double my current wage (although that would be nice), I'm just hoping to get a better paying job with perhaps better health insurance or closer to home. – KSha Aug 21 '18 at 01:53

score 20 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 20 '18 at 19:35

If I put in my request now I can still quit before they start my training on the new project, but I will have no income until I find another job.

My question is should I quit before or after the start of a new project?

Find a new job. Get and accept a formal offer. Set a start date.

Then, and only then, give your notice at your current company and work until the end of your notice period.

If all that happens to occur before you start training on a new project, then great. Otherwise, don't worry about it.

Quitting before you have a job to go to risks being without any income for a protracted period of time. And seeking a job paying what you are worth when you are currently making half that amount can take quite a long time. Often, that financial pressure leads to accepting whatever job happens to be available, even if it isn't one you really want. That's bad.

Companies understand that people cannot always time their departure to match up with company training schedules. These things happen.

score 7 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 20 '18 at 19:33

My recommendation: Never quit a job unless you already have another job lined up. You never know how hard it might be to find another job. The only exception to the above is if you plan to take an extended vacation before starting your next job hunt and you just want the time off to decompress (and you have the money/other resources to do so comfortably).

score 6 · Answer 4 · answered Aug 21 '18 at 01:32

in addition to what all the others said, I hear between the lines that you feel bad about getting trained on their nickel and then leaving the company.

Don't (feel bad).

They are letting you work for a low salary because they can, and they don't feel bad about it either.

Look for alternatives, and if you find them, ask them for a significant raise to reflect your increased experience and new skills (unless you don't like the old company anymore).
if they think you are not worth it, take the new job.

While the top answer explains what to do, I like this answer more as it explains why you shouldn’t feel bad. — Notts90, Aug 21 '18 at 12:07

score 3 · Answer 5 · answered Aug 20 '18 at 23:17

Job/Position worth is not simply defined by your salary. Things like location, work perks (PTO, technology, etc.), job workload are all important things to consider when evaluating your job worth.

For example, I personally pay a quarter of what some of my friends pay in rent and I get quite a bit of time off, unlimited sick time, and the job is low stress 90% of the year. BUT I get paid about half as much as other software engineers in places like Silicon Valley. In my opinion I make more than my colleagues because of everything that comes with my job along with my salary.

Take a step back and evaluate the job you're in and see if there are some perks to your job you might not have somewhere else.

If there aren't simply enough perks to your job and you don't make enough in salary, start looking for a job now. However, until you get an official written offer from another company continue to work and grow as a software developer in your current position. Important, high salary jobs for software developers tend to be jobs where you work way over 40 hours a week, keep that in mind.

I understand what you are saying. The reason I want another job is not simply because of salary, although that's the most important one. My current job involves a lot of basic work such as scanning or printing. The work location is more than an hour's travel from where I live, work environment is not that great because it's a small company. Health insurance is very low and basic. The people are nice, that's the only upside, but I still have student loan to pay so I can't stay just because I enjoy working with these people. — KSha, Aug 21 '18 at 01:37

Quitting before or after the start of a project

5 Answers5

After.