As an NHS junior Doctor who now works part-time, I spent a lot of time thinking about quitting my job… 

I have learn’t from the steps I have taken, that there were a few key questions I needed to ask myself (& answer)! They don’t just apply to healthcare professionals.

I'll explain what each of they are in this blog. I hope you will find them helpful if you’re similarly thinking about quitting or feeling a little lost on your career journey.

It really is possible to find your own way!

It might be that you do genuinely dislike the job you are doing. However, it might be that you just don’t like how your job is affecting other things in your life. For example, I realised I didn’t completely hate the work I was doing as a doctor I just wanted to be able to dedicate more time to other things in my life. You need to carefully understand why it is you want to quit your job because otherwise you might just be thinking the grass is greener on the other side when actually, another job won’t fix the problem. What is it you ACTUALLY want to change about your current job? Are you sure it’s your job that needs to change? The more honest you are with yourself answering this question, the better. 

It might be that some small changes to your current role could make you enjoy your job more than you currently do… Do you want to be able to work remotely? Do you want to be able to work less hours or part-time? Do you want to spend more time working on things which align more with your skill sets & values? It might be that your current employer will be happy to accommodate these changes but you aren’t going to find out unless you ask. It’s much easier for an employer to retain staff that they’ve already trained. Similarly, it’s much easier for you to change your current role instead of going through the process of re-applying for other jobs. You’ve got nothing to lose by asking. Personally, I managed to adapt my job as a doctor to better fit what I wanted by going part-time... This gave me the freedom of time I was looking for to pursue my own businesses & other passions. 

Firstly, there’s no point quitting your job if you don’t have a backup plan in place. It’s not fun being unemployed & the process of finding a new job can be competitive, stressful & time-consuming. Secondly, you really need to make sure the alternative is going to be better than your current job. You need to take some time to research the alternative career you want to pursue. I would argue that the very first step of this process is establishing what you enjoy & what your skill sets are... Your career needs to align with these things and your career values (aka. what do you want to prioritise from your career). Try to consider the 4 career values: freedom of time, freedom of location, fulfilment & money. It’s essential that the alternative you’re going to pursue matches your values, otherwise you’ll find yourself in the same situation once the novelty of your new job has worn off! 

It might feel like you want to quit. 

As a burnt-out doctor I felt the same. I considered lots of different roles & even applied for some.... 

It took me time to explore, research & reflect but eventually I was able to answer the previous 3 questions. 

I realised I didn’t need to actually quit working as a doctor, I just needed to find a way to pursue my other passions in parallel. I found a way. You can too!

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