Hate your job and can’t quit? Worried this means you can’t advance your career? Being stuck in a circumstance like this is exactly what has sparked the conversation about the concept of quiet quitting. While critics claim that quiet quitting is a bad thing, some good may come of it.
In this article, we will focus on what to do when you hate your job but can’t quite, along with what you can focus on to still advance your career. Because we believe professionals can actually use the time they spend quiet quitting to advance their professional careers!
What is quiet quitting?
According to Forbes, the concept of quiet quitting describes the behavior of unsatisfied employees putting forth the least amount of effort possible to keep their paychecks. Although quiet quitting is getting a lot of attention these days, the concept is anything but new.
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Organizations have been studying the concept of employee engagement for decades, seeking to leverage the benefits of a workforce that’s truly committed and bought into the organization’s vision.
The idea of quiet quitting is romanticized on social media platforms. It’s positioned as a statement about boundaries and the employee taking back control of their career and life. No longer will the employee stay late and go the extra mile.
It’s not surprising that this approach is problematic for a number of reasons. This is especially true for traditionally underrepresented professionals who are accustomed to higher performance standards than their white colleagues.
On the other hand, if you hate your job and can’t quit, quiet quitting might be your only option. In this case, you are backed into a corner and have to stay in your current role because of the paycheck, for example.
Why quiet quitting can advance your career
Although it might seem contradictory, quiet quitting might be a great time to work on advancing your career with your own boundaries and goals in mind. The Covid-19 pandemic has shifted a lot of our attitudes and priorities when it comes to work. On top of this, there has been a shift in the job market, giving job seekers more opportunities and leverage. The Covid-19 pandemic has forced reflection on life and career. It only makes sense that it’s a time of major change for the workforce.
Reflection and boundary setting are big parts of the quiet quitting movement, according to Psychology today. A good place to start when it comes to understanding what you want to achieve in your career is achieving ‘career clarity’.
Video: career clarity by reflection and boundary setting in terms of the next step in your career
This means doing the hard work of defining what you truly want your life to look like. Finding career clarity can be broken down into a 5-step process.
5 ways to advance your career while quiet quitting
Even when all seems hopeless with your current role or company, there are small actions that can be taken to leverage the situation for your next career move. Here are 5 ways to advance your career when you can’t quit:
1.Take a break.
Meditate, breathe, go for a walk. Do whatever works for you to keep your emotions in check and avoid an outburst which might be detrimental to your career and personal brand. It’s important to put in place an intentional coping mechanism to work through these challenging situations. This is a tool you may revisit time and time again to focus on moving through your emotions.
For example, you might manage through the lack of satisfaction at work by finding the fulfillment you are craving from another source. You might consider a hobby or side gig to fill this void. Maybe volunteering or taking on some sort of extracurricular activity will help.
Whatever the case, accept that your job isn’t going to fill this need and seek out new ways to get this satisfaction you’re looking for. Make sure you take a clear mental note of what’s missing for you and consider this as you look for your next job.
It’s your responsibility to make sure you’re managing your mental health and personal fulfillment. Better yet – Align this hobby with the type of job you actually want.
You probably haven’t taken the decision to quiet quit lightly. As a result, you might find yourself going through the motions of day to day. This is why it’s so important to pause and look around. When it comes to setting those future goals, taking a break allows the time and space to think creatively and come up with options like these:
- Want to move into a career in marketing? Volunteer to help that friend with their website.
- Always wanted to start a business? Explore self-employment.
- Think you’d be a great teacher? Why not work towards a part-time teaching gig.
By aligning your values to other ways of being fulfilled, you get some relevant experience and a potential reference.
2. Write down your job likes and dislikes
Write down the things you hate about your current job and situation. This will help you identify the root cause of your issue.
For example, are most of the items related to your job itself, the office, the company or time management in general? Review your list closely and look for key themes. Write down any things you might like about your current job and situation. This will help you identify what is working well. These lists can help you to identify the actual source of the problem, and potentially the solution.
3. Build supportive relationships
You might also consider how your current co-workers can contribute to a positive outcome. If you’ve got great co-workers on your list of ‘likes about your job’, leverage this to your advantage.
Try looking around at your co-workers and determine who you might click with. Make sure the point of the relationship is positive and the purpose is to advance your career – not to dwell on your hatred for your current position. Maybe there’s even an opportunity to connect with a mentor that can help you transition from your current role. Maybe your co-workers or mentor will provide some of the confidence and clarity you need to seek out your next position in a productive way. Focus on building these relationships and leverage them as part of your professional network. When you decide you’re ready to make a career transition, these relationships could help you through connections or references.
4. Plan to take strategic action
Your lists should reveal some important insights about your current situation. Is your issue with your job, company or industry (or all three)? Depending on what you discover, your action plan will vary. It’s unlikely that you hate everything about your job. This is why the narrowing down process is so important. Your solution could uncover something simple like, ‘I really don’t want to commute five days a week, I like it better working from home’. In this case, your work frustration might be resolved by talking to your manager.
Or your solution could uncover something a lot deeper. For example, the nature of your industry, your company or your job itself just isn’t fulfilling anymore.
5. Quiet quitters should keep doing a good job
Even if you don’t like your job, quiet quitting still means doing a good job. Keep on meeting performance standards, even if you’ve decided you don’t want to go above and beyond. If you’re looking for a new role in the same company you can be assured that the new hiring manager will look to your past performance as an indicator of potential future performance. It is very challenging to do a good job when you loathe every moment of what you’re doing.
But this point is key – the actions you take in your current position will very likely impact your ability to secure your next role. Even if you’re looking to exit the company altogether, it’s in your best interest to continue to perform. At the very least you have an opportunity to secure a stellar reference letter. This is especially true in smaller communities. People talk and you need to manage your professional reputation.
Conclusion: Not everyone should quiet quit, and there are opportunities you can seek in less than ideal jobs.
Not everyone is comfortable with, or able to leverage, quiet quitting. There are many reasons people feel the need to maintain their job at all costs, and can’t quite. For example, health care and the steady paycheck.
Underrepresented professionals might find themselves facing the added pressure of higher expectations and paving the way for the next hire from an underrepresented group.
Whatever the case, quiet quitting leads to setting new boundaries with their employer. This can be amplified through planning tough moments, listing pros and cons, and strategic action. It might even be a time to unlock a new career goal and work towards achieving your true potential and career happiness.
