Are you considering quitting your job without giving notice but don’t know the impact it will have on your career? We have you covered with how it will affect you AND your employer. Keep reading to learn more!

We’ve all been there: The day comes where the job that’s been dragging you down, making you frustrated and annoyed, with the manager that seems to treat you like another cog in the wheel instead of as a person who deserves a simple ‘thank you’ now and again, gets to be just too much and all you want to do is get up and walk out. You’ve daydreamed about it, standing up, turning on your heel and using some choice words as you make it very clear that you’re done and won’t be coming back.

But maybe it’s not the best idea to actually make that particular dream a reality. The practice of quitting your job without notice, just tendering your resignation and having it take effect immediately, might come back to hurt you down the road.

Consider the following.

1. It could damage your reputation. When you walk out on a job, without providing any kind of notice, you earn a reputation not as a considerate and courteous worker but as someone who acts in anger and cannot be trusted. If, in the process of applying for a new job, your would-be manager calls your previous boss to ask about you, they might get an earful about how you walked out and the manner in which it was done. That could cost you opportunities! The same is true of how colleagues and coworkers might remember you, not as someone who took a stand on behalf of the little guys and gals, but as someone who left them in the lurch during a busy time. It’s not the best look for a first impression.
2. It hurts your bank account. If you leave a job on the spur of the moment, without another job lined up, you probably won’t be eligible to receive unemployment. If you have savings set aside, you’ll be living off that until it runs dry. And while the job market is steadying, it still takes a while to go through the process of finding something else. If you don’t have money saved up, you need to think quickly about how you’re going to pay the bills, which might lead you to take another job as soon as possible without giving much thought as to what you want to do next — and you could wind up in a job you dislike even more than the one you left.
3. It could damage your safety net. Savings and regular income aside, a good number of people have their health insurance through their employer. Sure, you might think, that stinks but I’m healthy! I never get sick! And that may very well be true, but now you don’t have that health insurance safety net under you should something happen — an illness, an accident, an unexpected health-related bill, etc. Paying for emergency medical bills out-of-pocket is a serious expense.
4. Now what? Even if you don’t love your job, there’s probably a person or two you look forward to seeing every day, someone who makes work a little more bearable. By quitting without giving notice, you’re walking out on that person, who now has to do more work because you’re not there to do your part. That friendship might be 100% over. You’re also interrupting the routine you had established, which means you’ll be home with nothing to fill your time but looking for another job. Even if you’d already started that process, it can take time! For some people, that lack of knowing what the future holds can lead to depression and a lot of stress, in some cases just as much stress as you were feeling in the job you just left (but without the income). You might even come to regret your decision, but you can’t go back, because…
5. You’ve burned a bridge. Quitting a job and giving notice is typically a sign of respect and professionalism. It’s generally not legally required to give two weeks’ notice (unless you’re a contract employee; if that’s the case, there may be terms in your contract that have to be upheld or you face penalties), but it is a sign of decency, giving your manager the chance to prepare your team for your departure and to make accommodations until the position is filled. It also allows for your manager to view you in a professional light. Sure, they’re disappointed to be losing you, but you did things the right way. Leaving without notice, or simply not going in anymore without an explanation, means you can never work at that company again. If any of the managers leave to work for another company, they’ll likely never hire you — something that might’ve been an option if you’d left on good terms. You never want to burn a bridge because you never know where they might lead in the future.

Most people, if they’re honest, will admit to being tempted to just walk out on a job and never look back. But most people don’t act on that impulse unless they absolutely have no other choice — or they have a better job lined up that they have to start immediately. Weigh your options, and your actions, carefully before taking the next step.

The good news is, there are ways to start looking for a job that can help give you a clean way out without creating all that drama. Check out the positions that Davis Staffing is looking to fill and then give us a call. Our recruiters are eager to help you find a new position, whether temporary or permanent, before you decide to leave without giving notice. Do yourself a favor and call Davis Staffing today and see what we can do for you!