If you told your friends you hate your job, they’d probably just tell you to join the club. Plenty of people are not working in a position they enjoy.

But now you hear about the Great Resignation and all the people deciding to follow their dreams. Maybe it has you thinking you should give it a try.

Before doing so, The Muse shared some good reasons you might want to rethink that. Keep these things in mind before making any big moves:

You Need an Income

This is the most basic reason anyone stays at a job they hate. If the pay is at least decent, you really need to be having a bad time there to give that up. If you need the money and have nothing better lined up, don’t make an emotional decision.

Opportunity for Advancement

Do you hate your job because of your current duties? If so, will you be doing them in perpetuity, or is there an opportunity to advance? If you just need to tough it out until you likely get promoted, it could be worth sticking it out.

Your Network

Is the company you work for somewhere highly reputable? If there is name value to the company or who your boss is, that is an asset to leverage. You have more negotiating power for other jobs when saying you are a current employee somewhere important rather than a former employee.

The Skills You Learn

If you ever worked an unpaid internship you probably have bad memories of being told to do it for the work experience. But sometimes it is true. Does your job specialize in some highly sought-after skill? If so, it is worth staying long enough to develop that and make yourself more of a great hire for somewhere else.

What Would be Better?

In short, don’t quit a job you hate without something better in hand. If you just impulsively quit, it might feel liberating for a couple of days, but then the reality is that you have bills that need to be paid.

Nobody likes hearing they should keep doing something they hate. But you always want to weigh the pros and cons of a big decision.

If you are still on the fence about quitting a job you hate, see if The Muse can help you decide in their post here.

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Dr. Paul Jenkins of Live on Purpose TV offers tips on how to stay positive in a job you hate.

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