<p>I'm 22 and working at my first full-time job after college. I've been job-hunting on the side for the past several months, hoping to find something more aligned with my interests and educational background. Unfortunately, I've had no luck in my search. I plan on starting grad school soon. Would it make sense for me to leave my current job in order to free up more time to look for my next one? Because I will be enrolled in school at least part-time, I'm hoping to find a very flexible job or even a solid internship.</p>
<p>To further complicate things, I'm currently living at home, but my parents' mortgage is under my name. Over the past year, almost every dollar I've earned have gone into our mortgage payments (my parents cover all of my living expenses). Would it be irresponsible of me to quit under these circumstances without another job lined up? I'm really looking forward to the day I leave my current position, but I just can't seem to find another job.</p>
<p>You can’t afford to quit if you are on the hook for that mortgage! Who is going to pay it if you don’t? Who is going to pay it when you start grad school? Can your parents scrape enough money together to cover the mortgage and their other expenses?</p>
<p>How are you planning to pay for grad school? Do you have a fellowship, or do you expect to do it with loans? How are you going to cover your living expenses?</p>
<p>You need to sit down with a financial planner. There should be someone who can help you with this at your bank or credit union. You also may want to postpone those graduate courses until your financial situation shapes up a bit.</p>
<p>I agree with the above - don’t quit the job you have now until you have a solid offer and start date for the next one.</p>
<p>I don’t understand the mortgage thing. Why would it be in your name yet your parents are paying all of your living expenses? I guess the latter really isn’t true because the major living expense most of us have is the mortgage/rent. When you’re only working part time will you still be able to cover the mortgage? It seems like it might be difficult because you say ‘every dollar’ you earn now in your FT job is going to the mortgage.</p>
<p>Agree on the don’t quit. “Why” is twofold: 1 - you need the money to keep flowing, 2 - someone employed is much more desirable than someone unemployed because the new company knows that you’re able to hold down a job. Especially since you haven’t had this one for long unless you graduated three years early.</p>
<p>So quit your job now. What plan do you have for paying the mortgage? You already know that this is a very difficult job market.
What is your rush to leave without a new job offer?
From what you posted, I can’t see how you would benefit from quitting now. I can only see drawbacks to that plan.</p>
<p>I think he feels that it will be easier to look for a new job if he has all day to spend on the job hunt. Not nearly a good enough reason, given all the disadvantages.</p>
<p>**Never, ever **quit your job until you have another source of income (aka job) linedup. It’s hard work to stay in a less than desirable job but it is reality. Do not complain about having a crappy job. Just keep plugging away until you find something better. That young man is true grit & maturity. You will be rewarded & admired in the end. Good luck!</p>
There’s nothing wrong with it being a first f/t job - lots of people get mortgages, even today, while at their first f/t job. Some people work at the same same company out of college for years and decades. The question would be how long the person was in the job and how much the income is compared with the mortgage and down payment. I know several early 20s college grads who’ve gotten mortgages despite the greater scrutiny nowadays - even in California (where the housing costs are still high).</p>
<p>Thanks for all the good advice! I should clarify: I’m a cosigner on the mortgage along with one of my parents. Not long after I started working at my current job, my parents decided it would be a good time for us to purchase our “dream” house. When they were applying for the loan, they found an error on one of their credit reports, and so my name had to be added to the mortgage. (The error has since been corrected.) </p>
<p>I’m pretty sure my parents would be able to handle the mortgage without me contributing. However, at the moment, they are still paying off loans from friends and family used to cover the downpayment of the house; this is where all of my money went towards. I might have to take out loans to pay for grad school, especially if I’m not also work full-time. My parents assured me that it would all work out…</p>
<p>My reasons for wanting to leave my job are:
(1) My current job does not relate to my educational background or what I want to do in the future. It’s already beginning to pigeon-hole me when it comes to applying for other jobs.
(2) I don’t think I’ll be able to juggle this job with school once classes start. I already spend 1.5-2 hours every weekday commuting to and from work, and I’m also expected to work overtime (unpaid) every day. I know I’ll need to do well in grad school in order for the degree to be of any use in this economy overflowing with overeducated and underemployed job applicants.
(3) I also think I need to work on accumulating industry-relevant job experience, even if it means taking internships. Once I (hopefully) graduate, I won’t be able to apply to most internships, but I still might not have any relevant work experience.
(4) It’s very hard for me to take any time off to interview. All of our vacation and personal days need to be approved in advance.</p>
<p>Should I try to stay at my current job even if I feel like it would negatively affect my academic performance?</p>
<p>You should not quit a job until/unless you have another job lined up or until you start a full time graduate school program (one that requires that you take classes during the day, making it impossible for you to work a regular 9 to 5 job at least). If you don’t feel like your current job is serving your goals or the commute is too long, it’s fine to look for another job, but don’t leave where you are in haste. You’ll be much more desirable to employers if you’re already working, they will in fact look askance at a period of unexplained unemployment. Also, if you’re having trouble finding jobs while you’re employed, there’s no reason to assume it’s going to be easier when you’re unemployed. So you’re giving up assured income on an unsubstantiated hope. It is in fact usually much much more difficult to find another job while you are unemployed then it is to find one while you are working. </p>
<p>If you’re worried that you won’t be able to balance your current job with grad school, then the best thing to do is to defer grad school while you look for a job that has a shorter commute and more flexible hours. </p>
<p>It also sounds like you need to talk to your parents and figure out how grad school is going to be financially feasible given the debt that you and they already have. Who will support you in school if you’re not working? Who will be covering the mortgage payments? Who will be paying for tuition and books? These are things you need to decide first.</p>
<p>Bingo! I wouldn’t be giving up a job before I had another job in hand in this economic climate. The only exception would be if you needed to relocate far away. It is more easy to find a job in a new area if you are already living there.</p>
<p>Do not quit job until you find a next one. Also, try to find one that pays for Grad. School. Both my H. and I got our MBA’s because employers paid. Job will never negatively affect your academic performance, unless you overload. Taking 2 classes was OK for me, 3 pushed me to my only “C”, but I should have never taken the class because it was outside of my area anyway.</p>
<p>Do not quit the job. Is there any way you can drop down to part-time on the current job when you’re in grad school? If necessary, I would delay grad school or do only a single class at a time until you can get a more flexible job, but unless you will be fine with no income at all while you’re in grad school, do NOT quit. You must assume that if you quit, you will end up jobless for the entire time you’re in school. (Sorry, I know that is not a convenient answer.)</p>
<p>^Part time positions are not getting educational benefits usually. Frankly, there is no problem whatsoever, going to school part-time (like no more than 2 classes) and working full time and even having family and taking care of kids. Many do it on company dime too! In our case both of us went at the same time and had enough time to send our kid to college too!</p>