To resign without job?

L

lts

New Member
I just got to know that I got a 'C' grade for my first performance rating in this company and was ranked last among the 4 staff in my department. I'm severely depressed as I used to do fairly well in my previous company and was promoted pretty fast.

In my current company, I am thrown to the deep end to do a totally new portfolio, while stradding with 2 other heavy portfolios. I'm paid below my peers in the same department who has only 1 portfolio, but still, I perserve cos I really wanted to make a career in this organization after having switched a few jobs, the last job being 4 years plus. To make things worst, the whole team is new and my boss is unable to guide me and confirm if I'm learning the correct things.

I'm tempted to throw my letter without a job and do contract jobs as I have been trying in vain for the past few months to look for a job. What pulls me is the fact that I've been in this company for 1.5 yrs, but at the same time, I feel that I'm going nowhere in this organization.
I'm feeling really down and will appreciate some advice.
 


i'm always surprised when pple are affected by gradings and marks, whether in school or at work. in school we know becos we either didn't try hard enough or we simply dun have the flair... at work, besides performance, there's also biased supervisors, jealous colleagues, incompetent calculative HR or simply a lousy boss. then of cos there's Ourselves... if we're not good enough despite trying our best, then we're obviously in the wrong job. staying 5yrs isn't likely to change that if u've been around for 1.5yrs.

what are grades or grading gonna do for u? justify pay increments of a paltry $300-400? so what if u're doing 3 jobs whilst colleagues do 1 job? does it really matter 3yrs down the road when u've learnt 15 things and they've learnt 5, whereby your value and options is much better than theirs! who's counting the number of pats u get on your shoulder?

in school i'm so used to getting Cs and Ds. those who get As and Bs get a pat and are told what a great future they will have... i quietly gave myself an A-Grade for being myself and becos i believe i will have an A-Grade life. What's the difference u may ask.... Well - the A-graders believed what teachers and others told them without having to really believe in themselves. C-graders like me have only myself to believe in. Forward that 10-20yrs later and u realise the grades others give u Dun Matter more than the grade u give Yourself.

btw, u make a career for Yourself, and not in this organization or any companies. u make your name, u make your reputation and u make your credibility by Yourself, and not have to fall back on a reputable company name.

dun throw your letter out of despair that others dun give u the recognition. Instead, throw it becos u want to give yourself better recognition. But u jolly well make sure u're worth your salt. dun be one of those pple who think they are so Impt to a company when all they do is perform a function.

looking back, the list of pple tat gave me a D,E,F grade goes from maths teachers to physics, chemistry, chinese etc etc... yet i am using less than 10% of all the subjects combined to get a grade-A pay and life. worklife i did grade-c jobs and got grade-c assessments, but i gave them all a grade-F becos they were not of Good-enough character to grade me. they only grade me becos they are older and in the company longer... so who cares??? i gave myself grade-A and continued to believe i will have an A-grade life.

throw your letter when u've learnt enough, then move on to the next phase. YOU plan your own path and life, not them. to them, u are just another employee... to them a C-grade is wat u're getting... u are C-grade in their eyes. so what? If u know u're A-grade - why let others convince u that u're not??

fact is, u're gonna come across alot of incompetent pple in your life, some of whom shouldn't even be there had it not been some myopic HR hiring on nice misleading resumes, or bosses who believe in the wrong qualities, or simply becos these fellas stay in the company so long tat they eventually take up upper-management roles. So?

if u know u're good. why be affected by the eyes of those who aren't?
 
Powder, your thoughts are impressive. You are so right.

"The A-graders believed what teachers and others told them without having to really believe in themselves". Many went through life seeking acceptance and confirmations from others than believing in themselves. So true...
 
powder once again, u hit the nail on the head

i juz wanna tell u i shared your posting with some colleagues who r feeling the same way with lts
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Having more portfolios can be good and this lead to greater exposure. although it do come with heavy responsibility as well. Why not see this as an opportunity or test. Your boss(es) may be using this opportunity to test you out. He wouldn't want to give important portfolio esp 2 to someone who cant do the job. Please see this D grade as an advice as you may be edge of the steep learning curve.

Once again. in the real world, its not the grades that get you a job. Its the experience that came from the right exposure and please do not give up.

Winners not quitters, quitters never winners. Quite a few of my A grade peers was behind the race becoz they stopped. In short its not how FAST you run but how FAR you can go.

jia you
 
tks, hope i do hit the nails right. it's quite sad when pple dun 'find themselves' early in life, especially bad if they lose themselves in the course of workng life to society.

after tertiary when most embarked on their respective careers, my peers and lecturers were wondering why i was being a sales assistant selling women's products, shoes/garments/accessories. something u might expect o'levels or 'others' to find employment in... to them i am not using my diploma which everyone thinks is the most marketable possession i had. to me, i was simply continuing my education in sales - no one to grade me, but i grade myself by improving my selling techniques. it was a skillset tat i felt was absolutely crucial in life. so really, if u know wat u want - u dun really have to care wat others think... they do not have the capacity to understand the importance of salesmanship becos They think just paper and grades can have a good future. my last check, alot of these pple are not even making a 5-figure salary. not everyone becomes a doctor or dentist leh (which grades are absolutely important since we're talking human life)...

weird pple... dun they realise the top-earners in the world do not have what they think is important? and They are trying to tell and sell us the idea that THAT is the way to make money... when they dun make money themselves.

this is sort of my very tongue-in-cheek summary of the propaganda behind grades, assessments, and this constant pressure to please others and garner approval and validation. of cos i must stress it is vital for us to know where we belong and where we perform at our best. basically ALL of us are capable ot performing to our optimum and achieving a Grade-A life - we just need to find the place where we are in our elements. like how Fandi Ahmad made a million being a footballer as opposed to trying to make 2k a month with maybe an O'level cert (example - i didn't check wat his paper is).

i can imagine Fandi in an office environment getting crap grades and assessments by his peers... i can imagine him feeling dejected and demoralised. But if i was his fren and i see him playing soccer, i'll tell him to put aside the o'level or whatever level he has and try to play professional soccer. it may not pay alot back then, but certainly better than an office job for him.

ok ok i have a tendency of talking abit too deep into these things, so it's more of a Perception and Concept that i am sharing... pls dun take purely at face-value. It MUST apply to our Individual scenarios but using this perception as a guide. in short, dun believe in what others think of u unless u know they are credible. likewise, always put yourself in a position where u will not doubt yourself and made to feel shitty like a fish out of the water or a eagle forced to walk instead of soar...

in our elements, we Are Someone. just find that element and u'll find Yourself and your Self-worth.
 
Hi Powder,

I deeply appreciate your advice. Your comments on making a career for Yourself, and not in this organization or any companies as well as increasing my value and options make sense and hit the nail on the head as what Serene says.

I do feel that the performance rating is biased as I'm the type who'll disagree with my boss when I have different view although I know that they'll 'mark' me. I've seen this happened to 2 other capable colleagues, hence, I'm disheartened with this organization.

I'm also pondering whether I should resign only when I learnt enough as what you said..right now, I think I still have some things to learn here. Just that, I have to learn to swallow my pride and get a lower rating than people whom I feel do not perform better than me but do have better PR skills..

The other reason why I'm bitter about this organization is because they broke their promise to take away my existing portfolio when I agree to take on a new portfolio. Hence, I have a really hard time straddling 3 portfolios, and I do think that it affected my performance somehow... Guess I have to learn the hard fact that bosses have the pregorative to break their promise and in order to seem a better performer, I should spend more time on selective prominent tasks to do them better...
 
Thanks for your advice, yawn yawn. I do realise the importance of experience, and that's the only thing holding me back from resigning now..
 
ITS,

do prepare to change environment and embrace hardship IF you want to improve your market value. If necessary, i might even relocate to JAPAN for job exposure to increase my mkt value so i have a better bargaining power in SG.

I have friends (diploma in IT) drawing 5k-8k. He only got 6years of experience but he's willing to undertake many portfolio in the initial stages.

Exposed to GAME PROGRAMMING, SOFTWARE DESIGN and etc
His work experience not only came from SG but also from Japan and taiwan.

remember 4 words.
Xian Ku Hou Tian.

but again what field are u into?

And please bear in mind the word "UPGRADE" if you want to remain marketable in your industry unless your industry is saturated then my suggestion is for you to change another field unless your PASSion is there.

e.g. Manufacturing industry is unstable now and face strong competition from the WORLD MAnufacturer : China thus it might not be a bad choice to quit the job for some Continuous Development in other area provide you have the dough. Well i am afraid that in this competitive industry we have to be on a constant lookout for the changes. I love the story of Who move my cheese.

BTW have it ever come across that your inability to do the job well maybe its due to the lack of knowledge and you can counter this problem and reverse the situation by doing some reading up. Its good to be dependent and not rely on bosses at time. This will make you a problem solver and an ASSETS of the company. Try not to rely on Contact jobs as the assignment rarely expose you to the challenges of the real world.

"The way to learn to do things is to do things. Success teaches how to succeed. Begin with determination to succeed, and the work is half done already."
—Mark Twain
 
hi Its,

dun take 'promises' by companies/bosses too strongly. alot of times, intentions might be there at the spur of the moment, but the time factor can normally be stretched or it could be lost to constant changes to structure and personnel. one thing i've learnt is that sometimes our immediate superior might want to do something for us, but his immediately superior does not approve. this happens more in companies with several layers.

it's good that u disagree with your boss when u have an opinion. KEEP THAT... and learn to co-ordinate disagreements well with your tone, timing and reasons. disagreeing with a Strong Reasoning is an Asset to any company. disagreeing and not being able to back it up - is a Pain. dun worry about being 'marked', humans have a tendency to be biased and it is only at the very top with very capable personalities do u find your Differing Opinions being valued. pple who disagree/reject without thinking discredit themselves becos they might have missed out on the crux that makes the very difference. so dun be too disheartened...

i guess managing our emotions within a company is a skill that is absolutely Vital. we dun wanna wear our emotions on our face and be further discredited or written-off. i know some pple are written-off becos they might be too emotional, and not becos they are not capable. i've gone thru the process to know why some of my previous superiors are still where they are after 15-20yrs, whilst i've gone past them and have been approached to return to my previous companies in a higher capacity. this part to let u know that in modern working societies, there's no such thing Old-Bird seniority... IF u are good, u CAN be your Boss's boss. so do focus on equipping yourself with the Skills, Knowledge and Personality to be One. if u think like a typical employee, dun expect that u can be a boss in 10yrs... Mentality MUST UPGRADE.

resign when u dun see your role/scope/job adding value to what u wanna be in the future. dun resign over emotions unless someone seriously infringe on your values. on Pride... this very personal, but i advise most to Swallow their pride til they Know they can actually Have Pride. å›å­æŠ¥é…¬åå¹´ä¸æ™š... i hope i got the characters right... and i combine that saying with "Success is your best revenge". cos no need to harm pple who may step on our toes... just need to do better than them. it worked very well for me... it became my motivation to do very well. so in a way - they were also a source of my inspiration...

now i smile as i look back... at those who marked me, were biased or prejudiced against me. it really doesn't matter anymore and i just wish them well lor... u know wat i mean? All those bad negative things that made us cry, made us doubt ourselves, made us feel lousy - They are there to mould us, better us, strengthen us and make us better leaders/managers/bosses.

so as charlotte the spider says it, "Chin-up!"
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"All those bad negative things that made us cry, made us doubt ourselves, made us feel lousy - They are there to mould us, better us, strengthen us and make us better leaders/managers/bosses."

of cos a better employee.

I like the above part, certain things happen in office i will regard tat as a lesson and i will motivate myself even harder!!!!! to prove they were wrong.
 
sori late reply... hectic but hapi day! tks for pointing out the wrong word... my chinese teacher was a motivation... she shed tears upon knowing i passed my chinese! sometimes really not the grade, but the fact tat i 'made it' in my own lousy chinese way...
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Your chinese teacher shed tears when u passed chinese. Mine was kinda not so positive. She asked me if i who do i want to achieve in life with my BAD grades.
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My CL2 got c6 but the rest of the subject Quite good mah..but he condemned me.
 
Yawn,

I'm in HR currently and do plan to take up some further qualification in future. Speaking of which, I feel that I can't articulate myself that well when I'm being interviewed. Any way to improve this?

Powder, what you mentioned about being emotional strike a chord at me. How do you keep yourself cool when you're really pissed with your boss for eg. blaming you on things that are not done well when in reality, it's not entirely my fault? I can swallow the words I want to say, but my facial expression shows it all.

I like your point about upgrading my mentality. Now I aim to be even a better hr professional than my boss who knows nuts except then talking well!
 
to improve in articulation speech. Why not join TOASTE master.. never join before but heard its good. or try to go British council for help.

Mr Powder is solid. should not call powder but be address as Mr solid ..his advice is damn good.
 
well yawn,

at the other end of the spectrum, my maths teacher Begged me not to take my a-math cos i sure get F9... i proved her wrong, i got a D7. but she still wasn't happy... who cares, i proved something to myself, keke.

my advice is more based on human observation, nothing special really... it's just understanding ourselves and being focused at improving ourselves without complicating it with too many external factors and our own emotions, yet capturing these factors to understand why before we apply the how.

oh i watch charlotte's web like 100 times every morning as a kid.
 
well powder thanks for allowing me to know you better. I wasn't a smart kid in school. From normal stream however luck was on my side and as a kid i don not have much to worry. except my promise to my mum. So i just study as i don want to be look down by my relative. You know how those auntie just love to compare.

I guess until today i am still searching for my objective in life. not any A grader. too lazy to be one. but definitely not a quitter too.

i learn a msg from the char web-the true meaning of promise. how that small spider make a big diff by keeping her promise.
 
hi Its,

i had a very bad temper, and i realise from so many issues in life that it is a Burden, something shameful and unenviable. looking at it in a shameful manner helped me to stop myself from showing it... thru time it improved. at work when i'm unhappy, i learnt to develop an earnest look with boss... to me it doesn't matter if i have been misunderstood - i will blame myself for putting myself in a position to be misunderstood. i always give myself 100% blame from my behaviour to my actions to my work. it came to a point where i became naturally more open to criticism where i try to pick out the positives and disregard those negatives. meaning even if 90% of the criticism is untrue, i focus only on the 10% tat was true which can only improve me.

it's really not so bad once u know there's a higher Purpose to your 'sufferings'. humans tend to seek vindication asap, they tend to seek vindication from others, but most times we really dun need to, we know it wasn't our intention - can liao.

instead of learning to swallow your words, it's actually better to listen to the 'own reasonings' running thru our minds at that time and question our own reasonings... not sure if u understand wat i mean. Typically when we're being reproached, we tend to stand there with our heads in defensive mode - then u have this inner voice inside tat 'explain' to ourselves why we're not at fault. i try to listen to my own 'excuses' and question myself further... until a point i know i can't even answer myself... and thus i immediately consider myself at fault and my earnest look comes in to show tat i'm eager to hear wat my boss has to say so tat i can imrpvoe myself. this one takes abit of time to understand and catch the gist. it happens in like 5-10seconds, then the remaining time - just listen for the positive 10%, the negative just take it that "i deserve it".

who is right or wrong SHOULD NOT matter as much as what is right or wrong... and what is right or wrong varies with each individual... if u know the majority of right n wrong And u reference tat against everyone involved, u are less likely to commit wrong. there's no point being just Right in your own eyes.
 
I need your advice. I have joined this new company for 5 months and I have to supervise an junior executive who has been with the company for 3 years. Recently, my boss promoted this junior executive such that she is the same level as me. This put me in a very awkard position. She is now of same ranking as me and she knows much more because she has been with the co. for 3 years. Furthermore, my boss also on several occasion hinting to me that I should leave the company such as praising how well that Jnr exec can perform, extending my appraisal, disapprove all my project appraisal etc.

I have attendeded few interviews but most employers try to pay cut me which I am not willing to accept. I feel very depress going to work everyday. I have not find a suitable job and yet current boss is 'chasing' me to leave so he can recruit another jnr exec. What should I do?
 
Now is definately not a good time to change jobs.
However it's a good time to start new biz!

When i put up an advertisment in sept for people, most of the candidates has high expectation. It's like they are choosing me instead of me choosing them!

But recently, things have change. If you know what i mean. So stay put if possible. Unless u are cash rich with no commitments and can afford to go without job for months. Else think twice.
COst of living in Singapore can kill sometimes.
 
I just resigned without a job. I thought it over and over, for so many months before I came to this decision. Some said I'm being too emotional resigning at a time like this.

A lot of reasons why I resigned. But I guessed boss, e team and my jobscope are the reasons why I decided to leave.

U will only be happy when u love ur job, love ur team. I hated it and I'm suffering as it is. I can't remember when was e last time I could sleep straight till morning.

Its a risk I'm taking and if u asked me no regrets, I would be lying if I said no. Money is a driving factor, and I do worry too but I guess for me, job fulfillment is more impt lor.

For e time being, I'll be joining my hubby in e States and give things a run-over. Chinese words, 'wei ji', there's an opportunity in every danger. Why not think about it?
 
The problem in Singapore is it has a population of 5million! the job vacancy is limited. Somebody leaves, they an be easily replaced immediately by advertising on the papers.

Unlike places in our neighbouring countries, the popluation is not so dense.

Singapore bosses are not so at the mercy of employees. Therefore they are yaya and treat their workers like shit. And some sporeans are kiasu/kiasi. So this has been the mentally all this while. S if possible, if you are capable, do your own biz and not be at their mercy!
 
in my line, the grade indicates the performance, the bonus the employer gets, and those who gets an undesirable grade will mean it will take about 8 years before the next promotion...
 
Hi powder,
I agree with you that salesmanship is important in life. But do you feel that sales is suited towards a particular character? i.e. Those who're more sociable, extroverted. I mean it's not something that's suitable for everyone right?
 
hi Sarah,

that's a misconception. alot of pple seem to think that to have salesmanship, u've gotta be this chirpy chatty conversationalist... but it's absolutely not true at all. selling Yourself to others does not need u to be a comedian nor beautiful person, u just gotta be the person pple Trust - with the product/service u're advocating.

some pple try too hard n oversell themselves to the point where u're more wary of them cos u worry they cheat u. some pple dun sell themselves at all and everyone wants to get close to them... aren't these examples of salesmanship that repel the common misconceptions?

how abt the school jock/cheerleader types who's supposed to be popular? i'm sure u've also felt the attraction to the quiet unassuming classmates... salesmanship is abt Attraction, Credibility and Likeability... u dun need to be extroverted to be all 3. of cos if u're introverted and u AVOID pple at all costs, then it's not gonna happen either. so whether u're either, u can still be in sales.

i'm an Introvert by nature, i'm doing pretty ok in sales n marketing. what attracts pple to me is not my showmanship, but my credibility n commitment to providing the service n aftersales... word spreads and my clientele grew... i didn't have to go around marketing myself at all..

there are introverts who are great at sales... they dun sell the products/services, they sell themselves... and becos of who they are - the products/services will sell. so dun confuse sales with needing to be like gurmit singh.

"I mean it's not something that's suitable for everyone right?"
- i think it's important to ask yourself Why u asked that question... isit to disqualify yourself from needing to try some salesmanship? or to disqualify sales totally out of your possible options in life?
 
typically i won't advise leaving a job because of push factors alone. you leave yourself vulnerable to your circumstances which makes it difficult to find a good job.

in any event, if you view this experience positively, you can work it to your advantage. if your low performance rating was indeed because your manager found you disagreeable, consider the following - how was your attitude when you disagree with your manager? did you choose the right time and place to do so? did you do your homework and stay with the facts? have you earned your right to disagree because of your past performance or because your judgments have been proven?
 
dun be cos it's very very normal... working makes up a large portion of our lives in spore, so removing it from your daily life - u will inevitably feel abit lost and empty...

just dun get used to it cos most of us can't afford to stay without a job for too long... it actually gives us a sense of validation and reason for living, as much as we hate it... it's a love/hate relationship...

good luck to your job hunt!
 
Hi Yiting,

You may be rite that your boss is hinting to you to leave. These are some moves/actions by bosses to get rid of staff.

Dun lose hope! Since you have made the big step in quitting your job, look forward.
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It may be tough now at this time to look for job, but as you are looking for job, give yourself a short break & tink of wat you would like to do. Accumulation of experience is the most valuable knowledge tat one can achieve in work areas.

Have you thought of getting a new job but settle for a pay cut first? Dun see it as a bad start with all the pay cut,etc
Start working first, then if ur performance is gd, ur future boss will get to see your gd points and give increment accordingly later.

Alternatively, get a pt job and see if there is any chance to convert to ft job.

For me, my previous job requires me to work triple portfolio, long hrs, lower pay than peers but I took it as a learning journey for me.

I always believe that the learning curve maybe long but I achieve much more in terms of experience and skills than my peers. Most importantly, I enjoy the nature of my work.

Hopefully, my humble opinion helps u in alleviating your sense of loss :P

All the best in your job hunting & dun lose hope ya
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yiting,

dun lose hope, go for job fairs, register with online job websites like ST701, JobsDB.com, Jobstreet.com etc etc and expand ur career opportunities. Take up contract jobs if necessary, also pay cuts for the time being. I also accepted a paycut in my previous job as I was also very unhappy with my boss, so dun view paycuts too negatively ya?

I'm also thinking of quitting my current job cos of many work problems...but I can't cos am getting married next yr and I need $$$ honestly. Otherwise I wldn't care two hoots and just throw my letter oredi. So in the meantime can only endure and look out for jobs more earnestly only, hope I can find one soon. Wish u luck too!
 
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