Quit My Job

The right time combines financial readiness — typically 3 to 6 months of savings — a clear next step or sufficient runway to find one, and a genuine sense that the role no longer aligns with your growth. A single bad week is not a signal. A persistent pattern of disengagement, value misalignment, or stagnation is. This tool weights long-term goal alignment heavily for this reason.

It depends on your financial runway and market demand for your skills. If you have 6 or more months of savings, a strong professional network, and are in an in-demand field, quitting without an offer can accelerate your search by freeing your time. If your finances are tight or your role is highly specialized, it is generally safer to search while employed.

The commonly cited benchmark is 3 to 6 months of living expenses. If you plan to freelance, start a business, or are in an uncertain job market, 9 to 12 months is a more conservative and safer target. Your score's Financial Impact metric directly reflects your self-reported financial stability.

High emotional stress can impair judgment by making any change feel like relief. This scoring model intentionally inverts the stress signal — high stress pushes your score down, not up — because decisions made from a place of panic or burnout are statistically less likely to produce the outcomes you actually want. If your stress is very high, consider whether the root cause would follow you to a new job.

Urgency is inverted in the scoring model because feeling forced to decide quickly is rarely a good sign. Healthy career transitions usually allow time for due diligence, negotiation, and preparation. If you are facing a layoff, hostile environment, or contractual deadline, urgency may be legitimate — but it still warrants careful financial and emotional preparation.