How rich are your fantasies around composing your resignation email? Have you already written a draft? What about frequency? Once a week? Once an hour?

There is no clean math for this, but there are signs to pay attention to, and if things really aren’t working out you probably have sensed this, and should trust that sense.

Here are the big signs:

1. You Really Really Hate Work.

Not like in school where everyone said they hated school but secretly liked it, but a real sense of physical dread.

2. Management Shows No Interest.

If you’ve stopped getting pulled into meetings, your stock has gone down and it might be time to move somewhere where you can be better valued.

3. You’ve Lost Interest.

Curiosity and passion are what create good work. If your job isn’t generating these things in you, then it’s time to find something that can churn these fires within.

4. Your Boss is Not Engaged or Well Respected.

You can hate your boss but still respect the doors and opportunities she or he opens for you. But if that’s not happening then your boss could be in your way, so you may have to fire him or her (i.e., get a new job).

5. It’s Taking a Big Toll on Your Health/Personal Life.

Many of us internalize stress and push it into all the wrong places. If a toxic worklife is starting to spillover, it may be time to get at the root cause.

It’s been said that you should start looking for a new job the first day you start a job. Maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but it’s no fun to really dread work and feel unable to do anything about it. That means you should have your resume and portfolio up to date, expand your network and consider talking with a recruiter about what’s out there now. Do this now, before you feel those winds of change blowin’.

About NextGen

NextGen is the brainchild of longtime telecom professionals with nearly 50 years of experience and millions of dollars in Telecom Recruiting Services. We focus on establishing long term relationships with our clients and candidates so we can recruit the best and the brightest in the telecom industry. This ‘quality over quantity’ approach is at the heart of everything we do and has resulted in successful job placements at Fortune 1000 firms worldwide.