The Great Resignation, Is It Happening, and Should You Do It?

Jun 17, 2021
It’s coming!
 
The great post-pandemic resignation.
 
I have seen it on the horizon for a solid year now. It all started in Mid March of 2020, everything felt incredibly uncertain because all of us were driven into our homes but all of us were forced out of our routines, and in doing so something happened. We shifted our perspective, we changed how we looked at what we did every day. Was it working for us? Was it something that really served us? Was there a better way of doing it or something more that we wanted to do with our lives?
 
In May, Bloomberg Businessweek published an article quoting Texas A&M professor, Anthony Klotz prophesying a “great resignation.”
 
Do I believe Professor Klotz is right? He’s not only right, the great resignation is already in motion.
 
Over the past year, I have had the honor and privilege of working with hundreds of people already making this decision. Their stories start something like this, “ I want to make a bigger impact. I don't believe in my company’s vision anymore. I work in a toxic environment and I have to get out."
 
But is this right for you? Didn’t our Dads always say, “Just because everyone else is doing something doesn’t mean you should?” Thanks, Dad, you were right then and you’re right now.
 
So how do we know if it’s time to resign?
 
Rule #1: Find the silver linings
 
How did the pandemic personally serve you?
 
Some examples of this:
  • More time with your family because maybe you were a road warrior and all of a sudden you were grounded and you became a more active participant in all things family.
  • Working fewer hours because you didn’t have that commute enabling you to tailor your hours around when you get up in the morning versus when you made it into a physical office building.
  • You had more time to focus on something because Beth in accounting wasn't coming over and talking to you for 2 hours (sorry Beth but you were a time suck).
I don't want you putting in a resignation unless you have examined what worked. Are those things that you could continue in your current role or do you now see yourself in a new place?
 
Rule #2: Prepare
 
I am not talking about writing up your resignation. “Follow your heart but take your brain with you -Unknown.” Let’s take a giant step back and prepare for success. A successful resignee has another job waiting in the wings, and in order to make this happen, you need to have prepared two areas, your LinkedIn profile and your resume.
 
You should always have an up-to-date LinkedIn profile. I don't care if you love what you're doing, you still need to update your LinkedIn profile because it’s your calling card, it is your virtual business card. But, make sure it's up to date on the talent and skills that you offer not just a laundry list of tasks, but the impact you can make on people's lives and in businesses.
 
Normally I lead with the resume as it’s typically the first domino in any successful job search but what my clients are telling me more and more is that they want to dip their toe in the job market and passively look and the best bang for your passive buck is your LinkedIn profile because it's searchable by recruiters and available to anyone if you set it to public (I recommend this).
 
When companies have positions that need to be filled, guess who gets the first phone call? YOU
 
Not so fast though, you still need an up-to-date resume as well because if those calls happen you don’t need to be scrambling on the resume that is also ATS (applicant tracking system) friendly.
 
I’ve got your back
 
If either of these steps puts you into panic, have no fear. I teach all of these steps and more in my online course, Market me. If you are not already a member of Market me please click here to join the waitlist and let us get prepared for this post-pandemic resignation.

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