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should I just quit my job over the summer?

Hey everyone. I am a full time student and also a part-time childcare worker. I'm also very active in church...and I'm planning my wedding for June 25th 2011! I will be ending my sophomore year at college in April 2011, and I'm planning to take a blitz course in May in Photography (basically a full semester's worth of classes every single day in May, so I will most likely not be able to hold up a job if I want to pass this class). Then June hits, and it's off to Texas for my fiance's annual family reunion (so I would have to ask off work for that too). Then after we get back from Texas it's time to take care of the last minute details of the wedding and finally on the 25th to get married (so yeah, def won't be at work then!) After that the majority of July will be spent on honeymoon and other out of town affairs.

So basically since I've never heard of anyone being able to ask off of work for three months straight (besides medical and military reasons, which this isn't lol), should I just quit my job at the end of April and start looking for work again once the school year starts back up? That's what I'm planning to do but with this bad economy I'm wondering if I should somehow try to salvage this already crappy job that I hate :)

Re: should I just quit my job over the summer?

  • It already sounds like your planning on quitting. Unless it's medical, it's considered job abandonment.
  • Being a student sometimes places will give you the summer off. I usually go home (leave my college town) to work at a summer camp. All of my jobs had allowed me to leave for the summer months. I believe many companies allow you to take time off for (up to three months) but you must work once with a quarter. (Something along those lines) HTH
  • You might be able to take a 3 mo. leave of absence. I would strongly suggest talking to your employer. Chances are, if you're a good employee they aren't going to want to lose you, and will be willing to work with you to figure soemthing out,
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  • thanks, I was considering a "leave of absence" but honestly I'm considering just quitting and trying to pick up a better job after the summer. I've already got so much stress on my plate and this job is just awful on me honestly.
  • I would suggest trying for the leave of absence first, and only quitting after you have a new job. It is easier to find work when you are already employed, and can take months to find a job in this economy, depending on where you are and what you want to do.  Quitting should be a last resort.
  • Can you request a leave, and then look for another job? That way, your bases are covered.
  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_students_should-just-quit-job-over-summer?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:684Discussion:644ed1bf-a9bc-436f-834e-bb742aaf9615Post:4880d296-4eaa-418f-9503-9df690dc8a79">Re: should I just quit my job over the summer?</a>:
    [QUOTE]thanks, I was considering a "leave of absence" but honestly I'm considering just quitting and trying to pick up a better job after the summer. I've already got so much stress on my plate and this job is just awful on me honestly.
    Posted by cherrymariachi[/QUOTE]

    It sounds like you already made up your mind, although I was going to suggest talking to your employer and suggesting a leave of absence before I read your response. Why is this job so terrible? When the wedding is over you might have less stress on your plate and the job might not be that bad. It would be worth it then to talk to your employer. If you really are that miserable, you have the option to just leave (after giving notice). I'm assuming you don't need the job to support yourself.
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  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_students_should-just-quit-job-over-summer?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:684Discussion:644ed1bf-a9bc-436f-834e-bb742aaf9615Post:6ab353f0-6a18-47ea-af12-7c6e8a15b6e4">Re: should I just quit my job over the summer?</a>:
    [QUOTE]In Response to Re: should I just quit my job over the summer? : It sounds like you already made up your mind, although I was going to suggest talking to your employer and suggesting a leave of absence before I read your response. Why is this job so terrible? When the wedding is over you might have less stress on your plate and the job might not be that bad. It would be worth it then to talk to your employer. If you really are that miserable, you have the option to just leave (after giving notice). I'm assuming you don't need the job to support yourself.
    Posted by JadziaDax[/QUOTE]

    It's terrible because it just doesn't pay enough for everything I have to do. Plus there's no way for me to move up in the job since my major has nothing to do with childcare. I wanted to go ahead and secure another job before I quit, but who would hire me when I apply in April and I tell them that I can't start until August? lol And right now I have so much money saved up that I technically don't need this job, but since I am trying to be self-sufficient I don't want to risk that idependence by being without a job for three months or possibly longer. But honestly I guess I have already decided...I just wanted to hear a second opinion.
  • edited December 2010
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_students_should-just-quit-job-over-summer?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:684Discussion:644ed1bf-a9bc-436f-834e-bb742aaf9615Post:670d3ef3-b649-4a4f-a0cd-88c848e8ac13">Re: should I just quit my job over the summer?</a>:
    [QUOTE]In Response to Re: should I just quit my job over the summer? : It's terrible because it just doesn't pay enough for everything I have to do. Plus there's no way for me to move up in the job since my major has nothing to do with childcare. I wanted to go ahead and secure another job before I quit, but who would hire me when I apply in April and I tell them that I can't start until August? lol And right now I have so much money saved up that I technically don't need this job, but since I am trying to be self-sufficient I don't want to risk that idependence by being without a job for three months or possibly longer. But honestly I guess I have already decided...I just wanted to hear a second opinion.
    Posted by cherrymariachi[/QUOTE]

    If the job doesn't pay enough for all these things you "have" to do... why would you quit the job and make NO money.

    This makes no sense to me whatsoever....
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  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_students_should-just-quit-job-over-summer?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:684Discussion:644ed1bf-a9bc-436f-834e-bb742aaf9615Post:c99a8c6a-1145-49cd-8605-74912ccaf055">Re: should I just quit my job over the summer?</a>:
    [QUOTE]I would suggest trying for the leave of absence first, and only quitting after you have a new job. It is easier to find work when you are already employed, and can take months to find a job in this economy, depending on where you are and what you want to do.  Quitting should be a last resort.
    Posted by hmwest08[/QUOTE]

    This.
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  • I know this is nearly a week old now, and I don't have much new to say, but I would definitely suggest the leave of absence. I am in a nearly identical situation. I work for an after school program which also runs a summer camp from late May to the end of July. I am getting married on July 30, so I'll be taking at least the last couple weeks off, with random days off over the course of the summer to meet with vendors, etc. Since the school is only a couple blocks from my college, I mostly work with other college kids, which means that some people absolutely cannot work in the summer (because they live in a different state or have to move out of the dorms, or whatever). My boss has always been really great about giving them their jobs back when school starts again. They don't have to reapply, they just talk it out with him before they leave, and contact him about when they are able to return. Your boss will probably be more than willing to work with you on this.

    About the money:
    Childcare pay sucks. Many of us at my work make minimum wage and only get to work from 2-6 pm Monday through Friday. That's about $115 a week, after taxes. It's not really enough to live on. I'm keeping my job through the summer, for sure, but after I take those last couple of weeks off before my wedding, I'm not sure if I'll go back to work there. It isn't really enough to pay my bills. But it's still a job, and it's a job where I have an enormous amount of security, something I can't say about some other random employer. I also genuinely enjoy it, which makes a huge difference. If you don't love it, then it's going to be hard to justify making no money just so you can go to work everyday at a job you hate. But I wouldn't quit until you get a new job. Lots of employers in college towns will understand if you can't start work until August (at least that's the way it is in my town), even if you aren't postponing your start date because of school reasons. Apply for a job you want, and if you get it, let your current employer know. Don't quit until you know you have a job waiting for you. And don't leave without your two weeks notice. You want to keep that door open in case something goes wrong with your new job and you need to go back. Quiting without notice won't keep you on good terms with your boss.

    Anyway. I know you've gotten a lot of advice, but maybe hearing it from someone who's in a similar situation will help. I'm not doing as much travelling as you, so I don't need as much time off. But I know that, if I did, my employer would give me my job back. Just be clear about what you need, and maybe you'll find your boss is actually a pretty accomodating person. :)
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  • I didn't read everyone's posts, but with unemployement so high, and jobs so hard to find, I would NOT reccommend quiting your job - unless you're planning on moving (far away) after the wedding and will need to quit anyway. I've been unemployed for 3 years, applied at hundreds of places, gotten numerous interviews, and still I'm unemployed. Jobs are not as easy to get as they once were. Unless you have a job in line for after the wedding, I would not quit at all.  

    Talk to your boss, explain what's happening, they should work with you. 
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