What made you quit or give up in your industry?

I left academia because of the overall working conditions that wouldn't have changed if I had just changed universities because they are standard in my whole country. The only option would have been to go abroad permanently and I didn't want to do that. I loved (and still love) research and teaching but I burned out so badly that I ultimately had to realize it wasn't worth ruining my physical and mental health. If you are not a full professor your only option here is jumping from one 12-24-month contract to the next with the constant risk of not getting the next one because your funding is cut and becoming unemployed, all while being expected to spend at least 60 hours a week in the institute and be on call 24/7 (doesn't matter if you have a full-time or part-time contract, you're expected to be there). The pay doesn't reflect all that, by the way, especially in the humanities and you are expected to be grateful for getting paid at all. You are also usually swamped with admin work, teaching and doing project work for the professors and expected to do your own research in your free time... but publish, publish, publish and raise funds because unless you are bringing your own funding basically nobody will look at you. As I said, I actually love research and teaching and was very, very good at it but the stress and insecurity and lack of ability to plan more than 12 months ahead ultimately wasn't worth it.

So... I left. Got an extremely cozy, well-paid job on "the dark side" (research funding and management) and do a little teaching and research in my free time. I don't regret it one bit.

If it’s your first five years of working in the industry wait it out. Chances are you’re too “green”.

For me, a change of scenery was what I needed. I had a difficult time because I was asked to do things I wasn't qualified for, and I couldn't move up in my career. I wasn't getting relevant field experience to move up. My employer could not give me opportunities in my field because it was taken. In fact, my boss ended up hiring someone totally new FT for the postion I wanted. I was pissed since I was literally right in front of them all this time, and took on positions and filled in positions that no one wanted to do. I learnt quickly that you don't get rewarded for doing grunt work.

It took me a while to realize that my employer was never going to promote me to FT since they had me right where they wanted. To them, I was always the "go-to" person to do these tasks. If they promoted me, who'd be that "warm body" to take on positions no one wanted to do?

Ultimately, I had the opportunity to leave and it got better. I learnt that I love my freedom and change in my career. I’m still in my industry.

Funny enough, but not surprising, toward the end of last year (I left in the summer) I was asked to return and do another "shit gig". I had two colleagues drop hints that my boss was looking for me and wanted me to return.

Maybe... a change of scenery is what you need as well?

I used to work in film & television in cameras and lighting and I hated just about everything about it. Every movie and TV show now has a political agenda that makes most media unwatchable anymore, there's no real creativity and expression on big filming sets. Even in film school they tried to convince me to follow the industry's opinions and goals and not my own creative expression.

The constant sexual jokes and harassment were horrible, every man that works in film is basically a loser with an immature 12 year old sense of humor. Lifting heavy things all day (you work typically 14 hour days most days of the week) was not worth what it did to my mental and physical health either.

If you are like me and enjoy wearing makeup, nail polish, jewelry, styling your hair, wearing feminine clothes...yeah you can't do any of that if you work in film unless you're an actress. It's cargo shorts and heavy steel toe boots. Actresses normally work around 6-10 hours per day, but if you're camera and lighting then you have to stay at least 2 hours before and after the actors are on set.

To add, many film sets can be in the middle of nowhere so you are sharing a porta potty with a bunch of immature men who might knock it over. It's not fun when you're filming outside where it's hot and you're there for 12 hours and you're on your period.

Also the pay is very low

Now I just stick to photograpy as a hobby and work a corporate job, it's much better.

I quit my job recently which was secure and well paying. I had a lot of talented and reasonable colleagues but it was very clear that our managers had little respect for what we do as scientists. It was very standard for scientists to work hard on a project, only for management to assign credit to another person who didn’t do the work once the project succeeded.

And it happens over and over again (not just a one off incident, but a clear and obvious pattern)

The blatant disrespect is a deal breaker. Office politics happen everywhere, but it is too much when the result is incompetent people being promoted into positions of power - and then making poor decisions that affect everybody else. And the staff feel ripped off and unappreciated. I felt I was stagnating as a scientist and a professional and it was time to move on.

It is important to work for people who you respect, believe are knowledgeable and forward thinking, and who treat others with respect. Demanding perfection isn’t always practical in the workplace, but I don’t think this is too much to ask for.

I ended up at a startup. From what I know, the values of the founders are aligned with my own. I get paid more, have more autonomy, and I am genuinely impressed with the technical skills of the founders. I just started, so time will tell how it turns out. I dont think I will regret pursuing a new opportunity, even if the project doesn't pan out.

Job searches are different from relationships since you can quit a relationship and be single. And can't just quit a job and not work unless you are independently wealthy. So it's a situation where you have to have options lined up to be financially responsible

I quit my fine-dininh server job a year ago, because a condescending boss poisoned the well by talking shit about me, and acting like I was stupid to me when I was actually just new.

I work at the same restaurant in a different location, and as it turns out, he transferred there a few months ago.

But now I'm not as helpless, and the other managers like me.

But he's back at it, and I'm trying to think of how to handle him. He does NOT do this with other servers.

Bullies know who the weakest target is, and it's not that I don't know stuff - it's that I'm polite and won't call out his tone or gossipping.

I got some bartenders offers at some other high-end restaurants around us, so I may be able to narrow in his behavior through my coworkers AND through the fact that better bosses like me this time around. Instead of quitting.

But no, he ruins every day he's there for me.

I quit my job in education abruptly.

I came home on my birthday and my mom surprised me with balloons and chocolate cake.

I started bawling uncontrollably. I had been holding onto my depression for years and at that moment, I thought to myself... this is real love, not the gaslighting I constantly face from my administration.