When should I quit my job?

April 28, 2022 2:13 PM

This is about transitioning from an office-bound social work job to private practice, but I think the actual question is just about transitioning from 9 to 5 employment to freelance, and the timing of taking the plunge.

So I have a 9 to 5 that I've been at for five years. It's gone from "pays well, doesn't crunch up my soul too much" to "pays well, makes me completely miserable a lot of the time." I need out of there. Fortunately, I've gotten licensed and started easing into private practice. Here's where I'm at

1) I have five clients. I probably need 20 in order not to feel like I've sacrificed a lot of income.

2) I am seeing those clients by making appointments on the every other Friday I have off and then taking PTO for the other Fridays. Fridays are full. It's about to start bleeding over into working two jobs, which they could very understandably fire me for. I work from home so it's not absolutely clear they'd ever know (my job does not require a lot of me, time-wise) but I don't know how shady I am willing to be.

3) If I quit, I'll be able to cash in six weeks of vacation time, so I'm thinking of that as six weeks of free and clear transition time.

4) I have about a year's income in savings. It was supposed to be for buying a house if I ever move to a more reasonable part of the country but suddenly nowhere is reasonable and I'm not sure how determined I am to keep saving for something I may never get.

5) I really fucking hate my job. I don't respect my supervisor; the work itself is futile and unrewarding and bureaucratic; my coworkers are nice but not good friends of mine and I barely see them anyway. It involves lots of driving and bothering people who don't want to talk to me. Literally the only thing I like about it is that it pays really well for my field. I often watch the youtube video "Joey Quits" and feel profoundly inspired.

but

6) I'm finding I don't have a great knack for self promotion and the private practice clients are coming pretty slowly.

I think those are the highlights. There's financial stuff about how it would work out if I quit, but I think I have a handle on all that. I just don't see the way forward clearly and figured I'd run it up the flagpole and see if anyone has advice. Thanks if you do.

posted by less-of-course to Work & Money (7 answers total)

Six weeks of vacation paid out and a year of income saved? That's amazing, do it. You'll have more mental time and space to expand the private practice when you aren't being slowly ground down by the day job.
posted by advicepig at 2:20 PM on April 28, 2022 [2 favorites]

I will say, if you're practice is regular talk therapy, I think finding clients might not be too bad a deal. There is such a shortage of counselors right now. It sounds like you're really ready for it; maybe do some research on promotion (can you get on a referral list at a clinic? I got a list of therapist names from my PCP) and then take the plunge.
posted by gideonfrog at 2:41 PM on April 28, 2022 [1 favorite]

Quit now! If each day you wait is tearing you down, you're never going to get those days back. You've heard of time value of money, right? This is "time value of happiness!"

So you may need to tighten the belt a little bit if the clients don't come that soon, but that's ok! And, this sounds a little "woo", but, if you make mental and physical space for them, they will come.
posted by bluesky78987 at 3:02 PM on April 28, 2022 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: This is just briefly to specify: the shortage of therapists doesn't translate to therapists easily finding clients, for whatever reason. I take Aetna and Optum. I'm on Psychology Today and TherapyDen and Being Seen. I have I think an ok website. I think the missing piece may be having a referral network including doctors and stuff so it may be largely about figuring out that part, which I am clueless about. Anyway thanks for the encouragement and ideas.
posted by less-of-course at 4:00 PM on April 28, 2022

This may not be an option for you since your workplace is Not Great, but if you're nervous about taking that plunge, I wonder if you might want to consider part-time work or different work hours while you build up your clientele. This could look like:

* Going part-time at your current work-place if they'll go for that
* Changing your days or hours such that you work fewer but longer days, or perhaps work early or late shifts on the days you do work, leaving you some daytime hours free for a few additional clients without fully quitting.
* Quitting current job but picking up something part-time that's either less demanding or differently demanding; maybe you could work a few days a week in retail or pick up some odd jobs or do some delivery driving or something that you could more freely schedule around your growing practice, to help keep your financial cushion comfy.
posted by Stacey at 4:38 PM on April 28, 2022

Is telehealth an option where you are? If so, a stop gap measure could be to become a provider at one of those "speak with a therapist online" type companies.

Nearby colleges might also have a referral list of providers, so you could try reaching out to them to see if you can get on their list.
posted by oceano at 1:58 PM on April 30, 2022 [1 favorite]

Also consider getting on ZocDoc if you haven’t already.
posted by oceano at 1:08 AM on May 5, 2022