This is the Business English Podcast, episode 175.
Ready to leave your job? How to talk about it in English.
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Hey there, Michelle, what's shaking? Hey, Lindsay, not too much.
How's it going? It's good. It's good. I'm over here on the East Coast visiting my family.
So I was actually in a up in a wedding in Portland, Maine over the weekend.
That was fun. You had a good time. It was fun.
But I wore three inch heels, Michelle, which I never wear heels.
Yeah, it was intense. Oh, my gosh, I never wear heels either.
So actually that's funny because i just planned an episode for the all ears english podcast about uh and that's one of the examples in it oh okay i'm so excited to get over there guys go over and check out all ears english which is our our biggest podcast add that to your listening cue um michelle i have a question for you today to get into today's topic ready sure all right so do you know anyone who has wanted to leave a job but just kind of had a hard time letting it go moving on making the decision Yeah, I do know people who have felt that way.
And it's hard. It's sad. You know, there are a variety of reasons why that can happen.
But that's what the topic is today. So we're going to go into that and teach you guys some things that you can say and go over an article.
We have lots of plans for today. Oh my gosh, this is great.
And the construction guys are just getting started outside my window.
So this is going to be fun. Oh, yeah. It'll be a lively episode today, Michelle.
All right. Well, first of all, we want to make sure our listeners hit follow on Business English, right?
Because we like to talk about not just grammar, not just vocabulary, but important things.
Like why is it hard to leave a job you don't like?
Like what is going on and how can we move on?
It's kind of a little bit of inspiration here, too.
Yeah, for sure. Yeah. So I found this article.
It's from HBR, Harvard Business Review dot org.
And it's by Marla Lyons, written September, published September 21st, 2023.
And it's called Why is it so hard to leave a bad job?
So we're not going to go through the whole article, but we're going to talk about some of the topics today.
And then we're going to lead into teaching you guys some things you can say if unfortunately you're in this position or to say that you're thinking of getting out.
Totally. So where do we start here, Michelle?
Lead us through this. Well, they list a variety of reasons of why people feel that they get stuck in a job.
One is people get attached to the people they work with, their work family, which we've talked about before.
They feel like maybe they are letting those people down or, you know, being a traitor in some way, I guess, to those people.
What do you think about that? For sure, especially if your work situation is toxic, which I'm lucky I've never been in a toxic work situation, but some people have.
And I think what happens sometimes is that you become very close with certain colleagues that kind of feel like allies because maybe your boss is toxic or other coworkers or just the environment is toxic.
And so certain people do become even a tighter family. right right you don't want to leave them or let them together yeah for sure so you're like leaving them behind it feels like you're being disloyal i would imagine that would be hard yeah right because if everybody else is kind of staying and you know they they don't do anything and you're the one who's like oh i'm gonna get out of here you or you feel that way but you just feel like i don't want to be the one yeah to to say goodbye to to betray them or whatever you might feel oh my god yeah so that's a big reason michelle are there any other reasons that they said in the article where people get stuck yeah well fear um they mentioned fear um there are there are other things too but yeah let's talk about fear why do you think i mean this isn't where i'm not even using the article necessarily here i might be grabbing some ideas but um let's just talk about why you think i mean the devil you know michelle Right.
The devil, you know. So this is a great expression, which, you know, we'll tell you what it means real quick today.
But guys, we're going to feature this in another episode on All Ears English podcast.
So open your search bar right now. Type in All Ears English and hit follow.
So what does that mean? What I just said real quick, real quick.
Well, the devil, you know, it's like, OK, the devil, like somebody who is not nice as someone who you have a negative perception of.
Um, but the other end of that expression is the devil, you know, is better than the devil.
You don't know. So it's saying you don't know it's, it's better to know what you're dealing with, even if it's bad, then to move on and maybe you get something worse.
Like I definitely have some examples that I can share, uh, from the medical field.
Um, okay. And on all yours English, but, uh, yeah, yeah.
So this is a really good one. So, but that's for the workplace, you know, maybe you have a toxic situation at work and your boss is not good or you whatever it is you don't you don't make enough money, whatever the reason is, it's a toxic workplace, but there's always worse.
So sometimes you think, oh, this is so terrible, it's so awful, and then you could just go to another place and it's even worse or just as bad.
Yeah, it's so true. And I mean, this is the human mind, right?
The human mind or brain stems, right? Brain stem thinking still designed to protect us from that lion or that tiger out there, right?
Anthropologically speaking, okay? So- So we have to do certain things to kind of bring in the rational mind and kind of calm the central nervous system so we can actually make smarter decisions because there's so much time we're spending at work.
Yes, yes, exactly. I think that that fear of the unknown is is huge.
I think that, um, you know, people are always thinking, well, how bad it could, could it get?
Maybe they, maybe you've had an experience in your life before where something ended up being worse when you're hoping something would get better.
And that kind of traumatizes you a little bit to not want to not want to make moves.
Oh my gosh, for sure. All right. So are we going to share some expressions for our listeners then about what to say if you're actually thinking of leaving a job, Michelle, what do you think?
Yes. But before that, I just want to bring up one other point is sometimes people do feel stuck because like they have their health insurance plan.
I mean, I think that's a huge one. They have certain perks from their job.
I mean, obviously money. But I think health insurance is a huge one because so many people get health insurance through work. yeah and you know michelle this would be actually a great topic to go into another day because this is a uniquely u.s issue an american issue i don't know exactly how it works but i think in other countries it's more state funded so everyone has that insurance coverage regardless of job i think it depends on which country but obamacare was a move to to try to sway more in that direction and i think it has provided marketplaces that people can have access to outside of their job.
If I'm not misunderstanding how Obamacare works, it was passed in 2010, but it is still expensive.
So the ideal insurance is frighteningly expensive.
Our whole medical system is messed up for another day.
So yeah, it is true. Worries about health insurance absolutely keep people in their jobs still in 2023.
It's true. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. See details online.
So today, so now we are going to get into some expressions to share if you are thinking of getting out.
But before we want to do that, so we're hoping to get to a last day at your job.
But let's talk about first days. Episode 169 was English to make your first day at work.
So that's when you're that's when you're still excited and have a good attitude.
Yeah. But hopefully, yeah, things go well.
Oh, my gosh. It's so true. All right. So here are some things that we can say, Michelle.
Now, who would we be saying these things to?
Is this to a colleague, to a family member?
Who are we talking to? A friend? Well, I was thinking here, not so much the people at work.
Not because you want to be careful. Yeah. you don't want to the expression is you don't want to show all your cards yes you don't want to to give all your information away and somehow it gets out right oh my gosh for sure for sure um until you absolutely have to so this would be something you may say to a neighbor a friend a native speaking just friend you know yeah any any people you know in your yeah so what's the first one Michelle The first one is I'm thinking of getting out of my current position.
I'm thinking of getting out of my current position.
Nice. It's so hard to even say this, but I'm thinking of getting out of my current position.
Nice. Yes. Yes. And what's the next one?
It's time to start thinking of my next destination.
That's a fancy way to say. That's very fancy.
Yes. Yeah. Right. Because destination you usually think of as like, you know, maybe a physical place.
But here you're saying it in a flowery kind of way.
It's thinking of my next destination, my next stop.
Right. Like like you're on a trip. Yeah, it's a little more figurative and it's kind of fun to be a little figurative when you really want to avoid the raw details.
You know, I think I'm going to quit next week.
Right. It's too. Right. To say it like. Right.
That's true. So you could say something like I've enjoyed my work, but I think it's time to start thinking of my next destination.
Yeah. And what would be the third one? The third one would be, it may be time to switch things up and leave this place.
Nice. And here's the sample sentence, guys.
Honestly, I've been feeling stuck. It may be time to switch things up and leave this place.
Nice. And that sounds a little more, leave this place.
Definitely sounds a little more like you really dislike...
Yeah, it's pretty raw, right? That one is more the other.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. The other two are a little bit more flowery, a little, you know, a little bit gentle, but this one is a little bit more direct or raw, more direct.
Michelle, what are your thoughts on getting comfortable at a job?
Yeah. I mean, I think that it's easy to get too comfortable.
I wanted to leave a job once because I felt like I wasn't using my specialized skills.
Yeah. So I definitely have felt that before that.
Yeah. I mean, but I know other people. People at other positions I've had who have wanted a new job that seemed hesitant to leave for a variety of reasons.
So I have witnessed this before in my work experience, seeing people just stay and stay and stay instead of moving on for whatever reason it is.
And, you know, whatever it is like. You know, we want to encourage you to try and get the best situation possible.
However, life is life and life is hard. And it is a reality that sometimes, unfortunately, staying is the best decision.
So I don't want to now encourage everybody to run out and quit their job. yeah this is obviously very individual right it just depends on you I think we have that voice in our head are we in the right place are we not or we could take a more logical perspective think about salary think about benefits think about environment think about skills so you guys know how you process and go with that but if you are ready for this here are your phrases right I like it I like it yes yes Okay, Michelle, any final tips for our listeners before we get into a role play in just a minute?
Yeah, well, basically, just understand that it will be hard to leave.
But, but, you know, if you if you have made that decision, based on all the factors that we spoke about, you know, your finances, everything, you know, just understand, it will be hard.
And you might have to say goodbye to some people you do really like, or something, you might have to take a risk, and maybe things will get better, maybe things will get worse.
But Just preparing yourself mentally. Right, right, right, right, right.
For sure. And then, you know, there's a plug here we can give for vision boarding.
We love it. I love it. I actually think it works.
You know, I'm working right now with my parents on helping them figure out an assisted living situation, like, you know, a place where people go when they're 65 plus to have a little more help, to not have to worry about things around the house, right?
So we're working on that together. And I actually thought about maybe we should sit down and create vision boards together.
My mom and my dad and I, what do they want their future to look like?
You know, have you ever made a vision board, Michelle?
I haven't. And you probably will realize that because I called it an image board because I couldn't remember.
I actually I actually haven't. But I always have. wanted to I think it would be really really fun to imagine things and to put things together make it looks nice things like that oh my gosh you do it it's like magic it's magic really I made a vision board in like 2014 when I was living in Boston and I had literally I had the things I have in my life right now the dog that I put on that vision board looks exactly like my dog really and like i had mountains i had a partner i mean everything everything wow that's wild it was kind of amazing i think there's some kind of magic it's like i'm manifesting and i'm not you know super into manifestation all this stuff but there is something to you say to the world what you want and then you put it in front of you every day in your bedroom or somewhere in your desk above your desk you do kind of work towards that so vision board guys it works Love it.
Love it. And yeah, then share your thoughts with people close to you.
If you need someone to listen, give some advice, definitely let others in.
Just keep it away probably from the workplace.
Yeah, I think it's just not the right place to experiment.
What's the value going to be? What's your colleague going to say?
They may sway you, right? Which might be the bad advice, which they might be invested in you not leaving.
So keep it away from the workplace. Make your decision and then tell people your plan.
Go ahead and do your formal resignation. letter right yep yes and finally start doing some job searching for a new position so definitely do that yeah i might do that before right before quitting depending on how much oh oh i meant people i meant just in that i didn't necessarily mean in that order yes yeah i wouldn't do it before quitting although although i mean that that could be another episode for another day um because i do have a friend who she just she didn't like her job and she just was like no this isn't working and she quit totally oh yeah if it's intolerable you know as long as you have a financial cushion sometimes if it's so bad your mental health matters more You know, but you know, if you're in that situation, you know, what I would be doing is I would be building my network a good year before a year or more before leaving my job.
So I actually have all these contacts to then call on and start to look for that next job.
So it's not like, oh, God, I'm going to leave next week.
I got to start building my network. No, that would have been happening the year before, two years before.
You'll have a much smoother transition that way.
That's right. That's right. all right so should we do a role play yes so here i am talking to my friend uh and talking to you about your current position all right here we go so i have some news what's up well i'm thinking of leaving my current position no way why well i feel a little bored to be honest it may be time to switch things up and leave that's fair yeah it's time to start thinking of my next destination Okay.
I'm excited for you. Well, thank you. All right.
All right, Michelle, let's go back over this role play and see what we did.
All right. So first you said, I'm thinking of leaving my current position.
Yes. And then I said, it may be time to switch things up and leave.
Right? Yeah. Now, if you want to sound a little bit more spunky, you could add a, this place or that place.
Like, yes. Kind of adding a little bit more grit, not a great, but a little more attitude to it.
A little more sassiness, right? A little bit of spiciness.
There's lots of words. We get a lot of S words we could come up with there.
And then you said it's time to start thinking on my next destination.
Yeah. And again, that's using that slightly more figurative language.
And we could do another episode on when you might want to be figurative about certain topics, just because it's not always the most polite thing to go into lots of personal details around certain people.
You know what I'm saying, Michelle? Yeah.
I think it would be kind of cool to create an episode on All Ears English about that, actually.
About when to just not go into all the specific details and use just more.
More figurative, more vague, more like comparisons and analogies and things like that because you're avoiding the specifics.
That would be really cool. Yeah. Okay. Awesome.
All right. Michelle, what's our takeaway for today?
Guys, this is a hard thing. I mean, it's a hard feeling to really want to get out of a place but feel afraid of doing that.
Well, we spoke about this really good article from the Harvard Business Review and we gave you some ways to express to someone that you are thinking of getting out of somewhere.
But the main thing is, if you have made the decision to leave... just try and go for it.
Right. Um, but also don't feel bad if you've made the decision to stay like, you know, for some people, the job isn't everything, you know, and they just say, okay, I'm here for this reason.
Um, the, uh, I mean, it just gets into a deeper discussion about what is, you know, job and career and things like that.
Of course, we hope nobody is in a toxic work environment, but there are financial reasons and other reasons why someone has to stay somewhere.
And, you know, that's OK, too. yeah and you know and career-wise you know maybe the job doesn't tick all the boxes of your dream career but maybe that's okay because as you said michelle you have other things in your life like your family or hobbies some people can be really happy without having a maximized career in every sense of the word Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. So we got to we all have our own little formula for happiness.
So we got to find that and we got to we have to.
I said that very casually. We got to write.
I'm being very casual now. We have to like follow through on that formula that we've created for ourselves.
Yeah. Love it. All right. Well, I think that's a good way to leave our listeners.
Thanks, guys, for listening. And we hope whatever you wish for your own job, you get.
All right, Michelle. Take care. Talk to you soon.
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