The End is Near


I’m seeking guidance on next steps in my career. I’ve been working in a niche underwriting role within a product-focused group for the last 3.5 years. Initially, my performance reviews were very strong, but after a medical accommodation was mishandled, my reviews shifted to label me as underperforming. On top of that, the work environment has been concerning—there’s been drinking in the office, inappropriate remarks about women, and even personal comments directed at me regarding my hair color and my learning disability.

Recently, my manager asked me to resign. I’m unsure if it would be better to submit my resignation or allow the firm to move forward with a termination.

On the job market side, I’ve been actively interviewing and consistently making it to final rounds, but I tend to lose out to candidates with broader, more traditional backgrounds since my expertise has been fairly niche.

At the same time, I run a business on the side that is my true passion and life’s work. It doesn’t yet fully replace my income, but it is steadily growing. I’m not anticipating it to make banking type money but maybe enough to live off of. Financially, I have an 8–9 month immediate nest egg, plus reserves that could cover me for roughly three years if needed. My spouse also works in high finance, so together we’re in a relatively solid financial position.

I’m struggling with what path to take:

• Should I resign now to control the narrative, or let the firm terminate me?

• Should I continue pushing forward in the finance career lane despite the challenges, or take the leap into pursuing my passion full-time given my financial runway and support system?

4 Comments
 

Not blue or anything that would be inappropriate in an office setting. A standard color. Given I’m in the entertainment industry, for a marketing campaign, it was needed to change my hair color.

 

If you can, (and it's going to be funny typing this on my work computer) let the firm fire you. You'll collect unemployment which should provide something in the meantime. In terms of the leap of faith into your passion, only you can make that decision based on your gut. If you truly love it and want to make it your profession (and your gut is telling you to take that risk), what's stopping you? 

 

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