Eva Etese: How I Quit My Job For Happiness in These Economic Times

I believe that life is too short to do that which makes you unhappy. I moved back to Nigeria after completing another degree in 2015. I was expectant that when I returned, I would be able to land myself a job, fulfil my dreams, get married and continue the life I’ve always dreamed o. Fast Forward 16 months, it’s another story entirely.
I was feeling fly and proud of myself, not knowing what I was going to meet ahead. My first three months of staying at home was awful. Then, frustration and anger set in. I needed a job – a job in an IT role.

It was even telling on my blog, as my mind, soul and spirit were combined in the search for this job. I wrote loads of job assessment tests, which I did perfectly well in, but never got any response from them. Then, early June I started some projects, and voila the next week… I got a job offer.

Don’t be so excited! It was not the job role I was expecting. I told my loved ones at home that I wasn’t taking it. I’m sure you can imagine the response to get from a typical Nigerian mum who has been taking and listening to all my laments of not getting a job. Finally I accepted the job and was excited;  at least I won’t be lamenting anymore and yes now I could save and pull off some projects.

It wasn’t easy; combining my job, blogging, being a typical Nigerian daughter who has to assist in house chores and other side projects. In fact 24 hours seemed like just 4 hours.
3 – 4 months down the line, economic recession happened. I woke up to the news of mass retrenchment in some top companies – some folding up and leaving the country. There was a wave of massive unemployment across the country
I didn’t lose my job but my salary was cut, big time. You should have seen the look on my face when I got salary alert that month. Oh my God! How was I going to cope?

I had to cut down my spending and still had to battle with Job fulfilment, as the role became monotonous. Maybe the cut in salary opened my eyes to this aspect. Imagine waking up every morning and bustling out of the house say 5am in order to beat the crazy Lagos traffic, then get to work and what you do doesn’t exactly make you happy. Something was missing.

Well, some people don’t really care as long as the job pays the bills; but I guess I’m part of the other group of individuals who believe that job fulfilment is key. It’s either you like or love and ok with the job you have; or you have a job that pays the bills comfortably and you can save with. But when both of them doesn’t exist in your everyday day life, mehn, I see that as suicide.

The best bet was to migrate to another job, but the economic recession became more glaring. Then the ever increasing foreign currency exchange rate and companies downsizing was on the news every day.

So I was stuck with the situation. I was sacrificing the time I needed to make huge impact on my blog & other social media sites I manage. I was also faced with the nightmare of losing touch with my IT networking skills which I had spent years to build.

So fast forward two months ago, I made up my mind to leave. When loved ones also saw my plight they encouraged that step. How would I leave a job when I don’t have an alternative; but, I took that bold step to leave. To me my happiness is the ultimate goal in my life and career. If I can’t fulfil this, then what am I living for?

Then a serious 3rd world war kicked off in my head for a whole month. Battling with the thought of being jobless or going back to unemployment sector which was scary. I made up my mind to end the war in my head which was affecting my blog, my personal life and even my workflow in the office.

The war ended when I handed my letter of resignation to the HR officer. The first thing he said was, “Ahan Eva what is this?” And I said, “I’m tired”
He didn’t agree. I was told to go meet my manager who was absolutely shocked when he read the letter. He tried as much as possible to convince me, but this stubborn-headed lady still stood her ground.

Even the owner of the company tried to convince me to stay, knowing my worth to the company.I was already determined to leave. When friends and family heard, the first question was, ‘so have you gotten another job? What would you be doing when you leave?’ I replied them that it would sort itself out, as another job would surface.

My friends thought I was crazy; some even thought that because I was a lady there would still be someone to fend for me. None of that makes a point to me.

What happened to the age and time of having job satisfaction? Now most people rather go for anything called a job as long as it pays the bills. So I quit my job at a time when things when things were bad and having a steady income is a luxury.

Today I’m unemployed, but happy. I can now re-strategize and focus and give more time to my blog and other projects. While still looking for opportunities to use my IT networking skills.

So my question is would you take that step I took if you were in my shoes? Would you quit your job if you were not fulfilled?  Especially, in the current economic situation.

Photo Credit: Hongqi Zhang (aka Michael Zhang) | Dreamstime.com