Should I leave this job while being involved in a project, or should I wait until I finish this project successfully early next year? [closed]

Question

I'm currently working in the adult education field within a non-profit sector, and my employer asked me to be a part of a new project beginning soon. It's a team with only 3 members, and I have a crucial role in the project (if I leave and they cannot find a replacement soon, then the project will not be run at all). I like the job, and people are great to work with. That said, the # of hours from this job is not full-time, and I found a new FT job posting (from another organization) that I want to apply to. I'm afraid though that leaving this job while being on this project would leave a bad reputation for me. FT work is not urgent for me, since I live with my family. I'm wondering if it will be smarter to just wait it out until the project finishes successfully (the project will be finished in early 2022) and then leave. Also, I'm also seeking to find out if I do want to upgrade myself in this field through further schooling, and in this case, part-time would be good so I can use the remaining time for school. My work will be changed from remote to in-person starting from this fall, which will also help me see the full nature of this teaching job and see if I want to stay in this field or not. If I leave this job too soon, this will not be possible.

Thus, the pros and cons are:

Pro of leaving this job and going to another one:

• Can gain full-time employment
• Can get hired for a FT job that fits my capabilities, the posting of which I'm unsure will reappear in 2022
• No more frustration of feeling like I'm underemployed with part-time hour

Con of leaving this job:

• May leave a bad reputation at my current job, which I worked hard at to build a good reputation and gain promotion (via being involved in multiple projects and getting my hours increased)

• A possibility of difficulty in getting a good reference- Cannot experience the job in person, which will not help me with career exploration (finding out if this teaching role fits me and whether I should do further schooling)

• Cannot go to school while being on the job since the new job may be FT

Any advice? What should I do? Your comments will be much appreciated. Thank you.

Answer 1

We can't answer "what should you do" because it depends on factors you know that we don't, such as your career goals, your income aspirations and job satisfaction, etc. (As a side note, this makes these kinds of questions off-topic here, hence the downvotes you've gotten already.)

However, in making this decision I'd advise you to consider the following important aspects you haven't mentioned:

• You're not as irreplaceable as you think you are to your current employer. I and many others have left employers where we felt the company would collapse without our important contributions. It's good to feel needed, but the company will get along fine without us.
• If your upcoming project will be like a shiny badge for your resume and help you get future jobs, it may be worth doing. If the only reason you're doing it is to not let the company down and you don't think a successful outcome will help you directly, it may not be that important.
• If you can get the jobs you want without school/degrees, a degree probably isn't that important to you either. In some fields degrees are mandatory, in others it can substitute for career experience, and in some the time spent in the field speaks for itself. Don't go to school "just to go" - that's how you get saddled with debt that takes decades to work off.
• You absolutely can go to school (part time) while working full time, lots of people do this (including me). It's not easy and it takes longer than 4 years (bachelor's in the US) but it can be done.

You have a good start with the Pros/Cons list but it's incomplete. Hopefully this helps give you more to think about and make a decision that works for you.