Should I quit my current job tomorrow or stay and see where things go for now? I need advice from an outside perspective.
Situation:
I'm currently working a job in an industry that I never had an interest in previously, but after my last tech company job ended during the pandemic, I decided to try something different from what I did for 10 years. I'm 2 years in this industry now and still not interested in it, but it pays the bills. (Also, I'm married w/ a newborn at home)
Good:
It pays the bills. The work is fairly simple and easy to get plenty of overtime. I'm good at my job, and even scheduled for a meeting tomorrow with the big boss to discuss my decision on accepting a promotion to a management-level position.
Bad:
I sincerely feel unhappy doing this work. Without getting into job specific details, even if I did everything perfectly with a smile and started my day in a great mood – I would still end my day having been insulted/berated by clients, and potentially under-performing in daily expectations due to factors I don't control.
Why:
In the last few months, I've been learning data analysis and coding (web development-HTML/CSS/JS/SQL, w/ python, C++ and more in mind for back-end dev later), but I don't have a portfolio ready. I genuinely enjoy working with data and coding and see a career future in it. Studying after work at night and weekends is making progress; but very slow progress.
A few weeks ago, recruiters reached out to fill a position similar to what I did for the past 10 years. Different industry than before, but the work is the same. (Also, this work is not related to data or coding I'm studying for.) The pay is double what I currently make, but there's a 3-hour commute each week where I'd have to work and stay out of town. I considered it, interviewed and was extended an offer to start at the end of this month.
Originally, the plan was to give my current company a 2-week notice and have this week be my last week, having next week off for appointments and studying before starting the following Monday. However, due to the recruiter's extensive background checks, drug tests, and pay stub requests to verify previous employment – I'm likely only able to give my current employer a day notice before the week off, or give them a week's notice with no down-time for myself before the new job and commute starts.
More importantly, I mentioned to the recruiter that I don't want to give notice to my current employer until I receive (in-writing) that everything is clear and ready for me to start at the new company – Yet, I still have not received that green light, so I feel uncertain about giving notice before they confirm my next job is secured. Although my current work makes me unhappy, the people I work with are good and I don't have any major negative feelings toward the company.
So Reddit… What do you think? Should I quit my current job tomorrow?