Most career coaches believe that if you are a young professional, getting fired from a job is not that big a deal. Most employers would not consider it a big deterrent from offering you a new job, and well, you could do with the severance money. Further, if you stay unemployed for long, you may just need to collect on your unemployment insurance and that money is available only if you were terminated or laid off from your job. Hence, in such a case, it would make sense for you to wait until your boss fires you. During that period, you may consider working extra hard and turning things round for you at the workplace. After all, there is no harm in trying; the worst that could happen is that you will be fired and that is anyways a realistic possibility.
However, if you are a senior-level manager or professional, your professional reputation may get marred considerably if you were fired. Professionals with a considerable amount of experience behind them are expected to be competent at their jobs and make it work. When they are fired, questions are raised regarding their competence, and well, you would not want to hire a person at a premium salary if you are not sure that he is competent enough to do the job well. In such a case, it makes sense to put down your papers and leave the company on your own terms.
The downside of this decision is that while you are saving your reputation, your finances may come into jeopardy. Professionals who resign from a job are not entitled to any severance pay. This means the day you quit, you rely on your savings, and if you don't have about six months of expenses saved up at least, you are heading towards financial trouble. Therefore, check your bank balance, do the math, and consider your chances of landing a job soon before you decide to resign.
Another important aspect to take into account before you decide on whether it is wise to resign or it makes sense to stick it out is your mental health. If it is not too bad to wake up in the morning and go to work, stay on and make sincere attempts to turn things around. However, if it is too stressful to even consider going to work, it will be better for you to resign.
A mid-way out to this situation is to start looking around for a new job when you feel that things are not going to get any better for you at your current job. Statistics show that employed people looking around for jobs are preferred by prospective employers over unemployed professionals, irrespective of these professionals were fired or they resigned of their own accord.
Whatever you decide to do, do not get into denial mode and just sit around and hope for things to get better. Update your resume and start passing it around when you realize that you are not going to be with your current company much longer. Don't wait to be fired or to get so frustrated so as to resign before you take your destiny in your hands and consider new job opportunities.
