Quitting before or after the start of a project [closed]

I have been at my current job for a little more than one year. I get paid about half of what my position should be, but I got this job right after I graduated, so I still appreciate them taking me because I really do need the experience. My employer is pretty nice and I get along with my coworkers really well too but my current salary is just way too low so I plan to quit soon. However, they have already assigned me to a new project. The training for the new prpject will take a couple of weeks, so they will be paying someone and myself for those time just for training. If I put in my request now I can still quit before they start my training on the new project, but I will have no income until I find another job.

My question is should I quit before or after the start of a new project? My employer has some connections in my field so I don't want this to end badly and having bad reference in the future, but I'm also worried about quitting before getting a new job and how long it will take for me to have income again.

I hope what I said makes sense, thanks in advance for anyone who give me advice. I'm not sure what to do right now....

EDIT:
Thanks to everyone who answered, after I read the breakdowns I won't quit until I find another job. I didn't realize there's such a a stigma of people who are unemployed looking for work.
In terms of salary, my current wage is $16. For most people entering their first job in my field their salary is usually around $20/hr, after 1 year it should be close to 30/hr or even above if they are lucky enough to land in a great company. I know for sure there is no chance for a rise that can cover the gap because the managers talked to us in the beginning of the year about how to get a 2% salary increase if we work hard enough.

This question appears to be off-topic. The users who voted to close gave this specific reason:

5 Answers
5

After.

You don't have a job; you're suggesting you quit so that you can start looking for a job, and that's just not how it's done.

It might take you months or even years to get a new job. You don't want to be both out of work AND worrying about your employer bad mouthing you (and they might when ever you quit).

You're more desirable if you're already employed.

If you had an offer, you could go back to your current employer and ask them to match it. You might even be able to argue that with your new training, you're simply worth more.

You might also be greatly over-estimating (or even under-estimating) what you're worth.

If I put in my request now I can still quit before they start my
training on the new project, but I will have no income until I find
another job.

My question is should I quit before or after the start of a new
project?

Find a new job. Get and accept a formal offer. Set a start date.

Then, and only then, give your notice at your current company and work until the end of your notice period.

If all that happens to occur before you start training on a new project, then great. Otherwise, don't worry about it.

Quitting before you have a job to go to risks being without any income for a protracted period of time. And seeking a job paying what you are worth when you are currently making half that amount can take quite a long time. Often, that financial pressure leads to accepting whatever job happens to be available, even if it isn't one you really want. That's bad.

Companies understand that people cannot always time their departure to match up with company training schedules. These things happen.

My recommendation: Never quit a job unless you already have another job lined up. You never know how hard it might be to find another job. The only exception to the above is if you plan to take an extended vacation before starting your next job hunt and you just want the time off to decompress (and you have the money/other resources to do so comfortably).

in addition to what all the others said, I hear between the lines that you feel bad about getting trained on their nickel and then leaving the company.

Don't (feel bad).

They are letting you work for a low salary because they can, and they don't feel bad about it either.

Look for alternatives, and if you find them, ask them for a significant raise to reflect your increased experience and new skills (unless you don't like the old company anymore).

if they think you are not worth it, take the new job.

Job/Position worth is not simply defined by your salary. Things like location, work perks (PTO, technology, etc.), job workload are all important things to consider when evaluating your job worth.

For example, I personally pay a quarter of what some of my friends pay in rent and I get quite a bit of time off, unlimited sick time, and the job is low stress 90% of the year. BUT I get paid about half as much as other software engineers in places like Silicon Valley. In my opinion I make more than my colleagues because of everything that comes with my job along with my salary.

Take a step back and evaluate the job you're in and see if there are some perks to your job you might not have somewhere else.

If there aren't simply enough perks to your job and you don't make enough in salary, start looking for a job now. However, until you get an official written offer from another company continue to work and grow as a software developer in your current position. Important, high salary jobs for software developers tend to be jobs where you work way over 40 hours a week, keep that in mind.