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Specifics: -I have completed one year of a tenure-track position at a small school -I am unhappy in my job. I receive little to no mentorship or institutional support as a junior faculty. My pay and benefits are well below comparable positions in my area. I experience a high degree of stress that is affecting me personally and physically. -I have been thinking about non-academic jobs for some time and recently received an offer from a consulting recruiter.

Questions: -Am I being unethical/insulting by only giving ~1 months notice prior to the semester starting? -I am technically on a multi-year contract; can I legally break this contract? -I anticipate that my leaving will not go over well with the department and I honestly have no idea how to quit (i.e. who do I tell first?, how do I give notice?, etc.), does anyone have advice?

Thank you!

Junior
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    This question has accumulated a few close votes so far for the reason of "The answer to this question strongly depends on individual factors such as a certain person’s preferences, a given institution’s regulations, the exact contents of your work or your personal values." I suggest editing your post to focus on things that can be answered generally (e.g., how quitting on short notice is generally perceived) and remove the things that we can't possibly answer (e.g. can I legally break this contract - we haven't seen your contract, how are we supposed to know?) – ff524 Aug 03 '16 at 18:56
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    I'd be very careful about the "offer from a recruiter", in your position. Don't assume it's certain until you have signed your contract, or at least negotiated with the prospective employer directly and ironed out every detail. – Federico Poloni Aug 03 '16 at 19:20

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For the legal consequences, consult your contract. The main consequences in such a situation are likely to be reputational; but if you do not intend to continue in academia, is your reputation among academics really going to affect your career?

Tom Church
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