In my career I have had two programming jobs. Both these jobs were in a field that I am most familiar with (C# / MSSQL) but I have quit both jobs for the same reason: unmanageable code and bad (loose) company structure. There was something in common with both these jobs: small companies (in one I was the only developer).

Currently I am in the following position:

• being given written instructions which are almost impossible to follow (somewhat of a fools errand).
• we are given short time constraints, but seldom asked how long work will take, and when we do it is always too long and needs to be shorter (and when it ends up taking longer than they need it to take, it's always our fault).
• there is no time for proper documenting, but we get blamed for not documenting (see previous point).
• Management is constantly screwing me around, saying I'm underperforming on a given task (which is not true, and switching me to a task which is much more confusing).

So I must ask my fellow developers: how bad does a job need to be before you would consider jumping ship? And what to look out for when considering taking a job.

In future I will be asking about documented procedures, release control, bug management and adoption of new technologies.

EDIT:

Let me add some more fuel to the fire ... I have been in my current job for just over a year, and the work I am doing almost never uses any of the knowledge I have gained from the other work I have been doing here. Everything is a giant learning curve. Because of this about 30% of my time is learning what is going on with this new product (who's owner / original developer has left the company), 30% trying to find the relevant documentation that helps the whole thing make sense, 30% actually finding where to make the change, 10% actually making the change.