I recently considered leaving graduate school to get a job. I talked to a number of friends who had jobs, revamped my CV into a resume, created a linkedin profile, and learned a lot about what the job market is like in my area, and about the interview process, and about what sorts of jobs I was interested in. I also talked to people in my department about it for the first time, though it had been on my mind for a while.

I decided that the remaining time that I have (probably two years) is a worthy investment for a number of reasons; including the experience itself, the value of having a PhD, and contingent circumstances about my social life.

After that I've been incredibly productive in my program, scheduling my qualifying exam and constructing a committee and preparing material much faster and more easily than I'd been working before, and I feel a lot less self-doubt about doing school work.