Would you quit a job three months in?
Hi. Not sure if HN is the right place to ask this but would you quit a job three months in? The job per se is not too bad but the immediate bosses are insufferable.
Put another way if I was past the 2 year watermark I wouldn't even wonder. I'd just start looking but getting out so soon I'm afraid it's going to tank my chances.
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[ 4.5 ms ] story [ 85.6 ms ] thread(And it is refreshing to see per se used correctly. Thanks!)
I had been hired through an agency, and called them, being apologetic and saying I hoped I hadn't endangered their relationship with their client (although no way I was staying). They said I hadn't, and by the end of the call it became apparent that I wasn't the first person to quit in this way.
One thought exercise you might consider, to see if you are being unreasonable or not. Imagine, as a thought experiment, that you were needing to explain to someone (say at your next job interview) what was wrong with your "insufferable" bosses. If you have a hard time explaining (even as a thought experiment) why your immediate bosses are insufferable, then you would want to introspect a bit more as to what is really bothering you. But, if you are able to explain the problem clearly (and professionally), perhaps to a non-work friend or something, then it's probably not just you being in a bad mood or whatever, and you should start looking.
One additional thing to mention is you can start looking before you quit, just to see what the market currently is like for you.
Though, given that you have nothing to lose, you could consider first kindly telling the bosses what is insufferable. Maybe that could help, idk?
Or I guess I'm curious too: what makes the immediate bosses insufferable?
OTOH the pay is ok, the rest of the guys are ok and I left the previous dumpster fire of a company before the 1 year mark.
But yeah if there's no opportunities to increase your visibility or power, it's pretty hard to overcome a shitty manager... and especially if he doesn't value your work, why even bother doing good work?
But the main issue was company culture/values and I could never really get comfortable. I mostly took the job for improved commute, knowing that there were places our opinions diverged but I thought it would be manageable, after all it is just a job. In the end I decided the I couldn't so peace out'd.
But I do want to be clear - the people I actually worked with were great, it was the company as a whole that didn't work out.
I once took a job where I had exactly one condition for hire. They assured me it would never come to pass. In fact, the 3rd day it came to pass. I asked "don't you remember this was the only condition I set?" They replied "I don't care, just get it done."
I quit on the spot. I don't list this job on my resume. Life is entirely too short to put up with people that walk all over you. Just move on and find something healthier.
It was unrelated to the tech stack; I’ve always worked in IT/operations where that sort of condition generally doesn’t fly.
It was related to an ethical line I refused to cross, and that’s all I will really say. It was a disappointing episode in my life, where I realized after the fact that I could’ve made better choices & avoided the situation entirely.
I was fresh out of university and I took a job doing software with a company who only had one developer overseeing me.
He was extremely rude to me, and extremely strict with me, getting angry if I showed up 5 minutes late or took even one extra minute for lunch. At my three month review his feedback was very negative and he clearly wanted to get rid of me but his bosses convinced him (and me) to agree to one more month of probation. I raised some of my issues with how he was treating me, so we drew up some revised expectations for both of us, then both of us signed them.
The very next day he pulled me over to his desk. I had designed a three column layout for a page he'd assigned me to build. I had left-aligned the text in the header columns. He wanted them center aligned. He communicated this to me by highlighting the text, slamming his mouse on the desk and shouting "does this look good to you!?". It would have taken me thirty seconds to fix at most, but he was furious about it.
I walked away from him, into my manager's office, and quit on the spot.
The real cherry on top of this story is they were only paying me $13 an hour.
Consider the alternative. You are staying otherwise in a workplace you hate or it is not good enough for you for two years or more because, in that way, maybe some recruiter would not you cross you out from their 3000-strong list of people suitable for the job they are advertising for.
YMMV, but in my experience, it will not tank your chances. I got plenty of interviews whether I was totally upfront about my reasons for quitting or not. Searching for a job sucks, but you'd be doing it anyway. It will suck worse if you don't have enough reserve cash.
But if you've got enough cash to float you for several months, don't waste another 3 months or more of your life hating it. I've never regretted the times I quit abruptly or didn't work.
Bolt out of there real quick. Like others mentioned, start looking, skip this stint on your resume, and have a canned response when asked.
Unless finding a new job that pays similarly would be significantly difficult, there's no real reason to stick around a place where you can't stand the people you work with.
Your chances of finding a new or better job won't be impacted at all imo. If anyone asks you can say you were not convinced it's a good cultural fit, and even spin it positively as you being decisive rather than sticking around and not doing justice to the job and yourself or some other such brand of authenticity and linkedin heroism.
I did similar recently. The job wasn’t what I was looking for, highly senior team in titles but much more junior / immature in reality than I’m used to and thought I was joining. It felt like a significant step down work wise and as the team was new it had a bunch of new team forming issues I had no time for as I’m a head down and work person. It was a shame as the work itself had potential to be really interesting and the company itself was very good with fully remote, every second Friday of the month off, quality of life perks etc etc.
Leaving early meant loosing RSU’s wasn’t an issue as I could make the difference back in a new salary. If I stuck around for the initial 12 month cliff for 40% RSU’s vesting I’d probably of hated each day, effecting my performance and then in the end leaving before the 12 months anyway but with a greater loss as wouldn’t of been able to make the difference back on higher salary vs RSU’s with time invested.
To employ means to "use".
All employers are therefore using you.
During the early stages of my training I used to intentionally only take jobs that offered certificated and recognised training programs as part of the package. These jobs usually paid far less than the going rate.
For instance, one job I applied for offered a complete certificated training package as a methadone dispenser.
After 3 months and the completion of the training I left and got a better paid job as a care-coordinator and methadone dispenser at nearly double the money.
A quick and painless way for developing a good CV
You options are to either put it on the CV or just hide it. I've chosen to hide it, but I mention it during interviews if my brief experience from there is somehow relevant.
There was nothing challenging to do -- just everyday CRUD apps, and the code base was a nightmare of poor decisions. It was driving me demented after only a few weeks and I quickly reached the stage where I had to leave for the sake of my sanity.
It doesn't appear on my CV. I try to blank out the whole experience.
Also, two month gaps can be invisible or near invisible. You end one job at the start of June and start the next at the end of July. That's a two month gap that doesn't translate to a gap on a CV at all, as you ended Job 1 in June and started job 2 in July. Gap could be two days, two weeks or two months. For recent jobs I only ever put months on my CV, older jobs I put years. (2006-2009).
My feeling on CVs is to not over complicate things. Keep the narrative as simple as possible. And learn from the three month mistakes so you say no to those jobs next time.