You’re a month into your new job and you’ve realized that your new boss is a micromanager, the office culture is toxic, and the work is a lot less interesting than you thought. What should you do if you hate your new job?
Let’s say you’ve already tried to address the situation with your manager and by seeking advice from others in the company. Nothing has worked. How long should you stick around? If you resign after a short time, how will this affect your career?
Should you try to stay for a year?
Even if you could find another job quickly, it may be better for your resume to stay put for a year. Ask yourself: “If I stay for a year on this job, am I likely to have measurable accomplishments to add to my resume, such as challenging projects completed, processes improved, new skills learned, a positive annual evaluation?”
Some jobs lend themselves to such accomplishments, while others are more like a treadmill: you get on, you keep running, and when you get off things look the same as they did before. Just showing a year’s employment may not be worth much if you can’t point to accomplishments that show you were successful.
Second, ask yourself whether logging a year in this job is worth the stress and unhappiness you’re likely to go through. Would staying on this job be hazardous to your mental and physical health and your relationships? If so, it may be time to look for a new job now, rather than later.
What if you decide to stay for a year, and then change your mind partway through?
Would a short-term role look okay on your resume? In many cases it won’t. Leaving the job off the resume may be even worse, as employers may jump to negative conclusions about the gap, and you may have trouble explaining it effectively in interviews. If you’re going to change jobs, it’s often better to do it sooner.
Should you leave now?
In addition to saving stress for yourself, leaving sooner may actually be better for the company as well. Their training investment in you may still be minimal. They may not be depending on you as much as they will later. It’s even possible that their second- or third-choice candidate may still be available.
Plus, if you’ve been on the job a very short time, like several weeks, you may be able to leave it off your resume without showing much of a gap.
If you do decide to resign, make sure you quit in the right way to protect your reputation.
How will a short-term job affect your next job search?
The answer depends on, among other factors, whether you can obtain a new job before resigning. If you do, your resume will show a short-term role followed immediately by a new job that will hopefully be long and successful. The longer role on your resume will help counteract any bad impression left by the short one.
Whether or not you’re able to secure a new job before quitting, there are ways the short-term role may affect your upcoming job search.
Although you can leave a short-term job off your resume, you may need to include it when you fill out applications. Read the instructions very carefully. If they include a requirement to “list all past jobs” and you don’t do so, it can cost you the job when they discover the omission. Don’t let one short stint cause another!
If the subject of the short-term job comes up in an interview, you might say something like this:
“When I interviewed for the role, I was told (or “received the impression”) that I would be doing X / that I’d have the autonomy to make decision such as Y / that the culture was very Z. But once I started, the reality was substantially different and it wasn’t a good fit. I realized it would be better for both myself and the company if I bowed out sooner rather than later. What I learned from this experience is that I need to ask better questions in interviews and make sure my next position is a good fit regarding X/Y/Z. The role we’re talking about today sounds just right.”
As with any interview answer about a negative situation, your response should be calm, positive and very brief. Resist the temptation to blame and complain. Even if the interviewer is sympathetic and seems to be encouraging you to kvetch, doing so would likely cost you the opportunity. Don’t take the bait!
If you hate your new job, you may feel very stressed, disappointed, angry or worried about the future. That’s normal. If you handle the situation with care, eventually you’ll put it behind you. The good news is: as time goes by, this temporary setback may gradually cease to matter. (This post was originally published in 2022, and has been updated.)
