Looking for new job after 1 month? What to say to new employer

loxleynew

So I started a new job a month ago and it isn't right for me. 35 hours downtime and double standards etc even with people having the same title/job as me being able to come and go as they please when I have to be here 8-5 (salary mind you).

So what would I say to a future employer in an interview if I've only been here 1 month? Has anyone been in this situation?

Thanks in advance!

eserfeliz

I would say stick it out a little longer. Listen, I would never tell someone to stay somewhere where they're unhappy. But what happens if the next place you go to is even worse? Then you've got another 1 monther on your resume. And then hiring managers will start to toss your resume straight in the circular file.

I'm in a new job, coming to work early, leaving late, working on weekends. I don't see many of my co-workers doing so. But I don't worry about them, I worry about what I have to do.

Hang out, collect your check, and if in a few more months nothing's changed and nothing's getting better, then start looking around for a better opportunity. But don't walk out due to other's behavior. Just my two cents and 16 years of work experience talking, whatever that's worth these days.

networker050184

Just tell the next employer it wasn't a good fit for you. I wouldn't stick around wasting your time if you don't think its the job for you.

Ivanjam

eserfeliz said it all. Hang around for at least six months then look for something else. If you have "downtime", use it to study for your next certification exam.

Akaricloud

Wait, you're complaining about having too much downtime and having to work a 8 hour work day? -That's the perfect situation to sit in for 6 months to a year and cert up before moving on.

Why are you so quick to want to leave? A month isn't really even time to get fully situated and take on all of your responsibilities. It's easy to explain during an interview that you felt you weren't being challenged after 6 months and got XXX certs during work time because of it. Trying to explain that you weren't a good fit after only a month and the choice you're taking is to just quit instead of trying to work out your problems, will be much, much more difficult.

networker050184

I think a month is more than enough time to realize you've made a mistake. Not every situation is a good fit for everyone and there is no point wasting yours or the employers time. No point in making them train you up for six months if you know you aren't sticking around.

VAHokie56

throw some lines out see what comes back. This go around try and get a good feel for the culture and make sure its a good spot before you jump.

NetworkVeteran

people having the same title/job as me being able to come and go as they please when I have to be here 8-5

If the job was advertised to you as 8-5 and you felt the wager were fair for that level of work and responsibility, I would reconsider whether others' arrangements really matter.

I think a month is more than enough time to realize you've made a mistake.

I agree. If you're confident this isn't for you, move on already. What do you tell new employers? When asked, you explain why you quit. They may assess the risk of you leaving a bit more carefully, but assuming this is just a one-off occurence on an otherwise good resume, you should be okay. Especially so, if youre applying for a role you were successful at before.

loxleynew

Thanks for the advise. So a little more info the job was not advertised as an 8-5 job but just as a salary job where you get your work done (all 5 hours of it...).

I guess I should stick around for another 4 months and cert up then leave I just didn't want to learn their systems that I have no interest in then quit. I suppose you guys are right stick it out 8-5 and just study, it just gets boring and I am the kind of person that rather learns on the job not reading a book =/ It's just frustrating I guess.

Hypntick

I've got a jump after 2 months on my resume. When asked why I was wanting to leave after only 2 months, I explained that it wasn't the proper fit for me. Wasn't even asked to go into detail about it.

powerfool

Yep. If you feel it is a mistake, move on. Don't wait six months. If I were interviewing you, I would understand looking after a month much more than waiting six months.

blargoe

It's OK to move on if you know it's not going to be the right fit.

It's not OK to have a PATTERN of these early departures on your resume, though.

JDMurray

blargoe wrote: »

It's not OK to have a PATTERN of these early departures on your resume, though.

With such a brief employment stay, it's worth considering not mentioning the employment at all. I've been in several new employment situations that have failed in less that a month's time; I decided not to include them on my resume to avoid the questions and the clutter. People need to decide if purposely omitting a piece of their employment history will actually offset any negative ROI that may result from including it on their resume.

CodeBlox

You could use the 35 hours of downtime to study for a cert.

zrockstar

JDMurray wrote: »

With such a brief employment stay, it's worth considering not mentioning the employment at all. I've been in several new employment situations that have failed in less that a month's time; I decided not to include them on my resume to avoid the questions and the clutter. People need to decide if purposely omitting a piece of their employment history will actually offset any negative ROI that may result from including it on their resume.

This for sure. I almost feel as though leaving after 6 months looks worse than after a month. It looks more respectful to realize it's not for you and cut your losses early before both parties are too vested. Leaving after 6 months looks like you either jerked them along or aren't cut out for the work altogether. I can't say this from an IT perspective but I have done recruiting and hiring for commissioned sales and that is how I felt. But best bet like JD said is just to not mention it.

Nemowolf

Since no one else has mentioned this, have you considered talking with your boss or the hiring manager to discuss the situation to see if you can make more work for yourself? It may seem weird telling your boss that you only do an hours worth of work a day but that may mean they need to provide you with more work to do.

I will add that i agree that if your thinking of cutting the job, start looking now and wait until something that is more inline with what your wanting to do comes around. Be honest with your potential future employer and let them worry about the details.

Jackace

My current job is much like the job in the OP. The job is pretty easy and most days I don't do much. They pay me well and I took advantage of all the downtime to complete certifications. Now I'm in the process of moving to a new company which will give me the experience I need to grow my career in the direction I want it to go. Now had I already had my career going in the direction I wanted and I found myself in a job with little challenge then I would start looking for a new job asap. Just explain to potential employers that it just wasn't a good fit for you.

powerfool

I had a job that I ended up hating very much that I should have left after the first month. I was a jack-of-all trades for a small manufacturing company and have been there for almost three years; we got a new boss and I just didn't really see him as being a leader, so I thought it was a good time to move on. The new job was described as a very interesting opportunity where I would be designing new networks and planning upgrades and migrations for new and existing customers. We were going to be working new storage networks and disaster recovery.

Well, early on into this job, my boss showed that he had a "House" complex, except he wasn't as good as House. I didn't get to do any of the work that was described... I essentially turned into the grunt for all of the projects. I came from an environment where I did everything, including evaluating new products and designing and implementing solutions to the companies needs. This felt like a big step down. However, I stayed because I wanted to have a longer stay on my resume, I liked the pay over my last job (wasn't that great in retrospect), and they were paying for my undergrad. I could have found another job in short order for even better pay. I think I did learn a lot at the job, but I could learned as much or more elsewhere.

Don't let the positive aspects of a place cover up the negatives... those same positives, and more, can be found elsewhere. Just realize that you have to search for them... because there will be worse places, too.

higherho

I'm somewhat in a simliar situation. I took this job and it sounded great and some project management experience as well but I'm 2 months in and bored out of my mind. The daily troubles are extremely easy and the downtime makes me want to go to sleep =/ The people are nice and the enviroment is nice but you have to do whats best for yourself. For me I always need my mind to be stimulated / challanged.

Complete_IT_Professional

JDMurray wrote: »

With such a brief employment stay, it's worth considering not mentioning the employment at all. I've been in several new employment situations that have failed in less that a month's time; I decided not to include them on my resume to avoid the questions and the clutter. People need to decide if purposely omitting a piece of their employment history will actually offset any negative ROI that may result from including it on their resume.

I agree with JDMurray - it might be a good idea to leave it off the resume. Also, it's OK to have one job that has a short time period, but if they start adding up, it won't send a good impression.
If you're able to use the experience in a good way, then great! If not, then study on the job during the downtime, as others have mentioned, which will help you for future roles.

loxleynew

higherho wrote: »

I'm somewhat in a simliar situation. I took this job and it sounded great and some project management experience as well but I'm 2 months in and bored out of my mind. The daily troubles are extremely easy and the downtime makes me want to go to sleep =/ The people are nice and the enviroment is nice but you have to do whats best for yourself. For me I always need my mind to be stimulated / challanged.

Thanks for the input everyone. So what are you going to do since you are about 2 months in? Sit it out and study or try find a new job?

pacotaco

I recently took a application support position. It was not what I was looking for, but I was sought out by an previous co-worker. The pay and environment was too good to pass up even though it was a different direction than networking - which is what I was trying to break into. Work from home 3 days, nice people, happy hours, food and drink in the fridge. I have a lot of down time and I'm realizing I don't deal with it as well as I thought. Did my director jump the gun hiring for the position? Does this company know what they are doing? Am I not showing enough competence to be given more challenging things to do? I can be my own worse enemy if I'm not engaged. I decided this week to rock the boat a bit for more things to get involved with. I am able to work on finishing my AAS in network admin.

higherho

loxleynew wrote: »

Thanks for the input everyone. So what are you going to do since you are about 2 months in? Sit it out and study or try find a new job?

I just hit my 2 months today and everyone here really likes me a lot too. Interesting thing is my former boss at HP sent me resume to someone else who needed an Admin (basically the same stuff I was doing in my last position but ALOT more networking equipment, linux work (on the side not the primary OS they need me for) and 10 more servers)). He put my resume on the top and said when they get all the details / rates he will contact me / send out offers. I can potentionally get 80k (I'm making 65k now) so if I was offered that then I would take it.

If I don't then I will stay and cert up but I'm getting more project management experience than technical exp here which is a huge let down.

Nemowolf

higherho wrote: »

If I don't then I will stay and cert up but I'm getting more project management experience than technical exp here which is a huge let down.

While the lack of technical experience sucks, keep in mind that project management experience can be a huge boon if you move into a large environment or a management position. You would be surprised how little many IT folks really know about Project Management. I have also read about people creative positions for themselves as techncial project managers because they have the understanding from both fields and place themselves in the unique position to manage those technical projects that no one else would really understand executing.