Has anyone left a job after a short period of time?

[shelbeee]

I've posted before about my job, but am looking for advice from anyone who has experienced leaving a new role in the first 6 months.

Basically I applied for this role, advert said the company welcomed requests for flexible working. I asked in the interview if I could work 4 days, so 0.8, they said they'd consider it. I was offered role for 5 days, asked again re part time and after a bit of to and fro they said no, but they would be flexible in other ways. I've been upfront from the beginning that I was returning to work from mat leave and have a 4yo.

Fast forward 3 months. The role is not terribly flexible. I can work from home up to two days a week but the office I am supposed to work from, nearest to my house hasn't got room for me. So the other days I have a 2+ hr commute each way. Twice I have travelled to a city in the north of the UK, around 5 hour trip each way with an overnight stay.

I have come back from Christmas feeling, honestly, pretty shit about the job. I miss my DD who is at full time nursery.

They have said I could apply for part time at 6 months but no guarantee they'll accept.

Will this get any better? Or should I resign now? I can't speak to DH about it really, he hasn't been very understanding and I know it's up to me to make a decision about what to do. I just don't want to make a fool of myself.

Sorry, long. X

[maxelly]

No personal experience OP but I have experienced this with others plenty of times at work - it does seem like you have pretty solid reasons for it not working out - presumably even if they agree for you to go down to 4 days in a couple of months, they'd still want 2 of those days to be in the office and/or include some travel? I know I definitely wouldn't be wanting to do a 2 hour commute 2 days a week long term (and I don't have a baby + 4 year old!) so unless there is a reasonable prospect of getting a space in the nearer office anytime soon, I think I'd be looking to leave.

You'll need to practice a good explanation for why you want to leave quickly to use an interviews etc. and it's possible it might be held against you particularly if your industry/job is very competitive but it's hardly unheard of to do this- you get these threads all the time on MN (sometimes people wanting to leave within a few days/weeks let along within 6 months!), I would have thought it's really quite common. Anyway you haven't got much to lose by starting to apply for different roles now. If you can stand it though I would stay in the job until you get another one, unless you are very confident you'll get another job very quickly and/or you can afford to be unemployed for substantial period of time. It's nearly always easier to look for a new job while already in one...

[Travis1]

I did this. Applied for a job mon-fri 9-5 contract never came through until the friday and I was due to start the monday. hours 8-5 and it was at least an hours commute. Agency said they were sure it was an error on the contract and to go in at 9 on the Monday. Spoke to them and it was an 8-5 meaning that I was effectively working for a lower rate than the job I'd left and I'd turned down another job for it.

Guy I was working for was a tyrant. I started in the October, after one horrendous morning where I just couldn't stop crying I left, got signed off sick for a couple of weeks to give myself some breathing space and ended up just looking for a new job. Never went back, and sent an email in resigning.

I was able to explain at interviews that the job wasn't what I was promised and I felt I had been misled into the position and that even the salary ended up differing because of the hours situation. It has never negatively affected me and I was actually head hunted for the role I am currently in.

Life is too short to be so unhappy in your work. I'd definitely be looking for something else and explaining the hours/location were not as 'sold' to you in the interview.

[ohwheniknow]

I'd definitely be looking for something else and explaining the hours/location were not as 'sold' to you in the interview.

If it wasn't quite as bad as it sounds I would have said try and get to twelve months first, but no. Do this and treat sticking it out in the meantime as your stepping stone.