Who's at fault when you fail at a job?

[Isitameproblem]

I'm leaving my job my current role after 5 months. It is as known that I never had been incredibly happy and my manager understood why, but when I handed my notice in, my manager implied it was a me problem.

I think for the most part it was mis-sold to me and if I had known exactly what it entailed I would never had taken it.

I also never liked that I was mostly treated like a junior when I wasn't, and it has taken me north of 15 years to be where I'm at.

My manager was supportive the whole time and he was as helpful as he could be. I was also promised leadership opportunities but they're still far on the horizon.

The thought of being made redundant lived rent free in my h as too. (My manager was very surprised about this too).

Why does anyone have to be at fault? Your not enjoying the job and it’s not what you was expecting so find another you will enjoy. Why waste time or energy looking for fault

There doesn't always have to be fault. Sometimes, it's down to a mismatch of expectations.

It’s had to know. Sometimes jobs under/over sell the role. Sometimes candidates massively overestimate their skill. I probably would not take a job on the promise of opportunity in the future. Take the job because you want that specific job.

You were only there 5 months?. In which case it's too early for any potential development opportunities to be evident or to be made redundant. Did you give the job a chance?

In any case as others have said no one needs to be at fault.

4 people have already been made redundant, one joined the same week as me!

@Tryingtohelp12 you're absolutely right, which is what I've done with the new job I have lined up. They even went above and beyond and created a role for me with the title I wanted, and it's all part of my contract so no empty promises :)

Why does anyone have to be at fault?

Sometimes things just don't work out for a whole number of reasons.

Surely it's being let go rather than being made redundant, I'm assuming you're not eligible for a redundancy package. From what you describe it's a two way street but not sure I'd be looking for blame, sounds the it was a mismatch.

If you want to give more detail we might understand what part of the job you didn't agree with? You and your manager know but we don't.

If you were treated as a junior could it be that this company has really high expectations and wants to support staff right through their journey so they know what every post in the hierarchy does so when they manage them, they know what their role entails?

You perhaps felt you weren't getting the responsibility you wanted or the promotion opportunities, but it could be they come later once you're capable of doing all the basic role work so you can train up new juniors in future?

Maybe there was an element of you missing out on something in this company you must be able to do? So you need to learn it.

What did your manager tell you was the reason you can't do what you want to do and won't get promotion opportunities yet?

Not sure what the following sentence means? -

"The thought of being made redundant lived rent free in my h as too". ?

Do you have a job to go to?

When I failed at a job, there was fault on both sides.

I thought I could apply my skill-set, but it turned out not to be the case. The type of work was not as much related to what I do as I’d thought. They are similar, but actually quite different.

They were a tech firm, with lots of young people, who sit at their desks with earphones on. Not talking. Around a big shared desk. Boss is as the same. All communication through tech. Not an office culture I’d ever encountered before. Even WFH (which I do a lot as freelance) there was no easy way to connect with anybody. A horrible way to work.

4 people have already been made redundant, one joined the same week as me!

So why was your manager surprised that this was a concern?

I don't know that it matters in this case who's at fault. It's not the right job for you and you've left. If you'd wanted to stay maybe they could've worked at it with you and things might've got better but equally it sounds unstable so you could've been let go like the others. If you've left, rather than waiting to get another job, then you must want to leave quite definitively so there's no need to doubt at this point.

It was the more inexperienced people (oddly enough) treated me that way, but overall my manager agreed that my role was misunderstood by absolutely 90% of people, which led to the way I felt. The company had a revenue hierarchy which never helped, but it my previous role in a different company I was at the top of that hierarchy. To me this role as a lateral move, but in practice felt vertical.

Also my role was completely redundant. People sparing a few hours a day would do what I was paid for. I tried to get involved in other things / projects where my expertise could/would have been helpful but I always had pushback.

For the same reasons I felt that they could let me go at any given moment.

Revolving door jobs where no one lasts more than a year do exist so yes, sometimes it's not you it's the job.

I do think "odd" jobs where no one knows exactly what you're supposed to be for are always a bit awkward.

*just seen that you do have a new job lined up so all good, no need to look back too much. Only thought is that if this new co has created a job for you, be extra aware of the risk again that people will need to understand what your role is and where you fit in so it doesn't happen again.

The thought of being made redundant lived rent free in my h as too. (My manager was very surprised about this too).

Suspect this is a strange autocorrect but I can’t work out what this means.

It means the thought of being let go was ever present on my mind. Even a colleague once told me "after this announcement I thought you didn't have a job!"

@pinkdelight very good advice. The truth is that I'm not entirely sure. I think my new manager will delegate some responsibilities to me, and will acquire others.

It doesn't sound as if anyone is at fault really. I've been in a similar situation and all I could conclude was that their department was a bit of a mess, but I should have looked more closely before accepting the job. I didn't inform them or expect them to agree with me that they were a mess, because that just isn't human nature.

I just chalked it up to experience.

Sounds like you're well shot of that company tbh. It sounds badly run and precarious.

The others probably didn't want you to take on work they might need to 'prove' they shouldn't be made redundant on the next round of cuts...

You've made the right choice.

Sometimes nobody has done anything wrong and it just isn't a good fit. It happens. However, with the kind of revolving door you mention, I'd suspect it might be more them than you.

Often it’s no ones fault you’re just not the right fit for each other

Part of the problem is that they got their forecasting all wrong. They admitted to it, but they're still making cuts everywhere. Including another lady who just told me she's leaving (because there's not enough money coming in).

Also some employers are really bad at recruitment. It can take too long, sometimes because of procrastinating but also the bureaucracy. They can have one idea of the role when first discussing it, then another idea by the time they interview the candidates and then a completely different idea by the time the person starts work.

So there wasn't actually a role for you is what it comes down to? We don't know how big the organisation is, but given 6 people have left in a short time, it sounds as though it's struggling/not well managed.

That definitely happened too! My role changed quite a few times once I was already in. This only happened to me too, so I think they just misjudged their needs.

It sounds like a them problem not a you one.

DH is an incredibly professional person and had a number of successful contracts and then a number of years ago was in a situation where he was also being managed by another new person and was being made the scapegoat for a number of things that weren't his fault at all. It seriously dented his self esteem for a little bit, particularly when he was asked to leave, but as his next contract showed it was definitely situational not him.

There are probably things with the benefit of hindsight that you could have done differently, but it seems you have already incorporated them for your new role by making sure the role profile and responsibilities are correctly documented.

The job market is tough so you are clearly a good person to get offered a new role so quickly. I would move forward and leave this as an unpleasant but short experience.

Thank you, those are very kind words.