To think I have fucked up my career

[Corporatedisaster]

Name changed for this.

I started a new job 2 months ago and I’m sat here sobbing because its turned out so badly.

I was brought in to head up a department and take over from an agency who had been doing it. The agency were supposed to take a step backwards and allow me to direct them. But the owner is childhood friends with the owner of the business and they talk all the time, leaving me out of important conversations. Now they have decided 'we must all work as one', yet we are not even in the same building!

Since my first day barely any manager has spent time with me and I have been left to fend for myself. I haven’t been given a laptop or a phone, so my mobile bill has doubled. Other members of the team constantly undermine me and go behind my back doing elements of my job and I feel that I have no control.

The company are in financial difficulty and I am petrified I am going to be made redundant as there seems to much secrecy and game playing. I don’t feel that I have shown I can do a good job as the perimeters for my role are constantly changing.

I am 27 and I feel like I have messed up big time. I have lost all confidence and think I must be terrible at my job.

How can I move forward from this?

[MovingOnUpMovingOnOut]

Wait until you have kids. Then your career will be fucked

Sadly only half joking

[bialystockandbloom]

If you can afford to (ie have savings for rent/mortgage/bills etc) I'd leave now. At 27yo it is not worth this stress, it sounds absolutely horrendous. You can be honest with any prospective new employers and just say it wasn't what you were led to believe/it wasn't challenging etc. I wouldn't worry about references too much either, a new employer is more likely to want those from much longer-term previous jobs. Good luck!

[LadyConstanceDeCoverlet]

Spend the weekend looking for a new job, sign up with agencies first thing on Monday. A new job where they can't even give you a phone is going nowhere. And tell them you will not be making any more calls at your personal expense: if they want you to use the phone, they must provide one.

[chinlo]

I think you need to try not to let your confidence be affected by a bad experience with a difficult employer. If THEY are letting YOU down, then you need to move on to somewhere better. That's a positive reflection on you, not a negative one.

[Improvisingnow]

I'm interested in the fact that the company is in financial difficulties (and run like that who can be surprised). If they can't afford to buy you a laptop or a phone they are going to go bust and leave you without a job anyway.

Totally agree with PPs who say get your CV out there and start looking now. I'm sorry that this has knocked your confidence but please don't assess yourself against people who clearly have some other agenda. If you haven't been picked over by people at work before you have been lucky. You need to think "fuck 'em they're loons" and go for it. All you have to do at future interviews is tell prospective employers about the no laptop or phone and they'll be amazed you did not leave sooner.

And BTW bung in a claim for repayment of expenses NOW and stop using your own phone until it is paid. I think there is every chance you will not get paid and you need to flush that out sooner rather than later.

[RunRabbitRunRabbit]

Leave before the probation period is over. Do not hang around to get another job first.

Explain to future employers that the role turned out to be very very different to what you were told it would be when you took the job. It was not possible for you to succeed in the actual role. So you left.

If you leave of your own accord within 3 months, that is completely plausible.

If you leave because they get rid of you or don't renew after the probationary period, it looks like you are making excuses for being crap.

When you get into senior roles like head of department you will find yourself involved in other people's political dramas. You've got to know when to get stuck in, when to walk away and when to run. Run.

I work with lots of senior people. I hire them sometimes. Leave now. Run.

[TSSDNCOP]

I would make your "career" whilst you are with them looking for a new job. You may as well be paid whilst you're doing it.

I'm 47 and left two jobs in 9 months to get the one I have now. One of those lasted 6 weeks, 5 of which I spent wishing my sadistic maniac boss would drop dead. I posted my keys through the letterbox on my last day before holiday and resigned from my deck chair.

At 27 id have had double angst, at 47 I'm more sod this I'm worth more.

[RunRabbitRunRabbit]

Write yourself a script about what happened in this role.

Rewrite it again and again and again. Remove all comment on people's character. Turn everything into a dry case study.

For example, they were in financial trouble, they couldn't even afford a laptop and phone for you. You were told that you would be managing the agency but in reality you were in a side role. The agency were still being managed directly by the senior leadership team. They had communication problems, you weren't directly told that you were being given a different role to the one you had accepted. It became clear that the actual role would not develop your career in the direction you want so you moved on asap.

[EllyMayClampett]

Loads of great advice on this thread.

Can you afford to quit without another job lined up?

[juneau]

The probation period works both ways - that three-month period is a trial to see if you both get on well and want to make it a formal arrangement. Walk. Now! I left a job after three months when I was fresh out of uni and ended up in a job that I hated and was completely wrong for me. I felt like an utter failure too and that there was something wrong with me, but there wasn't. It WAS a horrible job and it was a horrible, horrible industry (PR - bleugh!), so that mistake was a valuable one for me. Put it down to experience and walk away. Its not you, its them. Hold your head high, tell them its not working, thank them for the opportunity, and then leave - immediately, if possible. And then don't look back.

[SandyY2K]

It comes down to the contract of employment. They are the terms and conditions of your employment. Including salary, sick pay, period of payment, annual leave etc.

Reputable employers will issue it in advance of your employment, otherwise how do you know what you're agreeing to.

[Gardenbirdy]

I know it's hard but please don't let it knock your confidence. You have, through absolutely NO fault of your own, found yourself in a really shitty situation.

[Itchyclit]

1. You have no employment rights without a contract. This means they can terminate you without any notice period and can stop paying you the day they terminate you.
   
2. Start looking for another job. Immediately. Don't fuck about - get on with it. If you get one quickly enough you won't need to have this employer on your CV in future.
   
3. Don't quit without another job to go to - no matter how unpleasant it is working there - you won't be entitled to any benefits if you do, regardless of the circumstances that led to your departure.
   
4. Keep them sweet whilst you're still there - you will need a reference.

[ConvincingLiar]

Jump ship asap. Don't slag off current employer in interviews, it's very off putting.

[Corporatedisaster]

I wouldn't slate an employer in interview. My plan is to stick to the facts which are:

1. No progression opportunity in the role after the description was changed
   
2. Company is in financial difficulty
   
3. Existing internal relationships made it impossible to do my role (the agency issue - I found out late yesterday that their is a silent partner investing in both businesses - hence they will never end this relationship despite, in my opinion, the agencies incompetence).

[Corporatedisaster]

*there is. Slightly hungover today

[ClashCityRocker]

I'd probably just stick to the first one.

The second to a lesser extent but certainly the third point raises more questions than they answer. Particularly if they are a competitor it would be unprofessional to reveal your former company's financial difficulty.

But it certainly doesn't sound like its you that's the problem, so don't worry about that.

[SuperFlyHigh]

Itchyclit - in this case the reference would most likely be "x worked here for x time etc", for such a short time working there most employers would not expect a reference I think...

I agree with *Clashcity stick to your first reason, you could also quite reasonably state you had no phone/laptop etc...

What will you do this weekend? Do you feel more confident in yourself?

[unimagmative13]

Leave!

This happened to me I walked into a situation where they took me on knowing the business was going to go bust at somepoint.

They literally made me feel like if I didn't work harder we would all be out of a job.

I fell pregnant and that was my escape.

I feel for its horrible. I've been honest to employees since saying I wasn't made aware of historical issues within the business which were out of my control (like the mountain of debt and bailiffs)

[GladAllOver]

If this company had ever intended your job to work, they would have funded it properly with a computer and a phone. Without them you could have done nothing, which is what they wanted.

If they are in a financial mess as you suspect, they would not have created a new permanent staff position that sounds as if it is redundant anyway. So this is part of some internal management scheme.

The only mistake you have made is to provide your own equipment - with the best of intentions of course. But that has just prolonged the misery.

I think you should discover a fault on your laptop and send it for repair. And your phone has reached its contract limit so you need to be repaid before you can make any more calls.

[user1472419718]

Hugs OP, you will be ok and you are not terrible at your job.

I'm a similar age and I've been in a similar position recently, as have several friends and family members.

I personally started looking for new positions rather than resigning. Unfortunately, I didn't find a job in time, and was dismissed. However, they agreed to give me a decent reference and I was offered a new position within a month.

I can't say whether it would have been better to walk before I was pushed, but whatever option you choose, it will be ok in the end.

[Mummyoflittledragon]

This happened to me. I was offered a role, which sounded fab but was crap and I so wish I'd not left my former employer. Instead I had my pride and continued to work there even though my former employer may have taken me back. There were several of us there who'd been duped - all female with degrees and language skills. When all my confidence was gone, I go another bullshit job where I was promised the earth again. It was family run and I was sidelined within 2 months. I ended up as the bosses secretary instead of manager in my own right.

All this was a world away and I've since moved on. Don't make the same mistake I did. It was a horrible few years.

[CashelGirl]

View it as a probationary period, and they have failed. Sounds like they do t have a clue what they expect of your role. Politely leave and never look back.

[MovingOnUpMovingOnOut]

1. You have no employment rights without a contract. This means they can terminate you without any notice period and can stop paying you the day they terminate you.

If you are going to post without a scoobie about employment law you could at least read the thread first. Then you will see there are people here who do know what they are talking about.

Obviously the quoted post is wrong.

Op, just say it became apparent, once you started, that the company was in severe financial difficulties and unlikely to be able to continue trading for much longer. You won't need to say any more. As for a reference you probably won't need one but if you do they can only provide a factual one. With no terms agreed about notice I would give them one week.

[user1471545174]

Leave politely, don't give reasons, don't look back, don't involve HR.

Leave as soon as possible, they are circling the drain.