To walk out of my job?

[NorthFace47]

I think part of me knows this would be a truly stupid decision but my gut instinct is to leave now, so calling on the wise people of MN to help me figure this one out…

I’m six weeks into a new job, and haven’t signed a contract yet as it didn’t get sent to me until a few days ago. I hate it. Really, really hate it. In principle it should be up my street and something I’d really enjoy but it’s really not working out that way.

Part of my role is to deliver a national programme regionally. It’s a huge piece of work and my predecessor has done nothing at all in terms of getting it set up. I’m waking up at 3/4am every day worrying about how I’m going to get it done, and I feel sick pretty much all of the time. Management is not great and neither is HR (hence receiving a contract nearly six weeks in).

I hung in because I thought it was just the horrible new job feeling, but the role feels significantly different to what was advertised. My issue is I don’t have any financial cushioning to leave without something else in place, but I genuinely dread going to work every day, and I feel like it would be worse to leave the closer to this project deadline I get.

Do I cut my losses now and walk away while I owe them no notice, or do I sign the contract, hang in there and desperately look for another job? So as not to drip feed, I also have quite a serious chronic illness and things are absolutely not being helped by the travel and stress in current job. My head feels totally mashed, please help!

I was just about to say that if you're paying a mortgage or rent, it really wouldn't be a good idea, as you wouldn't be able to claim benefits initially having intentionally made yourself jobless. However, as it's a while since I was told that, I checked on Google, and found that you might be eligible because of your health problems.

Google says:

'You can claim benefits immediately after resigning, but you may face a delay or reduction in payments (a "sanction") for up to 91 days if you don't have a "good reason" for leaving, such as health problems, workplace harassment, or not being paid minimum wage. You can claim benefits as soon as you know your last day of work.'

So it might be worth checking that out, and then if you qualify I would go for it. Otherwise, in your shoes, I'd be going all out to find another job a.s.a.p.

If you do decide to go, see if you can hold out until after Christmas. Most HR departments pause recruitment

I would try and check out mentally and pour your focus into looking for a new job. Maybe anything that covers the bills and furthering your career can be more of a long term goal.

Alternatively is there any damage limitation you can do eg when are your deadline hard/soft deadlines? Can you book a meeting with your manager for state of play & these deadlines are not going to be met etc. can they offer staffing to support or anything else you might need, get it documented that you’re essentially starting from scratch rather than wherever they think.

I think you have the benefit of being new to give them a dose of realism - ask for a meeting with your manager and their manager and be clear on the current state and that expectation needs to be reset. This can’t be a “your fault” thing as you have just walked in the door. Be clear your trying to do the right thing by raising your hand and telling them now that this is much bigger a task than anyone has realised, why, and how you will tackle it going forward

You need to tell them now the project deadline will not be met, and tell them when it can be met.
It’s no big deal, and not really your problem. Projects get set back all the time.

Depending on their reaction, you can make your next decision.

Just FYI, you will still owe them statutory notice if you walk out now, that's 1 week.

I assume you are still in probation for a few months, so the notice period should be shorter in the contract even if you sign it?

Ultimately if you can't afford it then no, you shouldn't walk out. Just look for another job to move asap, ideally during your probation period. If you're planning to leave anyway, it should release the pressure on "doing a good job". Let the next person give it a go.

I would stay look for something else perhaps but try and carve this job into what you can, want and need it to be.

Agree with PPs that you should sit down and create a realistic work plan to deliver the project and then meet with your manager. Depending on how they react you could stay or cut your losses. Sorry it’s so stressful 💐

Thanks everyone. Finding it hard (fatigue wise) to job hunt whilst doing this full time and I think that’s part of the temptation to just walk, but I know realistically it’s not an option.

I’ll schedule some time with my manager, I’m not optimistic about the response because so far she’s very much tried to make it a ‘your problem’ thing but I owe it to myself to be frank.

If you feel the job is not ‘as advertised’, arrange a meeting with your manager PLUS HR and tackle it that way. I assume you are still in a probationary period? That works both ways - to check they’re happy with you, but also to check you’re happy with them.
Raise the flag now about what is NOT working and see what can be changed to make it more in line with your expectations.
If that doesn’t work, you’ll obviously need to leave. Try to manage this too and give yourself the financial space you need to find something else.

Good luck! xx

There are other aspects to this.

Why did your predecessor leave - did they realise that the task was impossible and decided to quit or were they just not up to the job and were managed out?

You also have a bargaining position in that you can't be the reason for the project being in the state that it is in (because you only just arrived) but you have been brought in to provide the solution. If your solution is that the project will require more time/resource/finance then that's your solution, and if management refuse to acknowledge this you can decide your next move.

Your managers also face a dilema - ultimately they have to deliver this project. They have already lost one key person, your predecessor, and if you walk away they will presumably be even deeper in trouble. How long will it take to recruit your replacement, and what happens to the project if you walk off giving them only one week's notice?

Good thing is you know you don't want to be there long term so the next bit is about doing the job essentials to avoid unpleasantness while not worrying about setting yourself up for long term progression in your company. You need to manage your manager and keep everything in writing to protect yourself.

Id recommend the following.

-send an email to the manager explaining that a lack of resources in the handover has made project timescales and deliverables unrealistic within your current job role. You want a meeting to review the work and your capacity to align on prioritisation. (Yes corporate wanker but you're covering yourself.

• prepare a document/ presentation where you set out the project objectives, what's required and timescales e.g. project is to introduce healthy eating to school children. Liaise with schools by Jan 26/ do teacher training march 26/ role out to schools may 26 and below each the key deliverables e.g. a presentation/ class guide/ worksheets. If there was a project initiation document you can pull from there. As youre overwhelmed you can use chatgpt or copilot to help you get all this together.
• now you're going to (in a non-blaming/ passing the buck way) highlight the problems. E.g. the timeline proposed relied on a all research being finalised by Sept 25. No research was provided when I joined in Oct 25 this has added 3 weeks to timelines. Creation of an online toolkit was not in my initial scope and has not be allowed for in resource.
• finally youre going to propose what you can do. E.g. here is everything that needs doing and how long it will take, this means I can deliver the project in August with current resources. For a may delivery you would need to assign an additional staff member for a minimum of 2 days a week to focus on x, alternatively I can stop doing the inbox or other element of my role to fully focus on the project. Also, I have been tasked with managing the phonelines while here, this was not in the original job description and while I am happy to take on additional responsibilities, this is taking up a significant portion of my time and detracting from my KPIs.

Record the meeting. Get them to agree to written, realistic kpis and deliverables. Follow up with an email confirming. Then you have to be really hot on your boundaries. The moment they say 'can you just-' email back going, 'I can but this will mean the worksheets are deprioritised and will be deliverer late' or 'no, based on objectives agreed with manager, i do not have capacity'

In similar circumstances I wound up signed off with stress,

I did go down the meetings and evidencing route to no real effect.

the stress got to me so much I wound up on anti anxiety pills and wasn’t sleeping and then I had a breakdown. My doctor signed me off for two weeks and I quit. Technically I was supposed to give notice of a few months but I agreed not to sue them and they agreed to waive the notice period.

because I’d left due to ill health I was able to get benefits.

be careful. These sorts of “picking up mess” projects can be a nightmare.

This - and you should do this regardless of how long you plan to stay.

With no financial cushion you need to stay in the gig. Much easier to find a job when you have one, and most recruitment will now be on pause until the NY.

What you do need to do is very actively manage your mental state around this job. You've made the decision to leave so that will help. What can you now do to reduce your anxiety, so you just do the basics abs pick up the pay check as long as you need to. M

You can properly plan the job hunt over Christmas