AIBU to leave a job after eight months and explain why?

[Holidaymodeon]

I posted this on ‘work’ board but not sure how much traffic it gets, so resharing here.
please be gentle, my soul is in shreds!

I changed jobs in September after seeing what I thought was an ideal role in a field I’d previously worked in for years.

I left a stable, part time remote role to return to that type of work because I missed the energy of that role, there was nothing wrong with my old job, I guess I was just bored.
i was in an unhappy relationship too and I think I just needed to change my life!

Before starting, I had some concerns after meeting my new manager, but went ahead.
On joining, it quickly became clear the role was not as advertised.

There are significant issues with structure, safeguarding, and organisational culture, alongside poor processes and a clear values mismatch.

I’ve also experienced bullying and harassment, and HR support has been minimal. I’m now actively looking to leave.
I regret leaving my previous role, but that’s not reversible. The funding has been redeployed elsewhere.
I’m finding fewer opportunities than expected and, for the first time, I’m not being shortlisted like I always was before .

I think that changing roles after 8 months and moving back toward my previous type of work may be a concern for recruiters .

I’m seeking advice on how to present this in applications and interviews please , particularly how to explain in a way that reassures employers, why I’m leaving so soon and returning to a previous career path .

my mental health has taken a massive dip due to this and I don’t even know how I will be able to present myself in interviews but I can’t afford not to apply for jobs because I desperately need an out.

As someone who interviews candidates I don't judge someone who has a blip on their CV where they have only worked somewhere a short time. That's only an issue for me if they a history of not staying anywhere for a long period. The key is not to be overly critical of your current employer but to briefly explain why it was not as expected - many of those interviewing you will have had a similar experience at some point in their career.

Worst comes to worst, say you were made redundant due to cost cutting measures. Fits in with the current climate.

Never bad mouth a previous employer as pp said. Maybe say there were more skills you wanted to learn but didn’t get the chance. It’s tough because they don’t want to think you’re flaky. They want you to stay in this role you’re interviewing for.

Thanks, i really appreciate it.
I don’t want to look like I’m slating them but at the same time it feels weird to not say anything at all.
what do you suggest I should say with regard to the new jobs I’m interviewing for?
On the whole I’m literally returning / trying to return to the job I had before, but in different companies and/ or teams, so it’s not even as though I’m seeking progression , it’s more regression if anything!

i have met my previous bosses as I still socialise with the team and they’re unanimous in saying ‘just leave, it’s not healthy to be somewhere with such a values mismatch’. it’s probably easier for them to say that at their level!

had I acted faster in the beginning they’d have had me back in an instant

You also need to be crystal clear and sure that there’s none of what you have in your current role in your new role. You might need to stay a while before getting interviews as the job market is brutal right now. Also they shouldn’t but some recruiters will see you are leaving after 9 is it months and see that as a red flag particularly in this job market.

Interview wise just sell yourself. You could admit you made mistakes joining the last company but how to say it without badmouthing them I don’t know.

Do not leave without another job to go to. Also don’t think you shouldn’t have left your previous job because you did and recognise why you did. Learn from this.

I had a similar situation and said at interviews that I felt I was a better fit with the sector I was applying to move back into. Employers (should) realise that jobs aren't always what you expect them to be, or sometimes you make a move and it doesn't turn it to be the right one.

I dont think 8 months is that short. Just be honest with a new potential employee its gotta get better than what it is right? Xx

I love this, thanks

As an interviewer, my main advice is to NOT slate your current employer, however ‘bad’ they may be. It only ever comes across badly.

For me, this is your key point:

On the whole I’m literally returning / trying to return to the job I had before

You left your previous role seeking change. Although you have enjoyed the challenges your most recent role has provided, and the opportunities it has given you to enhance your interpersonal skills, the change has made you realise that your heart and passion remain in your previous industry. You are therefore seeking a role which will enable you to return to an industry where you can utilise, and build upon your considerable skills and experience.

That’s all you need. Make it positive, do not be negative at all.

And don’t use ChatGPT! I throw those straight in the ‘no’ pile.

Good luck!

Can you just say it was a fixed term contract - this is common in my sector (charity) and things change due to funding often, so not unusual.

I'd say you had the opportunity to try something different but you have found that it is not quite what you were expecting and its allowed you to reevaluate your previous role and what you did enjoy about it, and you can then explain what you do enjoy about the role you are seeking to return to and what skills or different perspective your current role has given you that you can use in the role you are now seeking

I left two work places on reasonably quick succession after redundancy from one long term employment. Both were awful places to work, with awful people and not as sold. I’ve said things along the lines of “Covid was a time that taught me life is short and not to waste any time if you know something isn’t quite right.” I said it better than that but I can’t remember for the life of me how I said it. I’ve applied for and got two jobs using that type of line. You could also sell it as seeing the role and needing to apply because it looked like what you wanted. Honestly, the workplace isn’t typically the bullshittery it used to be. People know that sometimes it just doesn’t work out and probably respect tactful honesty.

God I hope so!
it is a real shame, I am actually good at the job and they know this. They can see my skills and experience and my boss veers between praising me, stealing my ideas and presenting them as his own, excluding me from important discussions and decisions about my own job and then expecting me to devise whole policies around his harebrained ideas and where I’ve been completely excluded from any decisions, meetings, minutes etc.
I feel like he wants me as a fall guy should his ideas transpire to be poor.
he is constantly moving goalposts, making arbritrary knee jerk decisions and has used several opportunities in meetings to make me look stupid, for example, saying ‘you don’t need to attend unless you really want to ’ and then in the meeting springing on me that I’m expected to share some report or information that I’m unprepared and ill informed for, so I feel anxious that people in the meetings who don’t know me just think I’m a flake.
Ive started asking him exactly what is expected of me for everything as he comes down hard on me a lot for things I never knew I was responsible for.
when I try to pin him down on anything he’s evasive and avoidant.

Obviously I won’t say anything about this in an interview situation!

Amazing 🤩 thanks this is fab, so many great ideas here

I love this, thanks, I’m so glad I posted here, lots of aspects I hadn’t considered

do people actually apply using pure chat gpt?
I don’t have a problem perhaps using it to help structure, a formulate a starting plan.

My current boss uses ChatGPT for EVERYTHING.
i did a massive piece of work, in my own time and was incredibly proud of it.
He said ‘I didn’t read it, I bunged it into chat GPT, do you want to know what it said?’
I said no.
honestly, his emails, he forgets sometimes to remove the ai prompts, it’s embarrassing.
I don’t know how he has kept his job but his managers and the wider company are all so out of touch, it’s like working in the 1990s before political correctness and health and safety went mad.

For CV purposes you could say it was a fixed term for maternity leave cover. Or that you took a break to provide end of life care for an elderly relative. Its not like you can be asked for proof of that and any interviewer will probably move quickly on.

Absolutely not an issue to explain the culture fit was wrong, indeed I’d respect that level of understanding and recognition and openness. It’s a strength

Thank you, I come from organisations with a very strong equality and diversity ethic , if most of my current colleagues were in those organisations they would be sacked .
every day I’m morally affronted, it’s a really nasty environment.
someone else left when I started, they had kids and travel was an issue, they’d told me privately they didn’t approve of certain aspects but never told anyone else and left for a job which was geographically a better fit so it made sense that they don’t stay long.
i have one colleague who feels exactly like I do but in a different department so we’re rarely together. She has done some challenging but is pregnant so doesn’t want to lose her maternity rights and has told me that she has no intention of returning.
she says she was really unhappy before I started an ld my starting gave her hope but now she sees it’s a hopeless case.
sadly we are a minority of two.

theres a couple of contractors who flit in and out who are on my level but they are far enough removed from the every day stuff that it doesn’t impact them.
one is an ex colleague going back a very long time and she sees what I see and is winding down her time there.
the main manager has such authority over his own much younger managers and I have nowhere I can take any of it really, I had planned to stay and fight but the bad culture is just too big for me to take on

I'd rather you just told the truth (it wouldn't put me off you) than lied about it being a temp contract or similar shit. If I found you'd kids you'd be out in your arse if still in probation, if closely watched/not trusted if I was stuck with you.

There have been some good suggestions on here though. Just talk about the fit and your understanding of how much better what you're trying to get back into suits your skills & personality etc

Best of luck.

Thank you for your honesty. I agree, if I lied I’d never be able to relax.
I appreciate your insights.

I have two instances in my CV where I only stayed at a role for 3 months (not back to back but years apart) and it's never been an issue.

I agree about mentioning that you're much better suited to the sector you're applying back in to and that you obviously wanted to give things a fair shot but you have realised that it's just not the right fit.

thanks, that’s really straightforward and helpful