mis-sold new job so I quit after just 2 weeks

[madeamistake234]

I suppose I am just interested to hear from anyone else who found themselves in my situation and what happened next (I am hoping that it turned out OK?).
I work in social research. In my previous job, I was undertaking research for a non-profit organisation, and I was using skills directly related to my PhD day in day out. However, after two years in the role, I was increasingly frustrated at the lack of progression opportunities, so I left for a substantial promotion at a private company.
That company subjected me to two rounds of interviews where all the questions and tests were related to my research skills. However, when I arrived, EVERYTHING that I was asked to do was project management related. I have no background or experience in project management, and as I am dyslexic while my analytical skills are good, my organisational skills are not fantastic, so project management is my idea of hell.
I did discuss the issue with my line manager before quitting, and he seemed surprised that I was pretty much only doing research in my last job. He explained that while they could change the ratio slightly for me so that I was doing more research relative to project management, project management was always going to be a large part of the job.
I handed my notice in three days later. I felt that this job wasn’t just going to be a bit dull compared to the research-heavy job that I had expected to be doing based on the interviews, but fundamentally unsuitable and stressful for me given my dyslexia. I never would have accepted the job if I had known that it had such a large project management component.
I am now really very angry as I quit a 35k job where I was allowed to work from home two days a week in order to take this new role, and now I am left with nothing (my old workplace has already hired a replacement so going back is not an option).

And just because you are dyslexic doesn't mean you shouldn't be able to do the job - there is specialist software you can get through Access to Work. You should have had discussions with your manager and HR about getting these adjustments in place and that could have reduced the pressure on you.

Meanwhile, in the real world.....

I had a colleague who was a PM and was dyslexic. Parts of his dyslexia made him an excellent PM, but parts of the job were incredibly challenging for him. Our company worked with him to help overcome the obstacles but no amount of software could help or admin with some of the issues. He had to really push to get what help he was given and Access to Work was no help to him at all.

The OP knows her limitations and her strengths. If she says she can't do the job she can't do the job.

I recently had 4 job interviews. Every one of them had exactly the same job title, but the actual work I would have been doing varied a lot. The only reason I knew they were different was because the recruitment agent I worked with let me know what kind of candidate they were looking for. None of them at the interview raised the actual role they were looking for, it was always left to me to ask in the "any questions" bit. Had I not had an agent I wouldn't have realised there was such a difference.

I was in a similar position years ago -it was a low grade job when I was a student, and I don’t have dyslexia, however I can relate to the crying every day and hating every minute. You’re a better woman than I am-I jacked it in after a week!

If I were in your shoes, given that the new appointee to your previous job hasn’t started yet, I wouldn’t be above going back and asking if you can start there again-it happens in so many places.
Failing that, is freelance a long term option? If it is, this might have turned into the best career opportunity of your life!

I am in a newish post and hate it and feel a little mis sold in that the travel time to the location they have fund is double what it would be to the location I expected to be based in. I have an interview at my previous workplace in a couple of weeks.

The problem is so many companies are crap at recruitment. It's a waste of everyone's time when a job isnt advertised properly and I feel for you as its not fun to start a job and then realize it isn't what you were told it would be.

@madeamistake234

Please don't get the thread taken down, there is plenty of support on here. @FFSeverynameisused has been aggressive on another thread as well, it isn't just you. They seem to be projecting their anger a lot today.

Like many others, I've been seriously missold a role in the past, it's very frustrating, but given where you are now, you need to move forward so you don't lose confidence. If you're a quantitative researcher with statistics skills you'll find you are in demand.

Try Civil Service Jobs, there are frequently advertised posts for data scientists esp MOD. They need good research and reporting skills . You'll have no problem finding new employment. Public Sector are extremely supportive towards people with dyslexia.

Feel free to post back on here if you need more specific support at the time you get an interview, as it seems there are more people with "missold jobs" on here than "missold PPI" by the sounds of it

Baby you were given a different location? That's madness.

@daisychain01, Thank you. I did request to have the thread taken down, but MNHQ only deleted her post. Everything that has followed has been constructive, so I am happy to keep it up, but not quite sure how to undo my thread removal request.
@Yabbers and @Thistly thank you so much for getting it. Project management probably isn’t 100% beyond me, but given that it will take me three times as long as a neurotypical person to do those kinds of tasks why on earth would I want to stay in a role with that as a large component? Particularly in a role that was asking me to time record and presumably would have penalised me for taking “too long” over certain tasks.

I have moderate dyslexia and dyspraxia. If you would like to know how I became successful in PM then please message me on here. Our conditions do not automatically mean poor time management as there are a lot of technological time management and diary management options available.

@Teddybear45, Snap! Got assessed by an occupational psychologist two and half years ago (just before I turned 33). A dyslexia and dyspraxia combo was the result.
I will message you if I end up taking on something in future where project management is essential, but I have a strong preference for avoiding jobs where it will be a large part.
All my academic training and job experience to date is in quantitative research, and that's what I enjoy and am good at. This thread has been useful as I may need to consider not bothering to apply for senior roles if all of those will require me to spend more time on PM than research.