Long one, but I feel like ranting!
I started a new job in October and it's been clear from the off it's not a good fit. The organisation is a large one running a mass recruitment campaign. It was impossible to get hold of anyone to discuss the details of the actual job, and I had some reservations about accepting it because of this. However, the package was a good one and my previous contract was ending so I decided to give it a shot.
Once I started it was apparent that the job I had been given was not the one I thought I was applying for. I have ten years’ experience in my subject matter area but the department I was placed was in an area completely new to me – Brexit preparations essentially. The company was very short staffed in this area and all new starters were being assigned there to pick up the slack. In addition, the role I am in is probably two levels below where I was previously working in terms of autonomy and there is a lot of micromanaging. I began looking for new jobs the week I started and have had a couple of interviews. Happily, I have been offered one in my subject area, with people I have previously worked with and get on with professionally, at a better wage than I am on now and with more flexibility about location. It will start in March 2021. I have accepted and am waiting for the contract which should arrive in the next few days.
I was planning to resign at the end of January and finish end Feb. However, today I was asked to do an urgent task and have it signed off by two managers (micromanaging...) I did it faster than asked and sent it for review only to receive a sharp email from one of the managers chastising me for not following the correct approval procedures. In fact, I had been told to send it via an expedited route; but they weren’t aware of the details and didn’t bother finding out before firing off a rebuke. This incident has really annoyed me, perhaps disproportionately, but I didn’t apply for this job in the first place, I’m doing it to the best of my ability, and now I’m getting undeserved flak for my trouble.
I am now tempted to resign as soon as I get the contract signed which may be as soon as tomorrow. Essentially I would then leave for Christmas and not return in the new year. This would leave me two months’ without pay, but I have savings to cover it and I could also use the time to get some house renovations done. It would also leave my co-workers even more short staffed than they already are, just as Brexit hits. The majority of them are nice people, but I am not sure that I care about the business enough to stay on any longer than I have to.
WWYD? I don’t know if I would be cutting off my nose to spite my face by resigning early. OTOH, this job isn’t contributing to my career progression, I have a better offer lined up and I think a pretty cast iron reason for leaving if I am ever asked at interview which is the job I was given is demonstrably in a completely different area to the one where I hold all my professional qualifications, memberships and experience.