Should I just quit?

[Spottycabbage]

Would it be petulant to just quit my job?

I joined the company just over a year ago to do one thing, but soon after I joined the company everyone who knew how to manage a key system left.
My role then became complete ownership of this system to support all users across the business who use it (around 150 people) on top of my original responsibilities.
I’ve been saying for a year now I need support and can’t do it all, but there has never been any budget to make it happen despite considerable investment elsewhere in the business.
The leadership team changed in the company at the start of the year and the culture has changed massively. There is no humility or kindness in how people talk to each other, demands are just barked at you and expected immediately even if we don’t have the data to deliver them. As the only administrator of this system all these demands come to me and when I try to push back as I don’t have any time I’m told it’s a JFDI and I just need to do it.
im working 18 hour days doing work that’s not reflective of my skills or experience, there’s no progression or career satisfaction and it’s wearing me down.
I love my colleagues and want to help them but the job and company culture is breaking me, I log on and just cry as I work. I have had a history of depression and know I’m starting to fall into a spiral downhill and am terrified I’ll reach crisis point again if I stay.
I’ve been interviewing for other jobs, but people seem to always get caught up on how short my tenure has been in the job and why I wouldn’t stick it out for longer … I don’t want to say the culture has been toxic and bad mouth my current role in interviews but when I try to dress it up as wanting to progress I’m asked why I don’t try to do that within the company.
im also struggling to not sound depressed when I have interviews as I’m so worn down and exhausted by work, I know I’m not at my best and selling myself in interviews because im just drained.
Would leaving and getting headspace while looking for a new role be stupid and harder to explain?

Yeh I'd leave.

It's hard to advise you definitively because we don't know how easy it is to get another job or what your financial circumstances are.

But, you absolutely can't go on like this.

Do you have savings to live on? It’s coming up to Christmas so there are temporary retail roles around. I do think it sounds like you should quit.

On job interviews:
I don’t want to say the culture has been toxic and bad mouth my current role in interviews but when I try to dress it up as wanting to progress I’m asked why I don’t try to do that within the company.
You don’t need to say it’s toxic or badmouth the company but you need to put that across in ‘business speak’. E.g. ‘The role wasn’t what I’d originally applied for - due to staff turnover shortly after I arrived a greater and greater proportion of my time was spent on support service tasks related to a company-wide system and it appears there’s no plans to change this, unfortunately. So I’m keen to work for a company that offers more opportunities for training and development, and this role with you is very exciting because I know I have the skills to do X well already, and I’m looking forward to the challenge of Y.’

Can you afford to leave? How easy is it go get another job?

and as for the questions,,,,easy,, thr job is not what I applied for an has evolved due to staff shortages and is not where I wish to be. I care about my colleagues so am undertaking the role but know it is better to move to something I wish to do, like this job. As for progression the company is having some structural issues right now and progression is not feasible for anyone sadly.

Depends on whether you have a financial safety net and/or the ability to pick up some freelance work in the meantime? And be prepared for ‘the meantime’ to be quite a while? I know a lot of job markets have been short of staff recently, but if we hit a recession that might change really quickly.

I am so sorry you are in this situation- it sounds miserable. I have been in similar situation - with added complexity of work visa linked to miserable job so took me over a year to extract myself. It was soul destroying at the time, especially without knowing when or if things would change. I did find a job eventually, and on one hand feel like some of the negative effects of that job still shadow me (like a mild version of ptsd) but on the other hand I am in a much more stable / secure financial position than if I had just left. It depends on what / who you have to fall back on as well as your tolerance for risk and uncertainty.

As a middle ground, are you able to take a more confrontational stance at this job? Limit yourself to x hours a day (ideally 7.5but many professional contracts expect you to work as needed, so 8-9 might be more realistic) . Have a conversation with your boss about mental and physical health - not because you expect them to care but because you can bring up the possibility of getting your go to sign you off you don’t get meaningful support.

as for finding a new job, I do tend to be sceptical of hiring anyone leaving before 2 years, but it can be overcome if the rest of their cv shows stability and they have a good explanation. Keep it factual and unemotional, and as quickly as possible pivot the conversation back to why the role you are applying for is a better fit (don’t dwell on current job drama, show you want the new position more than just leaving a bad situation)

Stop doing the extra hours. Keep emailing your manager saying I'm working on X and have been informed that Y must be done today, please confirm if you want me to work on Y rather than X, otherwise I will pick up Y tomorrow.

You sound very stressed. Can you get a doctor's note, take sick leave and use the time to look for another job?

I’d also advise seeing your gp now, if it’s got to the stage you sit and cry every day when you work, then it’s not sustainable any longer, and you won’t find another job if you reflect as deprrssed And exhausted. Maybe the answer is a sick note and a few weeks out.

This sounds horrible and certainly not sustainable.

I would:

• focus on job hunting
• take some time off (do you have any annual leave left?) or even take some sick leave to give yourself time to recover as it sounds like this has reached a point where you mental and physical health is affected and also use that time to speed up your job hunting
• sign up with recruitment agencies, including asking whether a temp role might be a possibility while you look for something more permanent
• make it clear to your manager that from now on you will only do your contracted hours and that your current workload is no longer manageable.

If you have enough savings to last you a few months you could consider handing out your notice as your health is more important than anything else.

Frankly I have stayed in a couple of jobs for a year only and this has never prevented me from finding a new role.

You can simply say at the interview that you want a new challenge and opportunities to develop your skills and that there is no option to do that in your current role. It is a very standard reason for leaving a job: if there is no option to progress internally, most people will start looking for a role with another organisation to take the next step in their career.