New job regret?

[Kanoe2]

Have you ever started a new job and quickly regretted it? What did you do?

I'm 4 weeks into a new job and after the 1st week I could sense maybe I had made the wrong decision. Everyone is busy, so no one has time to train me. The team dynamic is off and everyone looks miserable. I'm sat twiddling my thumbs for 7 hours a day, as there is no work I can do. I have asked for something, anything to occupy my time productively, but nothing filters to me. Spoken with manager a couple of times, recieved apologies and told they are freeing up resource to onboard me but so far nothing has happened.

There is another new start been at the couple a few months longer than me, poor soul is sinking in a sea of cluelessness with a workload they have no training on how to complete. I can't help but wonder if I will be in the same position as them in a few months time.

I've become disengaged and feel a hingerance to keep pestering for something to occupy my time.

I feel I need to set a deadline, make a decision to either persevere or whether to cut my losses and move on. Has anyone experienced the same, what did you do and what was the outcome?

Is this a big organisation?

Is your manager aware you have been paid to do absolutely nothing for 4 weeks?

What are you supposed to be doing / what were you expecting to be doing?

Yes I realised in my first week that it wasn't what I thought it would be. A company happened to contact me that week about a job I really wanted, I went for an interview and got it, and handed my notice in by the end of the first week.

I did feel bad but it was the best decision I made!

I had a job where literally as soon as I walked in I knew it just wasn’t going to be right for me. It didn’t improve and I hated it. Within 3 months I had moved to a new job, and was much happier. Go by your instinct, also the other new struggling colleague would be one huge red flag for me. You have spoken to your manager and they have done nothing, and obviously are leaving the other new person to struggle, so it is not likely to improve. I would start looking for a new job if I were you.

I wouldn't be too hasty if the pay and culture is there. On the plus side you are being treated nicely by your boss
I've been told before by new colleagues they didn't want anyone in my place. I've also had a boss send out the company chart with salaries- I was paid more than my supervisor. I've also looked incompetent when systems are not set up e.g I take my emails out of the team inbox but it didn't refresh in anyone else's so it looked like I was out of my depth and sat there.
Stick it out for 6 months unless you are treated badly or are really unhappy

Have you ever started a new job and quickly regretted it? What did you do?

Did my probation so as to make sure it wasn't buyer's remorse (it wasn't), left and went back to temping. Have that job on my CV as a temp assignment.

Left and got another job but it meant 5 weeks supporting myself. Don’t trust immediate start vacancies. Training just wasn’t as sold not in a compliant industry, in hindsight I should have asked more questions, there was a point in the interview they made it sound like they’d been really lenient with someone else learning the job but harsh reality was the company were utterly disorganised beyond the surface so I could see how someone would end up taking 10 weeks as opposed to the six. I would never accept a work from home but train in an office in future very easily so lessons learnt.

If you read past threads there are some exceptions, people turn it round and stay years but I think they are few and fair between.

I would also go easy on emphasing the having nothing to do - I asked to read up on the clients and got told no - the company I left tried to get out of paying and I wonder if it was because I’d said I wasn’t doing anything. Not the easiest of battles but I eventually ensured I got payment of wages as I believed I did the right thing for both parties with an early walk.

Yes! I'm in a similar position. I have been in my position 5 months now and knew within the first two days the culture wasn't the right fit for me. The job is about as random as it gets and rather misold. I have started looking elsewhere. It's a large organisation so hopefully an internal move 🙏 but I'm determined not to take or just apply for any job to get out of where I am. As much as I hate where I am I don't want to be in a similar position in a few months time. It's soul destroying. If the money is OK, hang in there but I'd start looking. I wish I had started looking and applying earlier but I'd prefer not to have such short job histories on my applications.

I felt that the role wasn't right for me in the first week, but everyone was really nice, and I was happy to be back working face to face with people again. I'm now nearly a year in, and am so unhappy. The role is completely wrong for me and so many parts of my job I hate. I've been job hunting for months, and had a few interviews, but my confidence is shot, and I'm finding it really hard to sell myself. I think I jumped into a more office based job too quickly without considering what the role actually entailed.

@dollybird just out of interest is your confidence shot because of your current job? Do you work FT? Really hope you have some luck soon 🙏

Yes, mostly my job, plus being unsuccessful in a few job applications/interviews. I'm an accountant, but didn't come through the usual route to accountancy, so not loads of sales ledger/purchase ledger/bank rec/financial accounting experience. I covered it in my exams but that was a few years ago now, and isn't the side of accountancy I prefer. I prefer financial analysis, business partner, management accounts type roles. So when I don't know stuff that people expect I would, I just feel stupid, and wonder how I ever qualified 😞 I work four days a week at the moment.

Yes I've been in that position this year, knew pretty quickly it wasn't the right fit (usually say give it 6 months but I've changed jobs enough to know this isn't for me) it has improved and I may be able to stick it out for a reasonable 18-24 months, but I've gone back to my previous employer and we are in negotiations, not sure what will come of it but time will tell, I'm not so desperate as to completely jump ship.

This was me last year. I knew from day 1 really. I lasted 6 weeks and luckily moved to a more senior and well paid role. It still really affected my mental health in that short space of time.

Aah that's a shame. You will get there, lots of positive affirmations, self belief and resilience and you will get there. I found perimenopause has really knocked my confidence and some really bad jobs have knocked mine too so i can empathise.

Please don't put yourself down, it sounds as though there are lots of elements to financial accounting (sorry I'm clueless about accounting and the world of finance) and you're possibly just in the wrong role/environment. It is tricky because to get to where you need to be you need to apply and keep going for those interviews and build your confidence. I am sure if you wrote down all you had achieved, all those soft skills and transferable skills you would surprise yourself. Keep going, you can do this 💪 from one fellow bad job sufferer-bad mistake person to another!!

Yes I did, my trail period was 3 months, I got to 2 and a 1/2 and handed in my notice so I only had to give them 1 weeks notice. I spoke to my boss from my old company and asked him if he had any jobs, luckily a position had just become available so he re hired me. I've been there for 7 years now. I was very lucky.

Yes it a big organisation.

Manager is aware and keeps asking other members of the team to share work with me but so far only 1 or 2 10 minute tasks have come through.

I was told that there was a training plan and coach in place. I was expecting to be provided with some form of road map with goals or similar, something with some kind of structure. Maybe some shadowing, on the job training, some simple tasks in the first month assigned to work through but so far there is nothing. I'm just told everyone is too busy with urgent work, they are trying to work out how to onboard me, what caseloads to give me etc.

Thanks all. I spoke with the other new starter yesterday to get a feel for what lies ahead. Pretty much as expected - they are looking to leave, months of struggling with no support has hit their confidence and generally feeling really down.

I have some leave booked so I think I'm going to see what, if anything happens until then. Then have that time to make a decision on whether this is something I want to continue doing or if to move elsewhere.

@mumtofour1 Thank you. I think perimenopause could be a factor too. I have another interview on Friday and a chat booked with a recruitment consultant, so still plugging away. 🤞🤞 Hope your situation improves too!

@Kanoe2 sorry for hijacking your thread! Sounds like you have a good plan.

Oh dear. You should start looking!

Just a quick update. I have been successful in getting another job (the interview I mentioned that I had on the Friday), and am just waiting on DBS check before I hand in my notice. 🎉

This was years & years ago, I left a job & started my new job. First day, it was awful. The lady that was supposed to be showing me what to do & how things ran, didn’t & just kept stuffing her face with cream cakes. No motivation, no instruction & she wasn’t the lady who was leaving, she was part of the furniture & not going anywhere! The MD’s wife who by her own admission just liked to come in & faff about doing crafts, kept calling me by a different name, all day, even though I had politely corrected her each time. The MD himself, well he was more interested in telling me what cars he owned & what car he had just bought for his daughter. I was thinking, but I just want to get on with learning my new job, tell me what am I supposed to be doing? & it’s not like I didn’t ask enough times! The whole day just screamed at me ‘what have I done!’ I knew even just after one day I had made a big mistake.

As soon as I got home I phoned my ex-employer, well one of the area managers & just asked if I could come back! Luckily she laughed & said of course, as they hadn’t replaced me. I did phone the other place though the following morning at the crack of dawn & just told them I was very sorry but the ‘job’ wasn’t for me, thank you very much.

Yep, have been in my current job almost a year and it gets worse every day. Managers are beyond incompetent and inexperienced, nepotism is absolutely rife, most other staff are truly awful, resources are appalling, it is now officially the worst place I've ever worked. I'm looking for something else but my age and the fact we can't afford to move again for a bit are all against me. I had misgivings when I applied, I just wish I'd listened.

Been in this situation and unlike most others it seems, stuck at it.

At the interview stages my manager had seemed really nice. First day in the job he said he was going to give the team challenging targets and if we didn't perform we would get rubbish pay rises and eventually be out - I'm paraphrasing a bit, but not by much. Of course what he said was basically reality but didn't seem particulalry motivational!

It was very political and recent mergers meant there was an us vs them mentality.

I nearly left a few times but didn't, for various reasons. As I learnt how things worked, things became bearable. Got some good experience over the nearly 5 years I was there, which was why I stayed, including a fairly niche area of my profession at the time which I went onto specialise in for the rest of my career.

In hindsight though I think on balance I should have left earlier. Out of the five permanent professional jobs I had, this one was my least favourite by far.

@Kanoe2 any update? I’ve actually had two jobs that I left very quickly - both two weeks in I knew they weren’t for me. The first was only one day a week anyway (I knew I shouldn’t have accepted it). The second role (full time) I arrived and no one knew that I’d been employed. I was left floundering (it was a weird new hybrid role) and the people were so cold. Having suffered a recent bereavement, I just knew that life was too short to be unhappy in a job. Unfortunately they are ‘blips’ on my CV.

I now have a predicament as I’ve left a role and have another starting in September…but I don’t want to do it! I just can’t imagine myself there, even having worked a trial day. My line manager seems a bit flaky and disorganised and I think I might have to muddle along. I have applied for a couple of other jobs and keep hoping that something else comes up. My fear is having another blip on my CV but I do need a job.

It's so hard is it! I'm still in the role, but it hasn't improved. I now have a work load but struggling to complete it due to lack of onboarding and everyone being to busy to help me.

I have started to apply elsewhere but there isn't too much avaliable in my feild at the moment. I'm hopeful something will come up.

An internal job has been advertised which has peaked my interest but having only worked in the company for 2 months I don't know whether I can apply or will even be considered if I do.

It's a catch 22, I need the money but I know this role isn't for me but like you, I'm weary now of taking something else and being in the same position.