Leaving a senior role less than a year in..?

[Wonderbug81]

I've been in my role for 7 months. The commute is v long (90 mins plus) but I was willing to be flexible as I'd been made redundant a while before and the role seemed - on paper - like a good one.

It's actually a very toxic work environment, I dread going to work and it's impacting me mentally.

For those who've left senior roles after less than a year, how did you explain it? Did you have challenges showing you'd made an impact in that time? I have a few things I can point to but worry an employer will be suspicious of my short tenure (I was freelancing for a while before I got this rol).

Or should I try and wait it out a bit longer before I start looking for roles?

Honestly, I wouldn't think twice if it's impacting your mental health. No job is worth staying for if it's making you poorly. Personally, I think the market is quite different now to how it was 10 or 20 years ago- people move around much more frequently and I think that Gen Z are much more inclined to hop between roles as and when they want. I know that's not necessarily always the case for senior roles, but certainly I've seen so much more movement than I expected within senior roles in higher education over the last 5-10 years. Obvs it depends on the sector too.

Thank you. I'm in a corporate role and my sense is that it's a bit trickier to move around. Finding jobs is also more difficult at the senior end in my sector at the moment.

I don't want to invest lots of time looking at jobs and then find an employer discounts me because I'm leaving earlier than usual, in which case I'll save my energy to get through the job for now.

Bumping in case there's any more advice from MNetters

Life’s too short to stick in a job you hate and dread going to every day.

@Wonderbug81 I would be honest to a point and say it wasn't the right culture for you,/ role wasn't as sold. Don't go too heavy on the detail but stick to a couple of areas stuck as "I don't have the level of autonomy I expected" etc. Don't blast the current company completely.

As long as you're CV isn't full of short tenures a one off won't matter - it happens

Senior HR here -
people are right that it’s not unusual to see employees moving around. However, it is unusual for a senior position to only be in post for 7m. Where this is the case it’s either down to culture fit or restructure.

I think life is too short to be in a job you hate. Is it possible to return to freelancing? If so, I’d be inclined to do that, and just not mention this post in your job hunt and cover the time in your freelancing period.

Whilst your mental health is absolutely priority, it’s a really shit market out there atm- hundreds of applicants for the last few roles we’ve advertised.

No harm in job hunting but personally I would also spent time working on how to make it more bearable and try and get to the 12-18 month mark.

Thanks yes that's a good shout.

Thanks yes exactly what I thought. Do you think culture fit is an issue as a reason?

Freelancing was tough too, just not enough work in the current climate.

How does it work with not mentioning certain roles? I find in interviews they want to know what you've been doing in detail and will also be asking for references at some point. It's a permanent role, if it had been contract I think it would be easier to explain away.

I usually stayed for a few years in my senior roles, but left one after 5 months - I had a better offer much closer to home and decided I was done with the commute. I explained this truthfully at a couple of interviews, always had job offers after. This is a non-issue if you have a good explanation and you do, you can blame the commute.

Funnily enough, the job I went to after was great for several years and then it became what you've described due to change at the top. It was so stressful and pointless that I'd never do it again. I overstayed for 2 years thinking I could survive this to climb to the very top, straight after maternity leave. I will tell you one thing - it wasn't worth the sacrifice. Your health is the most important thing.

Here's what I'd do: start looking now. Become a quiet quitter, do what you need, be nice if you fancy it or neutral if you don't. Leave as soon as you have another offer. Blame the commute if anyone ever asks.

Good luck, OP!

Could you possibly stick it out for another 5 or 6 months. At 7 months, I’d assume you’d failed your probation.

I think it would be better to reach double figures (in months). Otherwise, it might look like you have no stamina for future senior roles.

By the time she finds a job and hands her notice in, she'll be in double digits.

Thanks to be honest that was my instinct. I suppose it's not that long to hit 12 months and I can start speaking to recruiters before then.

Thank you, really helpful to hear your experience and good point re commute as a reason.

I'm just not very good at detaching but definitely need to learn how to for my own sanity!

Yes fair point although by the time I get my CV together it will be closer to 8 months. If I'd failed, I'd be out already l guess.

What I found is that when you're in a toxic workplace for a while, you become conditioned and don't really see how bad it is until after you leave. It's likely self-preservation. You will need a bit of that and a bit of grit to keep going till you have something new but I'd definitely start looking and planning my exit now if I were you.

The longer you stay, the bigger the conditioning and worse, the burnout. Not easy to recover from especially if you are going into another senior role - trust me, again from experience. I would never want to go through this again. If you're hitting peri or meno, stress and excess cortisol won't be your friends either, just saying as I'm assuming you are likely similar age to me.

If you are 7m in you have seen the current job market. rough is an understatement.
But there are jobs you just have to leverage the network....

Assuming you need the income....ie you need to stay employed somewhere....

Your option is...
You can either keep throwing energy at the current toxic job or throw your energy at leaving the toxic workplace.

In your shoes i'd "let go of the rope" get signed off with stress and go all in on job hunting knowing they'll can you or offer you a package to go in 2-3 months

Five years ago I'd have frowned at that advice but employers and the social contract with their workers has changed radically.

I also think no one would think much of anything about it. The company is fine but im looking g for a better fit. My current role involves a lot of X and I'd like to be doing more Y which is why this role was of such interest"

I also agree with @GrooveArmada I stayed for 4 yrs and honestly i think its fucked me up moe than i thought. Im a nervous wreck in my new role and keep having to remind myself I can do something useful. Just get out now.

Director here - if I was recruiting for a senior post, I’d be concerned about a person who’d done just 7 months in a role. I’d wonder if they’d failed their probation and then I’d want to know why.

If you leave, you should definitely be prepared to answer questions but in a way that doesn’t malign your employer.

Hi OP, I am in a similar position and honestly I don’t know what the answer is.

I guess there is a scale of how bad is it and how much longer can you tolerate it? Are the people awful or is it the work that is unmanageable? For me it is the latter and if the people had been awful I would have got out of there no hesitation.

I do have a friend who is in a senior role and the people are horrendous. He needs to get out as he just can’t win in any situation, and really he is on a hiding to nothing.

it’s so hard to walk away though. I agree mental health is important, but there is a balance between that and making sure you preserve your CV and job history.

sorry that’s not that helpful but maybe helpful to know you’re not alone.

It’s awful being in a senior job that you hate. I have become completely disillusioned with my job and I’ve only been in it a year and a bit. I can’t leave (as I’m on a visa) so I have to stick it out.

My advice would be to try to get to 1 year, but you can do this without having to do 5 more months there. Use all your annual leave for the year in the next 5 months, and hand your notice in so you leave just after the 11 month mark as that counts as 1 year, optically e.g. May to April. That way you only have to endure 3 more months?

This is really helpful. And yes I'm right in the middle if peri which definitely isn't helping with confidence or resillience. Job hunting also takes energy so just have to find a way to balance it all I guess.

I’m sure this is sector dependent, but in mine, six months would be standard, and they might give you a couple of months to ‘shape up’. So, anything less than a year is suspect. And it wouldn’t matter if your references said you’d resigned, as at a senior level, people are often given the opportunity to do that to save face.

So, I’d personally stick it out for a year, whilst also job searching. That way, if you find something, you’re officially leaving because newfound X position/company is so wonderful.

Thank you. I do need to stay employed yes and the state of the market is definitely a consideration as I saw what it was like last year... Not keen to get signed off with stress as I believe you then have to explain a high absence to next employer (if I've understood correctly, maybe I'm wrong). Hate having to think like that though.

Sorry you had such a tough time. I hadn't considered the impact of staying in terms of confidence for the next role but it's a good point.

I left a senior role after 8 months. I realised 3 months in it was the wrong job and a very toxic worklplace so put all my energy into finding a new role.
I was upfront in my covering letter about why I was applying for a new job after only a few months, so tackled it head on. I was asked again at interview, so I was honest and said it hadn’t turned out to be the role I expected, in this case there was much more finance than indicated and that I had realised it wasn’t the right role for me. I decided not to mention culture, just focused on the fact that the role hadn’t turned out to be what I had expected. The experience was awful, but it made me very aware of how quickly you can lose your confidence when you hit something like this. I’d advise getting out as soon as you can, best of luck x