From the mailbag:
Hi Lance the HR Guy,
I found your blog on the web and read that fascinating guest entry on job-hopping… and thought that you might be able to answer some of my questions.
I am a recent graduate, have been working for 3 months at a large professional services firm, and am already thinking about my “exit.”
I think I’ve just discovered that I’m not suited to the work or the 90-hour weeks it requires. However, as I’ve only been working there for 3 months, I know my options are limited. Is there even any point to looking for a job now? If not, my goal is to finish a year, then look for other positions. Will that brand me as a “job-hopper”? I was under the impression that young grads have some more leeway, but perhaps I’m
wrong.
Any insight you can give is greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Looking For a Change
Ah yes, that awful job that you are all excited about coming out of college only to find out it is hell. And it sounds like your job isn’t an ordinary sort of hell, it is probably the one preached about from big pulpits in big loud churches. Fire, torture, a mean slave boss (probably with some horns)… Yeah. I got that.
No matter the circumstances though, looking for a job at this juncture is going to be extremely difficult. If you get a call back (and you will, most likely), this will be one of the first questions out of their mouth guaranteed. And that’s not fair but we’ve also been burned before by flakes and losers who jump around from job to job. There are a couple ways to approach this:
- The company has a reputation for driving their employees to exhaustion. We all know these sorts of companies so I don’t need to mention names but some companies need no explanation as to why you are leaving. In fact, I would seriously question you if you hadn’t started looking until a year out.
- You have a great work history otherwise. This might be hard to grapple with if you are just out of college and don’t have a steady work history but it could work for other folks. Explaining that it is out of character for you to be doing this but that you made a poor decision to take this position and you’d like to find something more fitting.
- If the above two don’t work, you are going to have to weigh your options. You might have limited choices due to that and get into a less desirable (but better) situation. You’d have to put in more time there to be seen positively. You can also do your best to explain the situation politely (WITHOUT throwing your current employer totally under the bus and WITHOUT coming off like someone who wants to work 30 hours a week and take long lunches.
There is no doubt in my mind you will have a more difficult time but your sanity (and your cardiologist) may thank you for making a premature departure. Even if you can’t get into the most ideal scenario of finding a great fit, you can help your chances of success by finding a place where you can at least moderately succeed.
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Lance is right. The HR realists out there DO know about THOSE companies that drive their employees to their knees – especially new grads.