lemonlegs Posted November 11, 2014 Share Posted November 11, 2014 Hi all. Just looking for some feedback/advice here. I'm a 23 year old who recently moved to a different province, not for anything in particular but more just for the experience. I didn't have a job coming here, so I had a lot of money saved up. My boyfriend ended up paying for most of our travel costs to get here, so I didn't end up using any of my savings, and am in a pretty good spot with money overall (important to note when talking about quitting a job). Anyways, about a week after getting here, I had an interview at a small startup company and got the job about 2 hours after the interview. The pay is more than I have ever been paid and it was full time, and that's all I cared about at this point . Also note, my degree is a liberal arts so no, I don't know what I "wanna do when I grow up". Anyways, the boss told me to start the very next day. Overall, I received 1.5 days of training. This was to learn their system (which I have to train other people on in less than a month, to get the hang of various web marketing (which I've NEVER done), and to know how to field customer service issues exactly like how the boss wants it done (she's VERY particular, as in wants to screen any email I send out before I send it). Basically, after 3 weeks, I feel very out of my element, and constantly feel stress/anxiety/uncomfortable at the thought of not knowing what I'm doing. To top it all off, my boss is NEVER in the office and the only way we communicate is through email, and the only other people I work with are IT guys or software developers.... Who obviously don't know my job duties. I hate being in a position where I feel useless and incompetent... Due to lack of training and having my hand held or being corrected at the end of day instead of being taught. I decide that this job isn't for me, and I want to quit and this time give myself more time to find a job that suits me better instead of jumping into the first offer again. Had anyone ever been in a similar situation? I'm thinking I'm going to email her since I never see her face to face anyways, but how should I word it ? Should I offer to stay for a week (even though I don't want to and I won't be useful in training a replacement)? Thoughts? Link to post Share on other sites
d0nnivain Posted November 11, 2014 Share Posted November 11, 2014 Quitting by e-mail is a fax pas. Don't do it. Make an appointment. Tell her face to face but hand her a letter of resignation. Give at least 2 weeks notice. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Author lemonlegs Posted November 11, 2014 Author Share Posted November 11, 2014 Quitting by e-mail is a fax pas. Don't do it. Make an appointment. Tell her face to face but hand her a letter of resignation. Give at least 2 weeks notice. Yeah, but she's the type who is ALWAYS in meetings. If that was the case, I can guarantee I'd be waiting at least a week to even be able to talk to her. Do I owe them anything at this point? In all reality, if they wanted to can me, they could tell me to leave the same day, since I'm on probation... Link to post Share on other sites
pink_sugar Posted November 11, 2014 Share Posted November 11, 2014 I am in web marketing and yes, most of this type of work requires you to be self-taught. Most of my positions have required me to learn material as my bosses didn't know how to do my position, hence hiring someone. My boss is almost always in meetings as well, but I find a way to get the information I need. I don't mind communicating via email with him. However, it sounds like this type of work may not be for you. In that case, since this your real first time professional job, I would give the 2 weeks notice and do your best on your remaining days. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Standard-Fare Posted November 11, 2014 Share Posted November 11, 2014 Yes, a lot of people have had this type of experience. It's a common one for people in their early 20s. Facing the reality of the working world can be daunting, particularly when you haven't given enough careful thought to what you actually want to do. If you are a) truly miserable at this job, b) confident you don't want to be working in this field, and c) don't intend to use this job on your resume or for references as you're applying to other jobs ... then, yes, you should probably get out. But if this job might be tangentially related to other types of work you want to do, and could serve as a bridge to better options, you should probably suck it up and stay put for at least a couple more months. Either way, it's time to think hard about the direction you want to take in the future and how you're going to get there. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
jonsnuh Posted November 12, 2014 Share Posted November 12, 2014 Better to make the decision to get out before your employer does it for you. Your employer will pick up on things that creep up unconsciously, sometimes as a product of how you're feeling. The way you say things, and the way you behave. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Almond_Joy Posted November 19, 2014 Share Posted November 19, 2014 I agree, this feeling is common when transitioning into your first full time job. A lot of companies don't provide structured training which makes it important to be a self-starter and want to be proactive about learning more. If you don't think they gave you enough training, tell them you want more practice or ask how you can get extra training time, there's nothing wrong with that. If they took you off training and into actual working with the manager looking over your stuff afterwards then you're probably doing ok despite feeling like you're not. I get not wanting to stay in a job you're uncomfortable in, but give yourself some time to adjust. Research suggests it typically takes about 3 weeks to feel comfortable in a new job. If you have absolutely no idea what you want to do you may end up having this experience a lot, and if you quit every time something feels uncomfortable, you'll end up looking like a job hopper on paper which can't help in a job search regardless of your age. Good luck, I hope you stick with it for a while. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
CarrieT Posted November 19, 2014 Share Posted November 19, 2014 Research suggests it typically takes about 3 weeks to feel comfortable in a new job. Three Weeks? Try Three MONTHS! No one jumps into a new job knowing how to do it and there is usually a lot of anxiety about learning a new job. OP, I really think you should try to stick with it if the job is remotely close to what you might want to do in the future and the money is good. Three weeks in is nothing in the big picture... 3 Link to post Share on other sites
jellybean89 Posted November 22, 2014 Share Posted November 22, 2014 You want to quit by email and give no notice? Good luck getting any kind of positive reference from them. That is really immature and totally unprofessional, IMHO. You sound kinda spoiled and not really wanting to have to buckle down and 'grow up'. I think you need to do that. Link to post Share on other sites
bathtub-row Posted November 22, 2014 Share Posted November 22, 2014 Be very careful about becoming a job-hopper. It's a death sentence on your resume. It's the first thing I look at. If a person doesn't have good work history, I have no interest in anything else on their resume. If I were you, I'd enjoy trying to figure things out, and I would enjoy not having a boss breathing down my neck all the time. Just my perspective. Link to post Share on other sites
pink_sugar Posted November 22, 2014 Share Posted November 22, 2014 Sometimes it looks like some people are job hopping when they aren't. I was laid off in Dec due to a bankruptcy and had to take a part time job and a contract job to supplement income. Unfortunately after 6 months, their business needs changed and I got laid off again in August. Between that time I also had a temp job that ended after a month. All unwillingly. At my current job I wish I got paid a little more, but I am planning to stick around awhile before moving on to avoid that very thing Link to post Share on other sites
bathtub-row Posted November 22, 2014 Share Posted November 22, 2014 Sometimes it looks like some people are job hopping when they aren't. I was laid off in Dec due to a bankruptcy and had to take a part time job and a contract job to supplement income. Unfortunately after 6 months, their business needs changed and I got laid off again in August. Between that time I also had a temp job that ended after a month. All unwillingly. At my current job I wish I got paid a little more, but I am planning to stick around awhile before moving on to avoid that very thing I understand this and if the resume comes from a staffing agency, I ask why they changed jobs so often. Lay-offs and temp jobs are one thing, habitual job-hopping is another. The habitual stuff is what I'm talking about. It tells me that the person has issues, makes bad choices, probably doesn't get along with people, and has very little integrity. In other words, it's a red flag. Even temp jobs and numerous lay-offs can be an issue if it's not explained. If it were me and I had a sketchy work history, I'd put a note on the resume by the company's name as to why I left. I brought it up because the OP is starting down a path of ditching too soon and I'm just letting her know that, unless she plans to become self-employed, job-hopping is going to bite her in the butt. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
pink_sugar Posted November 23, 2014 Share Posted November 23, 2014 Yeah, this past year happened to be hard on me. Laid off due to bankruptcy. ..temp job decided they wanted someone more experienced and last job didn't have enough work for me as I was unlicensed. Before that...I had never once been laid off or terminated from a job in my 8 years of working. Link to post Share on other sites
smg15 Posted November 29, 2014 Share Posted November 29, 2014 If you have another opportunity without having to interview for it I say go for it. But if you are deciding the job is not for you and want to leave so early I don't know how it's possible because you can't take time off for interviewing 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts