New job: Good culture, unsure about job

[ShiningMoon]

Hi all,

 

 

I posted a thread about a month ago about missing my mentor etc.. at my new job.

 

I've been at the job for a little bit more than a month now and although I understand a new job requires a great degree of adjustment which may take from 3 to 6 months, I'm struggling a bit emotionally.

 

The culture is nothing like my former employer's. It's far healthier, more transparent and most of all, there's a great degree of trust and communication instilled between the management and their teams. The people are overall smart and interesting to talk to. If my former employer's culture was like this, I would have probably stayed 10 years there, unfortunately the toxicity led me to leave after 3 years.

 

My new job is nothing like my former job. It is basically an internal finance position. My former position was a client-facing banking position. The difference was obviously not a surprise to me, but I thought I would settle in well. I thought I wouldn't see a problem in no longer interacting with clients.

 

The issue is now I'm finding myself looking a the same excel spreadsheet all day, getting instructions from client-facing teams and doing systems amendments.

 

To be honest, I'm struggling a lot emotionally to find the motivation to get things done. I'm incredibly grateful for this job as it entailed a salary increase and a career progression, but I can't help but think about my former clients and how driven I was to get things done to get the kudos from a client. This new job seems so repetitive and menial next to my former job. My former job had its flaws too and to be honest, I didn't picture myself being in it for 10 years. However, I underestimated how much I would miss client contact.

 

I'm now seeing myself as a mere back-office employee and it doesn't sit well with me. I'm trying to learn as much as I can as I know I can acquire skills that can be useful in other jobs, but my heart breaks a bit each day. I feel bad saying this because tons of people would want to work for this company, but for some reason, I feel as though a part of me is left dormant each time I go to work. I don't recognize myself in this job. I'm usually a dynamic go-getter and now I'm just more reserved, looking at the spreadsheet all day.

 

I know it's too early to start looking elsewhere, but what would be the options?

[Mr. Lucky]

I know it's too early to start looking elsewhere, but what would be the options?

 

Assuming you muster the resolve to excel in your current position, what opportunities for advancement exist with your current employer?

 

I've put nose to grindstone in a number of jobs where I felt underutilized in order to get where I ultimately wanted to be. Got to pay your dues...

 

Mr. Lucky

[ShiningMoon]

Assuming you muster the resolve to excel in your current position, what opportunities for advancement exist with your current employer?

 

I've put nose to grindstone in a number of jobs where I felt underutilized in order to get where I ultimately wanted to be. Got to pay your dues...

 

Mr. Lucky

 

Thank you, Mr. Lucky.

 

There are a lot of opportunities at my current employer. My former employer was going down the drain, so opportunities for advancement were very limited or close to non-existent.

 

I agree that the only way forward is to excel in my current position, but somehow my confidence has schrunk and I feel as though I'm also not cut for it.

 

I was a top performer at my former job, praised by various directors and now I'm starting all over again in a different company. I feel as though I've lost my weapons and feel incompetent. I went from being the go-to person to knowing nothing.

 

Also, the new position is nothing like my former one. I had no knowledge whatsoever. I worked in front-office banking and I'm now in finance operations. You have to start from scratch with every new job, but I'm having a hard time finding the silver lining..

[alphamale]

chasing money is a very bad reason to switch jobs, next time look at the whole package before you decide to leave

[ShiningMoon]

chasing money is a very bad reason to switch jobs, next time look at the whole package before you decide to leave

 

As indicated above, money wasn't the only factor.

 

My former company is going down the drain, there was a huge rate of turnover (the floor got empty when I left with only the managers left), the environment is incredibly toxic and on top of this, the opportunities for progression were non-existent due to the company's financial situation. Everybody was leaving left and right. Middle management was sabotaging me all the time because they had issues with the fact that higher management liked me. I'd come home anxious and stressed everyday despite performing well. It was not sustainable anymore from a mental perspective.

 

I understand money is not a factor, but the offer came from a top consulting firm and I couldn't be on my former salary anymore. I was offered other jobs, but I went for that one.

 

Now, the past is gone. I can only look forward.

Edited June 7, 2019 by ShiningMoon

[alphamale]

As indicated above, money wasn't the only factor.

 

My former company is going down the drain, there was a huge rate of turnover (the floor got empty when I left with only the managers left), the environment is incredibly toxic and on top of this, the opportunities for progression were non-existent due to the company's financial situation. Everybody was leaving left and right. Middle management was sabotaging me all the time because they had issues with the fact that higher management liked me. I'd come home anxious and stressed everyday despite performing well. It was not sustainable anymore from a mental perspective.

 

I understand money is not a factor, but the offer came from a top consulting firm and I couldn't be on my former salary anymore. I was offered other jobs, but I went for that one.

 

Now, the past is gone. I can only look forward.

 

give the job 3-6 months and then decide what you want to do. one tip, you should ALWAYS be sending out resumes whether you plan to leave or not

[ShiningMoon]

give the job 3-6 months and then decide what you want to do. one tip, you should ALWAYS be sending out resumes whether you plan to leave or not

 

Wouldn't it look suspicious to recruiters/companies that you're trying to leave a good company after a few months though?

[guest569]

More money and better workplace culture are probably two of the most important things!

 

Are your shifts very long? Is there a nice break room or cafe nearby? Somewhere nice for a stroll at lunch outside?

 

Going from client service to technical is a very big adjustment indeed. For me, there are pros and cons to each. In a lot of roles the clients are the ones who will give you a pat on the back, and personally I find that far more rewarding than kudos from a manager or colleague (if that even happens). In the financial role you can set your own minor targets, hourly or daily, and give yourself praise or rewards to try to get through and keep motivated. I'm in a similar boat though, struggling. I'm bored out of my mind from spreadsheets.

[alphamale]

Wouldn't it look suspicious to recruiters/companies that you're trying to leave a good company after a few months though?

 

just tell people that the position wasn't a "good fit" for you but don't bad mouth your current employer

[OpenBook]

Based on everything you've posted, I believe you're where you're at for a very good reason... and that you made the right choice to get out of the previous company (that toxic crap is for the birds!). It sounds like you landed in a good place.

 

My advice: Stay in the present, and bloom where you're planted! Learn all you can in your current position. Research "extracurricular" ways to scratch that itch to interface with people. Does your company have an internal team member network or volunteer group? Or you could volunteer for a non-profit in your area.

 

Talk to your boss about it too (if you feel comfortable enough with him/her) - don't say anything negative about your current assignments, but let them know you'd also like to find ways to exercise your awesome people-skills muscles! They might have some great suggestions, as well as connections to people who can help you blossom. You won't know until you ask.

 

Don't assume you'll be stuck forever staring at a spreadsheet all day. If there's one thing you can absolutely count on, it's change. You (and the company) won't be in the same place a year from now; you'll be in a different place doing different things. 5 years from now? Unimaginable. Always keep your eyes out for opportunities to expand.

[alphamale]

Always keep your eyes out for opportunities to expand.

 

yes, and also keep your eyes peeled for cute co-workers...a lot of people hook up at work

[guest569]

yes, and also keep your eyes peeled for cute co-workers...a lot of people hook up at work

 

What the?!

[alphamale]

What the?!

 

by hook up I meant marriage

[Mr. Lucky]

yes, and also keep your eyes peeled for cute co-workers...a lot of people hook up at work

 

Not the fast track to success in the modern workplace...

 

Mr. Lucky

[ShiningMoon]

I think I'm going to keep a strict border between my office life and my personal life. I learned this from my experience at my last employer. My entire identity reolved around work as most of my friends were co-workers, my mentor was a department head and my crush was another guy I worked with daily. When I left the job, I felt like my entire life had turned into a pumkin and found myself all alone.

 

This time around, I'm more focused on the professional networking aspect, however I'm going to keep firm boundaries with my colleagues. Besides, I mostly work with women and the few men that are there are already married. I'm not in the right headspace to notice anyone.

 

Anyway. Since posting this thread, I traveled abroad for the first time since leaving my last job (my last trip was a business trip) and therefore had some time to think during the plane ride. I now realize I made a mistake from a job standpoint.

 

Granted, my former workplace was incredibly toxic, low pay, no flexibility and no career progression opportunities as the company is performing poorly. However, I had perks that none of my other colleagues has:

- I was traveling fairly often which I really enjoyed

- Worked directly with a highly respected director

- Worked on my own

 

On top of that, I was client facing which was definitely the best aspect of my job as I said before. To me, a client feedback means ten times more than an internal stakeholder's feedback. Clients drive the business and thus a great feedback certainly gives greater visibility to your job. I had many clients sending me great feedback throughout the course of my three years, some even were acknowledged by directors and key stakeholders. I have to say, whilst I was working there, we had many instances where a deal which were thought was not feasible ended up getting the best client feedbacks due to the way I approached things. It even got to the point where people would let me handle those deals on my own without interfering because they knew it'd turn out for the best. The "I trust you" was something I often got from higher ups (not my direct middle management which was utterly dysfunctional).

 

All this to say, I made a mistake going from front-office banking to back-office accounting. I'm basically looking at the same excel spreadsheet all day, contacting the same people all day and basically doing what people instruct me to do. When you're back office, you have a lot less power and I was told from the beginning not to challenge the client-facing teams. Well, I was there once and I agree, those teams generally have a great influence. On top of looking at the same excel spreadsheet, I'm not traveling at all.

 

The sole fact of thinking about my daily tasks makes me cry when I get home. I miss my former clients and the motivation I had to get things done for a client.

 

This new job is so sendentary, I'm getting depressed each day. I have no clue what came over me to quit my former job, but the envrionment got so back that I needed to get away. From a job standpoint, I severely regret my choice. From an envrionment standpoint, I don't.

 

What's the purpose of having a good envrionment if you don't like the job? Despite the toxic environment of my former employer, I'd be excited to go to work everyday. I'd be looking forward to Monday morning. I was almost obsessed with that job from the moment I set a foot there. It just click. People are not passionate about banking generally, but I can safely say, that job made me happy despite being frustrated towards the end.

 

My current job is a dead end too. They're also changing the role in October, which will turn my finance position into an IT position to help client-facing teams to use an internal tool. I went from front office banking to back office finance to now close to becoming an IT query handler via ticket. This is not the career trajectory I want to take at all.

 

Now, the fact that the role is changing is a good way for me to explain to potential employers why I want to leave. It gives me a valid rationale behind wanting to change jobs so soon. At least I increased my salary potential and gave my CV some credibility with this new company, but what I wouldn't do to go back into banking heck ... I'd be even down to get my old job back!

[ShiningMoon]

I forgot to say.

 

My current role will be changing in October. I'm currently working in a finance team which will become an IT support team once the new software is released. Basically, we'll assist the client handlers with the new financial software from a utilization perspective.

 

This is not at all the career trajectory I want to take as I studied law and never worked in IT nor am I willing to.

 

However, this gives me a good excuse to use if potential employers are to ask me why I want to leave so soon.

[alphamale]

I forgot to say.

 

My current role will be changing in October. I'm currently working in a finance team which will become an IT support team once the new software is released. Basically, we'll assist the client handlers with the new financial software from a utilization perspective.

 

This is not at all the career trajectory I want to take as I studied law and never worked in IT nor am I willing to.

 

However, this gives me a good excuse to use if potential employers are to ask me why I want to leave so soon.

 

SM, didn't your new employer tell you what the job entailed? And why did you accept the new job without fully knowing what you would be doing?

[ShiningMoon]

SM, didn't your new employer tell you what the job entailed? And why did you accept the new job without fully knowing what you would be doing?

 

They have not yet released their software, so when I started the job, I got specific job title which was different than the one I interviewed for. This job will carry on until the software is released in October, after which both the tasks and job title will change. The job description described the future responsibilities in a different light than the reality then the one explained by our US colleagues who have already experienced the shift.

 

On the job spec, it indicated we'd still be dealing with financial metrics, financial planning and revenue maximization in addition to assisting with the software. Then, we had a call with the US team who has already gone through the shift and they clearly advised it's a straight up IT role (resolving any tickets that are raised in relation to the utilization of the software). There's no financial planning involved anymore as the software is meant to automate the entire process. I'm not saying the company was not honest about this, they were, but the job spec. was slightly misleading.

 

Regardless of the fact that the job is changing, this is not what I'm picturing myself in in the long run whether it is the current sets of responsibilities or the upcoming ones. Sometimes, you may think you may like a job despite the trade offs and it turns out you don't. As I said, a prospective employer will not know whether I was aware the job would change at some stage, but this gives me a proper explanation to utilize.

 

At this stage, I'm past trying to figure out whether the job description was an accurate representation of the actual job or whether I could have looked into it in more depth before accepting. Ultimately, the situation at my former job was quite negative from an envrionment standpoint, the salary was so low it was difficult to get any financial freedom, the company is slowly sinking and every one was leaving left and right. I got an offer from a top company, I accepted. I'm not really enjoying the job. I thought I would, I'm not. It happens. It just need to find a way forward whilst being more careful this time around. A mistake can happen once, but not twice. I just didn't make an informed decision.

Edited June 9, 2019 by ShiningMoon

[Mr. Lucky]

At this stage, I'm past trying to figure out whether the job description was an accurate representation of the actual job or whether I could have looked into it in more depth before accepting. Ultimately, the situation at my former job was quite negative from an envrionment standpoint, the salary was so low it was difficult to get any financial freedom, the company is slowly sinking and every one was leaving left and right. I got an offer from a top company, I accepted. I'm not really enjoying the job. I thought I would, I'm not. It happens. It just need to find a way forward whilst being more careful this time around. A mistake can happen once, but not twice. I just didn't make an informed decision.

 

Two things stand out -

 

- you wouldn’t be happy staying in this position

- you have a pretty clear checklist of touch points for the next one

 

All that’s left is the doing...

 

Mr. Lucky