A poor boss and a high staff turnover make me want to leave … after only a month
I recently started at a very small office – there are only five of us working for a sole director. I was keen to join a smaller company after years in the financial sector.
My problem is the boss’s attitude to his staff. In my first week I learned that the longest serving member had only been there for 14 months. Nine people had left (or started and left) during the past year and three of the remaining staff had been reduced to tears.
We all start on a six-month probation period, during which we can be let go with one week’s notice, and there is no pension or sick pay. I should have checked the terms and conditions more carefully beforehand, but I was unemployed and worried about being out of a job for too long given my age (54).
It’s clear I can’t remain for the long term, but everything has come to a head since a member of staff I felt particularly close to was sacked. I’m torn between handing in my notice too, and listing bullying as a factor, or staying put until I can find something else. I don’t feel remotely motivated to work at this company, but am worried about how it would look to recruiters and future employers if I left after a month.
Jeremy says
If you chose to leave after a month, I very much doubt that recruiters and potential employers would be seriously deterred from at least asking you in for an interview. I imagine your CV provides plenty of evidence that you haven’t made a life-long habit of quitting jobs after just a few weeks. As you admit yourself, you should certainly have checked your terms and conditions much more thoroughly – and this in itself might cast some doubts on your judgement – but overall I don’t think there would be too many penalties attached if you decided to quit immediately. I just don’t think you should.
You took your current job without proper consideration because you were unemployed and anxious. You mustn’t make the same mistake again. If you’re able to do so, it’s nearly always better to look for a job while you’re still employed – you don’t feel so rushed and potential employers find it reassuring.
It’s only the sacking of this member of staff that seems to have triggered the thought of an immediate departure. Admirably loyal though that is, it’s not entirely rational. You say everything’s come to a head, but it hasn’t, of course – you just feel it has. If you walked out now, it wouldn’t help your colleague in any way, nor would it do anything to make your boss become a better boss.
So stay where you are but start looking right away. Learn from your mistakes and take your time. Be painstaking in studying the T&Cs in any draft contract. And if you’re quizzed on why you want to leave your present job after such a short time, be sure you have an accurate, factual log of your boss’s staff retention record to hand.
Readers say
• I’d start looking for another job but keep this one as long as you can stand it to keep the pay coming in. In a larger company you might be able to transfer away from the problem laterally, but in such a small firm there’s no retrieving the situation. If queried, just make up some anodyne reason for leaving (hours inconvenient, whatever). katiewm
• It’s easier to get a job from a job, and people don’t necessarily ask much about your current situation. Just say you’re working but only have a week’s notice (a definite plus, it means you can go after contracts that specify “immediate start”). They’ll probably assume you’re a temp or on a fixed contract. pandle
• Take advantage of the probationary terms and leave quickly. At this stage, you just need a CV which will get you through the door to interviews. The longer you stay in the current job which you hate, the harder it will be to explain away or handwave over your CV – and the more demotivated you will become. Flash Bristow
How do I respond to the naysayers about enjoying my minimum-wage job?
I am in my early 30s working full-time and making just above minimum wage in the hospitality industry. I think I am articulate and professional. My family feels I am squandering my talents and intellect in a “dead-end job”. I explain that I am thankful just to have a job in this economy, especially considering most of my friends have university degrees and only get part-time hours at their fast-food jobs. While I sometimes wish I’d gone on to post-secondary education, I’m pleased to not be in debt like my friends.
The quandary comes when customers at work tell me I am wasting my time at this job. It makes me feel uncomfortable and I never know how to respond. They often tell me I am too keenly intellective or “too charismatic” to be here, and often offer me suggestions of what types of jobs I should be doing instead. On more than one occasion a customer has actually tried to hire me.
How should I go about replying to these people without offending them, or seeming ungrateful?
Jeremy says
I’m pretty certain that the reason you feel uncomfortable when you’re asked such questions is that you’ve spent a few years trying not to ask them of yourself.
As someone in their early 30s, obviously intelligent and articulate and with an easy and attractive manner, you might have expected by now to be doing something that made more use of your qualities, and paid quite a lot more than the minimum wage. That you’re not has almost nothing to do with your lack of further education.
Maybe it’s time you faced those questions and actually tried to answer them. Are you truly happy doing what you’re doing? If you are – and for the foreseeable future – there’s nothing to be ashamed of. Lucky you. But if you claim to be happy mainly because you’re a little scared of trying to do anything more ambitious, then you should take a deep breath, cross your fingers and go for it.
Luckily, you work in an industry which, while it respects qualifications, also rewards experience. If you make it known, either at your current place of work or elsewhere, that you’re ready to take on more responsibility – and seize every small opportunity to do exactly that – you could surprise yourself.
Readers say
• Do you enjoy your job? Are you happy with your colleagues? Is the salary sufficient to meet your financial aspirations? If you can say “yes” to all of those I’d say you’re doing better than most. ABCSpy
• You don’t say that you explicitly love or even like your job; just you’re thankful to have one. Next time a customer tries to hire you, ask them more about the job, find out if it’s something you’re interested in. Go for an interview or whatever. You don’t have to accept it if it’s offered, but at least you start to have a better idea of what’s out there. Vencio
• You need to better articulate why you keep this job if you are being offered other options, because I am not getting it from your letter. Once you can do that you’re sorted – the easiest ways to reply are, “Actually I like serving customers all day/It gives me a lot of satisfaction/The pay is not as bad as you’d think and I get very regular hours/Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it/It’s better exercise than the gym my friends in the rat race keep moaning they’ve no time to get to/I am learning the ropes so I can open my own establishment someday”. pavanne
Do you need advice on a work issue? For Jeremy’s and readers’ help, send a brief email to dear.jeremy@theguardian.com. Please note that he is unable to answer questions of a legal nature or to reply personally.
