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i think the shortest amount of time i stayed in a job before quitting was 2 days.
i was working for the state and my position had been "downsized." I was a specialist and the division decided they could hire new grads and pay them half of what they were paying me, so they eliminated my job. The policy was for people who had been "down sized" the employer would place me in another similar position if one was available; and if not i could pick from other jobs which were vacant at the time but i had to choose within 30 days. These "other jobs" of course paid less and i had to absorb that loss. The state said they would give the people laid off a job, but not one that paid the same, or was the same job if none were vacant at the time or within 30 days of being laid off.
Well as i said my position was a specialist, and on the entire large campus (over 3,000 people) there was only one other position that was the job i held at my generous pay. ONE job, and it was filled. And the person had been in it for over 20 years so clearly liked the job and had no intention of leaving. Well things looked very bleak. i remember joking with the HR person, while I was in tears, and they kept handing me kleenex and looking bored, i mean their job every day was to meet with people who and been laid off and were miserable, and to meet with supervisors who were having employees assigned to them to fill vacant positions, people they did not know and did not choose to hire, so the supervisors were miserable too. The HR person said it was lose lose, everyone was unhappy all the way around.
anyway i remember joking with the HR person about the one job with the one person, and for me to get that job within the 30 day window that one person would have to either die or suddenly quit or have some disaster befall them. so i went and checked out a couple of the other "vacant" jobs i could choose from which was really depressing because the pay was crap and they were not jobs i would every choose myself. well within 2 days i got a call from HR saying that out of the blue the one person in the one job like mine had suddenly left, so it was mine if i wanted the job, and i was amazed and of course said yes.
and i reported to work the following week. it was such a nice team, they were happy to have someone with my skills, they knew that specialists in that area with my experience were not easy to come by, they were so pleased and so kind. It's the only job i've ever had where they took me out to lunch the first day, at a really nice restaurant.
and two days later i quit. i physically could not bring myself to go to that job. even with the good pay, and even with the kind people, and job with my skill set. when they were giving me a tour of the office area, and mentioned "oh, over there nobody sits because three people in a row who sat there died, turns out at one time there was chemical processing in that part of the building" and alarm bells started going off inside of me and just never stopped.
so i called out the next day, and the next, and well just never went back.
first time i ever quit a job after 2 days. i ended up moving out of state, which turned out great in terms of quality of life, personal happiness, and also career has been on an upward arc ever since then for the past 15 years.
Ironically, my last two positions were so busy I worked 50 hours per week and couldn't handle the stress. However, I loved the majority of the tasks I was responsible for. My last job I left almost purely because of a toxic work environment. I think with a different supervisor I could have stayed.
I don't know why everyone doesn't have trouble finding this kind of balance. My brother worked for 20 years at a job he hated. How did he manage to do that? How do you live with yourself?
I knew what the work flow would be like when I took this job...i'm a municipal employee so the vacancy was filled even though work is slow due to covid. I didn't feel I had a choice...I had to be employed somehow. At the time I considered myself lucky to be employed, and I guess I still am.
Did not realize the pandemic would last this long and it isn't over yet. I'm in a department of 4 and essentially there is work for 2 people right now. One person is retiring but we are working to fill her position asap which IMHO is stupid.
It isn't just that things are slow right now. I'm realizing that even if we were busy, the kinds of tasks I would be expected to do don't appeal to me. I thought they would, but apparently I've changed a bit over the years since I last did this same job in a different organization. That was a better work environment...more positive feedback and positive interactions with co-workers. There is something wrong with our current leadership that a person could float a perfectly valid idea for a program that would engage many employees and provide a service to customers based on best practices of the profession, would be covid-safe, and be TOTALLY IGNORED. Not dismissed, not turned down, no 'Thanks for trying but we can't do that now because_________' just TOTALLY IGNORED
If I get an interview for this other job I'm going to go for it. The only thing will be negotiating the salary to be the same or greater than what I'm getting now, but the posted range allows for that.
As for getting certified in another field, why should I have to do that when I have a masters degree and am highly qualified for what I do now? that doesn't sound fulfilling either...if I wanted a real estate license or tax prep or insurance, I would have gone into those fields to begin with. I don't want a job, I want a fulfilling career. Doesn't seem like too much to ask for.
regarding bold above,
that comes from you, that comes from inside,
not from anything "out there" including job or career or workplace.
happiness, contentment, and yes fulfillment are all an "inside job"
they don't come from anything "out there"
because wherever you go, there you are. along with your lack of fulfillment.
I did hold one supervisory position for a government contractor for less than a year in rural VT where the work force can be.......challenging.
HR was completely non-supportive, particularly when members of my 'team' (and I use that word very loosely) would literally do things like tell me off, or blatantly NOT do something they were tasked with doing. I was not allowed to really discipline anyone. One supervisor (later demoted because HE was not qualified to be a supervisor) told me the other supervisors didn't like me (I am an assertive, professional woman....no...not a b***h.) I had to endure this nonsense.
I ended it when one of my team members actually poked his finger in my chest during a conversation about what would have been a disciplinary matter. HR would do NOTHING about this either. I gave two weeks notice and quit. I didn't even have another job lined up.
If you hate it that much, you can't subject yourself to that psychological drama. Quit. But make sure you know why you are quitting, though, and try not to repeat the same mistake.
I eventually got ANOTHER government job that was much more up my alley, where professionalism and skills were valued, and I stayed with that organization until I retired last year.
But make sure you know why you are quitting, though, and try not to repeat the same mistake.
Sometimes there are red flags, sometimes there aren’t. Work isn’t static; things change. You could be hired in by a manager who adores you, and inherited shortly thereafter by a manager who despises you for no apparent reason. You don’t really know what a job is going to be like until you’re in the role. And once you’re there, you don’t owe them your life simply because your departure will make it tough on them. That’s not your problem, that’s their problem. Perhaps if they were concerned about employee turnover, then they’d spend more energy on creating a more cohesive work environment.
In the past, people rarely left jobs because there was quite a bit of loyalty between the two parties. There were pensions to be lost if you left a job. It was difficult to conduct a job search. Things are different now. There are few incentives to be loyal. Job searching, while a pain, is much, much easier. Therefore, it’s much easier to leave a job if it winds up not being a good fit.
As it was the company that hired me, could not make payroll on time and sometimes a person would go 30 - 60 days working without pay. None of that I could I mention to a perspective employer, because another rule of thumb, you never ever talk bad about your previous employer. Doing that will make them wonder, if you leave them, what would you say about them.
Oh, no. Miss one single check, and I am DONE. If the company can't make payroll on time, then it's time to go, I don't work if they can't pay.
And if asked why I left, I would not hesitate to say why. It's not 'talking bad' about them, it's a simple fact and a legitimate reason for leaving.
As it was the company that hired me, could not make payroll on time and sometimes a person would go 30 - 60 days working without pay. None of that I could I mention to a perspective employer, because another rule of thumb, you never ever talk bad about your previous employer. Doing that will make them wonder, if you leave them, what would you say about them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zymer
Oh, no. Miss one single check, and I am DONE. If the company can't make payroll on time, then it's time to go, I don't work if they can't pay.
And if asked why I left, I would not hesitate to say why. It's not 'talking bad' about them, it's a simple fact and a legitimate reason for leaving.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zymer
Oh, no. Miss one single check, and I am DONE. If the company can't make payroll on time, then it's time to go, I don't work if they can't pay.
Oh funny --- I mainly worked as a professional administrative temp, and yes that was a thing in the late 90s, no one frowned upon. The radio ads were hot, to use it [Bob in Accounting] as a sell for the temp agency. It was cheaper to hire a temp, because the company didn't have to payout benefits. That transitioned into the 25% markup price for temp, the company can find ways to do without the added help.
First day (2000) at my new permanent, this is not a temp, position. My first clue should have been an 8 year old company still claiming start up status. But no, I'm not paying attention to that, as I was burnt out on the temp gigs. IT is in my office setting up the computer admin rights and I say to him, I finally have found a job I don't have to leave. And he raised an eyebrow and something to the effect of, oh yea? Months into the job talking with others in the company and they all mention of periods of going without pay. I was there for 3 months and I was like whatever was happening isn't now, so that's good. My office was huge and I thought about what is said about over compensating.
Month 4 --- oops. I was there for 13 months. I can't remember how many pay periods were missed. I remember one was missed because of a deal in Mexico they needed funds to cover and they took the payroll to do it. I also remember young woman, trying to cover the fact she hadn't been paid, from her husband, who like to do things like buy boats. She stayed for another year after I left and I left right after my department VP, left.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zymer
And if asked why I left, I would not hesitate to say why. It's not 'talking bad' about them, it's a simple fact and a legitimate reason for leaving.
I could have made all this up and how would you know that I haven't? If a person called to verify story, what does that conversation even look like? So does the rule my college instructor gave (in 1992) about not talking bad about a company you've left still apply? You bet it does. The shadiness of the company doesn't matter --- my voluntary resignation of only after 13 months did. And keep in mind, I was a Temp before that. I went on job interviews as I still had 'they're a rock star' character references --- in the end it didn't matter.
The same thing though that can be said about an employee, can also be said about an employer --- know what to look for before you say, yes to the opportunity. "What color is my Parachute", helps with that.
These companies spend millions of dollars in new hires; the way to cut the spending, is to cut the practice. In 2002, there were more pink slips than paychecks. Six pages (Dallas Morning News) of classified job want ads, gone as they transition to online ads. In the space that was there, they utilized it with human-interest stories on all the new start ups, where as people who had worked well together in the company they were let go from, pooled their savings and went into business for themselves, together. I'm resourceful and I'd find that company; interviewed with a couple of them.
People said, I don't understand, you can go to work for Kroger as a cashier (this is Dallas for pete's sake) and I said, oh yea, who told you that? The reply --- the overworked cashier. It was years before I saw a, now hiring, sign outside of a convenience store window. If you want to know what the market is, look for the signs. By then I'd gone with the start up idea on my own. "Think of a service you can provide and provide that service" tip from a 40 year sound engineer veteran and friend.
I knew being a baby, baby boomer the market would flip again, much later in my life, what I didn't foresee was COVID. Happy hunting --- it is now top side up, and these companies are expecting it now and have been for the last year. The roll over is there and a person can do, just about anything that they ever thought they'd want to try.
Just don't go into the interview process with the belief, they hold all the cards, because they don't.
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It was years before I saw a, now hiring, sign outside of a convenience store window. If you want to know what the market is, look for the signs. By then I'd gone with the start up idea on my own. "Think of a service you can provide and provide that service" tip from a 40 year sound engineer veteran and friend. 
