Leaving your job after 8 months...

I have been working in Market Research for over three and a half years and the last eight months I have been working in a very large financial services company. However, having come from a medium size company working in such a massive bureaucracy is immensely frustrating!

I am thinking about throwing in the towel and joining a two man operation where there is no doubt the autonomy would be much greater and the skills that I will get to develop will be beyond the skill of kissing senior management ass that everyone here seems to do so well...

Question is how will me packing up and leaving after eight months look?

To whom? Your current bosses won't be too pleased, I imagine. And an eight-month tenure might raise red flags for future potential employers. But if you can gloss over it on the resume -- "2007-2008:" -- it might not be too noticeable. You'll have to consider whether you'll need your current employers in the future, and what relationship you have with them now.

Bear in mind, I don't know anything about your industry. But in most, leaving after eight months is considered bad form -- the conventional wisdom is to stick it out at least a year if you want a graceful exit.

My chief concern would be about joining such a small shop in the current economic climate. I'd make sure my new job would be there a year from now. If you're back on the market in six months, it's going to be much harder to make things look presentable.

Thanks for the advice Doc.

The small operation I would be going for won't have a problem with it as I know the owner through a former colleague and I was tentatively approached to join the team prior to joining this financial behemoth.

The current relationship I have with my employer is just fine. I have no problems with them, nor do they with me, however I just don't find the job challenging. I feel like the role was misrepresented and I find myself doing menial tasks.

I was asking more from the perspective of what the damage would be to my reputation. Considering my close to 3 year stint in the last place of employment I don't think I would be treated that harshly if I left this one after 8 months (especially if I spent at least a couple of years in the next one).

The alternative step of course would be to suck it up and see it out to August this year.

Are there any financial considerations to take into account? I have no idea how your industry works but if there's a bonus involved, or even a salary raise you might want to stick it out.

I have done it, it isn't a good thing to have on your resume, but having one in a 20 year career isn't that bad, espectially if you can tell a good story about it.

Originally Posted by injung

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Are there any financial considerations to take into account? I have no idea how your industry works but if there's a bonus involved, or even a salary raise you might want to stick it out.

There is a bonus involved, so it may pay to stick around ...

If you're unhappy and you have something better lined up, then you need to do what you need to do. I have a feeling you're going to do it no matter what anyone here thinks, so once you've worked it out, pull the trigger.

Its one of those things that it depends on how you can spin it. As someone mentioned before, you can just list years on your CV which means it could have been 2 months or 2 years. Once you get to the interview you have a chance to put a story to it if it comes up.

K

I have considered my options, but I just thought I would put it out to the group and see if anyone had something that I haven't yet considered...you guys are good to bounce things off!

Originally Posted by appolyon

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I have considered my options, but I just thought I would put it out to the group and see if anyone had something that I haven't yet considered...you guys are good to bounce things off!
You're in marketing and you're probably young enough, spinning this won't be a problem. Do employers really expect young people aren't going to be more mobile than older folks anyway?

I do think employers expect young people to be more mobile than the older employees they come across...and I've even come across opinions that employers are ok with a bit of a colourful career history when you are younger as it indicates you've gotten all those things out of your system...

...spinning it is not a problem...and besides researchers are in such massive demand at the moment there would not be any hassle in finding a new job even without my tee'ing something up before hand...

Originally Posted by appolyon

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I do think employers expect young people to be more mobile than the older employees they come across...and I've even come across opinions that employers are ok with a bit of a colourful career history when you are younger as it indicates you've gotten all those things out of your system... ...spinning it is not a problem...and besides researchers are in such massive demand at the moment there would not be any hassle in finding a new job even without my tee'ing something up before hand...
I meant aren't. Sorry. Of course they expect us to be more mobile. It's not really that we're getting it out of our system, it's that we have less holding us back so we're playing the playing the field, trying on different hats in different places. It makes us all more rounded people with a wider range of experiences to the benefit of the firm. I think more employers would look poorly on us for not taking advantage of our youth these days.

I wouldn't worry about it. If you thrive in the new job, nobody's going to hold it against you that you moved.

Maybe the right approach would be to speak to my employer about how I feel about the position that I find myself in ... but then it is a sensitive topic and she may resent me for it in the end...

anyone had any experience with an employer where they sat down with them and said 'I am not happy in my role at the moment ... I expected this and that... and this is what I want from here on in' and found that it made a difference?

Not I.