Wesley Bedrosian / AP
If you’re really ready to jump to a new career path, it can be better to just do it, instead of delaying.
Monday, Jan. 8, 2018 | 2 a.m.
Question: I have been with the same company for 20 years, rising through the ranks in that time. However, I have been planning to leave, and even started working toward a professional certification in another field.
Then my supervisor got promoted, and most colleagues assumed that based on my position and experience, I would be the replacement. Every bone in my body told me not to apply — but every friend, family member and colleague (especially the ones who knew I was plotting an escape) said I would be passing up an opportunity to make my résumé look better. I applied, and got the job.
I can’t stand it. There are not enough hours in the week to get everything done, and I end up doing my work poorly and neglecting my family in the process. My supervisor says I knew what I was getting into.
But now I want out even more. I finished that certification, but is it best to wait a year before I bail? If not, how do I explain a short stint in a new position to potential employers, without sounding negative? — ANONYMOUS
Answer: If you cannot stand your job, you should be looking for a new one, as actively as possible. Don’t waste time being hard on yourself. It’s often the case that someone who has decided to switch fields entirely must overcome the urge to delay making such a big move.
And sure, in retrospect, you probably should have trusted your instinct and ignored everyone else. But that’s hindsight. It’s often good to get the advice of others who know you and your situation and who might be able to offer a useful perspective. Maybe you would have regretted it if you hadn’t given the new position a shot. Who knows?
The point is that now you know: Taking the promotion was a mistake. Not only are you unhappy, but it sounds as if your supervisor and your family aren’t pleased, either. Why prolong this a single minute longer than necessary? If you’re really ready to jump to a new path, get on with it!
To answer questions about a short stint on your résumé, just tell the truth, but with a forward-looking focus: You had been planning this change for a while and delayed it when you were offered a promotion. But that has only underscored your certainty that it’s time to move on, and you’re way more excited about what lies ahead in your new chosen field.
Don’t dwell on the problems of the past or present. Employers really aren’t that interested in why you want to quit your job; they’re interested in finding the best person to fill whatever opening they have. Keep the emphasis on what you want to do next — and why anyone who hires you to do that won’t regret it.
Resisting the Gift Fund? Maybe Don’t
Question: I have a comment regarding your recent advice about resisting office pressure to chip in for a gift for a retiring or promoted co-worker (“Resisting the Coerced Gift”). One of the worst job-related mistakes I ever made involved not going to a farewell luncheon for a departing colleague.
I was new to the job, so I had known the person for less than three days, and the cost of the meal was a budget buster for me. I should have paid it anyway. Letting myself be perceived as an outsider made me very vulnerable in what turned out to be an intensely political culture, and it deprived me of allies.
I hate the idea of spending hard-earned money to honor someone I don’t know or like. But it’s a bargain compared with having others think that I was not a team player. Better to be broke today than kicked in the butt later; people don’t forget. — ELISABETH, QUEENS
Answer: Ouch. This is a great (i.e., awful) example of how a logically sound decision can turn out to be the wrong move. I still believe you have every right to opt out of extracurricular job-related spending that doesn’t make sense to you — but you do have to judge what that might cost you in the long run, which will vary by workplace.
In this case, with only a couple days on the job, that would have been hard to deduce. Maybe it’s worth amending the Workologist stance to advise that if you’re still acclimating to a new gig, you should consider playing along with the apparent norms until you feel confident about the office culture.
