New beginnings always bring their share of nervousness. You have to make extra effort to fit in the new work culture, make new friends, get used to the workings of the new boss, and generally, gear yourself for the new role. But sometimes, the anxiety we experience at a new job is more than the situation warrants.
You may feel that you are being bullied by your superiors. You may feel exhausted before the week is out. You may feel that the new boss is too overwhelming or critical in their expectations. By the time of your first performance appraisal, you feel that taking this job was a huge mistake.
But you are also under social pressure to stick it out. People judge quitters, and the whole anxiety of a new job search, interviews and appointment is not something you expected to do again so soon. So what now?
Assess the situation
First, it’s important to assess if you know enough yet to have the full picture. How much of what you’re feeling is about things that can be worked on? Sometimes what you consider as failure may be a chance to relook at the situation and begin again.
When to take the decision
No matter how uncomfortable it may make you feel, it’s important to carefully think through what is going on. Then sit down with your boss and let him or her know. If you’re ready to quit anyway, there’s nothing to lose by trying. Most problems can be resolved through dialogue. If you have a sexist boss like in Uber, it makes sense to quit.
Putting in the papers
If you fail to arrive at a resolution, there is no harm in quitting from a new job. If you can handle the pressure, a short duration with a company or a blank space on your resume will not deter you from your future goals. According to traditional thinking, once you’ve started something you should never quit and if you do it’s a clear sign of failure.
Quitting may not be risky
There is a notion that quitting a new job is risky for your career. But staying for years in a job you hate and that is slowly wearing you down is not going to be great either. Doing something you don’t like doing is not going to help your career as it is a waste of time.
Reasons for quitting
If the job is not what you signed up for, and it’s something you know you will never want to do, if the boss is horribly abusive, if you are asked to do something ethically wrong, and if you know by your instinct that you made a wrong choice, then it is fine to quit a new job.
People worry that a short stint will hurt their chances of getting the next job. But so will being in the wrong job to begin with, especially if it doesn’t lead to where you want to go with your career. There is no way to know for sure if a job we don’t like may, down the road, leadto an unexpected opportunity or connection that gets us something wonderful.
Unless you turn it into a job-hopping habit, it is better to quit a new job if you are sure of what you are doing.
