How to look for a new after only being in current job for 4 months

Long story short. Started a new job in November. Was told many things during the interview like great work life balance, no micromanagement, great culture, interesting role. Turns out to be the complete opposite. I now hate going to work.

Not in my favour are my age, in my forties(ageism exists) and my income, above $180k. Even though I was born here I am not white, so I feel in the corporate world there is still hint of racism floating around.

Should I stick it out and wait for at least a year and then look or should I count my lucky stars I have a job.

FYI I work in Sales in the IT industry.

Poll Options

  • 4
    Wait at least a year then start looking
  • 22
    Look now as life is too short
  • 68
    Stop complaining and get on with it

Comments

  • +4

    Makes me laugh seeing what the job description offers. I can guarantee you no job listing is going to initially say:

    "Terrible work life balance, excessive micromanagement, poor culture, boring role"

    • +25

      You know for 180k, I’d consider applying for a job with that description lol

      • -2

        People at that wage level that don't actually have hard jobs (like a doctor or a lawyer etc.) don't realize how fortunate they are.

        • +4

          Nice way to generalise. Seems like you know a lot about these jobs.

  • +17

    I don't think many enjoyable/not stressful jobs exist with a pay like that.

  • +5

    If your job sucks then start looking for a new job ASAP. Life is too short to be miserable.

    • +4

      Agree - keep working but look for opportunities on the side. If you don’t feel good now you’re not suddenly going to feel better about the work environment later. You spend a lot of time at work - may as well be a place you want to be.

  • +11

    Income in the top bracket….complains.

  • +28

    C'mon man … in your 40s, presumably 20-odd years of experience, making $180k+ and you're seeking the advice of randoms on the internet on whether to stay or go in your current role?

    • And a member here for 11 years…

    • +2

      seeking the advice of randoms on the internet

      How do you think he got there in the first place?

    • LOL THIS

  • +2

    If I were you, just start looking now and see what's out there. It can't hurt. Also be clear on why you're looking, as I'm sure the future employer will ask at some point anyway. People move around all the time for reasons like this.

    If you don't find anything, then you have your current job even though it's miserable.

    If you took your income out of this post, I think the responses would have been a bit different tbh. But don't let that worry you.

  • +24

    Not in my favour are my age, in my forties(ageism exists) and my income, above $180k. Even though I was born here I am not white, so I feel in the corporate world there is still hint of racism floating around.

    earns $180K, still blames racism and ageism
    top kek

    • -1

      This is why you don't vote Left. Everyone is encouraged and rewarded for victimising themselves no matter how much good has been done for them.

  • +1

    For remuneration like that, you'll just have to suck it up while you look for a different job. Earning 180k a year wasn't meant to be easy. Seems to be a really good wage though for the IT industry, which historically has outsourced to cheaper countries when it can to keep wages low.

    • +4

      sales in IT is the only tranche where you can't outsource i.e. cant get indians to do sales and BD work in aus from india, and even if you flew them over on visas, it's all about who you know

  • +1

    I once went for an interview with a company that talked up their work/life balance. I was cautious because I had worked in a larger company in the same industry a couple years earlier and it was miserable and I moved to something very different, but I wanted to see if a smaller company might be any better (lot of opportunities in that industry).

    I was with HR and the manager I'd be working for, who were happy to talk about how much better their little firm was than the big guys and how much more they cared about their employees (especially HR, who really tried to market that aspect). I said that was great, because at the bigger company I every day was at least 10 hours.

    The manager laughed and said he hadn't done under 10 hours in years. HR looked embarrassed. My fake interest for the role became very transparently artificial after that. Kinda wish I had just stood up and left, but HR seemed to get it

    • +2

      The manager laughed and said he hadn't done under 10 hours in years

      You shouldn't be put off by that. His job is more senior than yours. But if he is laughing because he thinks it is a badge of honour, yeah you are right to be cautious.

      I find small businesses really unable to cope with the idea of work life balance for its employees. They either want to give you a boring role that has low pay and minimal avenue for promotion, or they want to pay you slightly less than the going rate for a senior role but want you to be a slave.

      • Agreed. But it was the badge of honour thing. Similar to what I had seen in the bigger company, and thought might have been a prevalent attitude in that industry. He just confirmed it with that.
        Irony is that I don't mind working long hours anyway, I think I just really dislike any expectation of it.

        • Irony is that I don't mind working long hours anyway, I think I just really dislike any expectation of it.

          I don't like it when people just do desk time. Or just seem to spend their whole life at work. A lot of people I've seen do this in big corporations are just promotion hunting and work at 50% efficiency because they are at work so much.

          Much rather be super efficient and get in late and leave before everyone else. Before anyone says anything about how it will be used against you, if you manage your boss well, you'll have no problems. Particularly if you can prove you are on par or out performing everyone (better to be outperforming tho).

          • +1

            @serpserpserp: Unfortunately this backwards 1970s attitude is still prevalent in the corporate world. People are all too focused on how many hours someone spends at the office rather than what they do in those hours.

            I can't speak for OP as everyone is an individual, but it's 99% a problem with older employees. You rarely see young guns trying to look good by upping their hours. Most young professionals these days are all about achieving results and going home as soon as possible. And in most cases, those staying back are only doing so because they have nothing better to do. It's usually the old guys who don't want to go home to a house full of screaming children and a nagging wife.

            I don't fully blame them as I used to do the same thing when I lived with my brother who has multiple kids. The problem is when people use it as a way of showboating their hours or trying to look good in front of managers.

            • @SlavOz:

              And in most cases, those staying back are only doing so because they have nothing better to do.

              I think most cases people are either staying back because a) they actually do have a lot of work to do, but those are senior people and get paid for it. b) are actually struggling with their job and need the extra time to get stuff done c) promotion warriors.

              • @serpserpserp: wrong on a/b, I don't think a senior position == more hours, also more pay is not because of more hours… seniors should be able to work more efficiently and be able to do more important work, and that is the reason for better pay.

    • said he hadn't done under 10 hours in years

      That's a sh!t tonne of overtime. He must be raking it in.

      • +1

        Expectations of the job, so no way. Blessings of a professional salaried position

      • Yeah it’s unpaid man some people are just very stupid

  • +1

    FYI I work in Sales in the IT industry.

    If you have a lot of experience in this field, there are heeeaaappss of BDM/sales roles for SaaS and Fintech companies out there. Maybe 180k plus super is hard to get, but you could take slightly less for a role in a better company but has OTE/bonuses north of 250k.

    • How on earth are sales reps making that much coin can you enlighten me

      • Which part? The base or OTE?

        If you are in Sales or BDM role for SaaS companies you are literally the person that could be the difference between making a million in sales or 2 million in sales in a year (just a theoretical example) in real world cases it could be a lot higher.

        As such, they are compensated well if they hit their targets. Some Sales/BDM guys don't even have targets and work purely off the proviso that if they sign some company up to your product and they are going to spend 200k a year on it, they get 5% commission on the sale (could be more in some places). There are even jobs where sales/BDMs get trailing commissions!

        People on this kind of base are true hunters in the field. So they'll come with a network of people they can sell to straight away or they'll have earned their stripes in another industry and will know how to build that network/generate leads quickly and will also be able to deal with all kinds of people in those organizations to close the deal. It might just seem like easy money for lots of phone calls and long lunches, but there is a bit more too it than that.

  • +1

    I m sailing in the same boat except my income is not 180k+….
    I am actively looking for internal mobility within my company by talking to HR and other senior managers that I meet in company forums.
    Good luck!

  • Leave.

  • Sounds like you have some decent professional experience in your 40s and at that salary, but you seem to have omitted any detail of talking to your employer about this. I’d be pretty upset if I were your manager and you looked elsewhere without even trying to work through your concerns. Have you even done this?

    Whenever I see candidates with short (non-contract) tenured roles plastered all over their CV, I don’t often have the thought “these could all have been bad places to work”; remember what the common denominator is.

  • Raise your concerns with your employer first to see if they can be resolved and actively try to help it become better. If you get flogged off or some platitudes with no action then look elsewhere.

    For anyone in my team earning 180k their job is not only to do what it says on the paper but actually make the company better. If they complain but don't offer any advice on how to actually improve things they can take a hike.

  • -1

    Sounds no matter what you will not be content. Forget work. Go to Nepal and find yourself.

  • work 9am-5pm and see what happens

    • Well yeah if it’s salary they can eat a d*ck if you can’t do your work in 40
      hours you have to look at time management or discuss what is required with your manager

  • Earn more, work more. Earn less, work less. Simple.

  • How can you be working for so long and not good at interviewing your employers? Also why does it take you 4 months/out of probation to realise you don't want it? If your CV is filled with a ton of long term positions, you can afford to jump again. But before that, if I were you, I'd spend sometime on finding the answers to my first two questions.

  • Why did you leave your previous job? What are your finances like? (I don’t need to know these answers, but you do). There is a difference between working where it sucks because you can’t afford not to and working where it sucks because you feel some sense of obligation/work ethic.

    Life is short. you can either suck it up and keep raking in cash or pull the pin and potentially make it difficult for ends to meet.

    I left a job that was dragging me down about 18months ago. Took about 3 months to get some decent casual work but money was not a big problem. Now have been working a great job for about 8 months, less stress but with less pay. Life is better, bills are getting paid but with a little belt tightening. I don’t know about doing this job in the long term, but it is good for now.

  • +2

    My boss gives me shite sandwiches everyday and I get less than $180k

  • OP; any update in this post COVID19 world?

    • +2

      Yes I ended up staying for about 14 months where I found a new job which pays more and which I love.

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