Making a jump after 5 months.. horrific boss..
Anonymous because I think it would be surprising who I was as I've been here for 15 years and am VP level. I legit have the absolute worse boss ever- I can't even describe how lazy and inefficient they are. They don't log on until 11-12.. No work gets done Mon-Weds and every Thursday someone starts kicking them in the ass and it's like they now have a sense of urgency. So the net net is by Friday late afternoon I'm getting dumped on after showing up- working hard- every single day. My deliverables sit on their desk for at least a week- until people are screaming and then it's the weekend when I have to log in and deal with their absolute BS. Worst part- I don't need this shit- I've been in the industry for over 20 years- I've never had such a lazy micromanaging boss before. One of my former colleagues and their recruiter/staff have called on me but I feel really bad about having a less than a year gig on my resume. Tell me younger people- have times changed? Does it matter that much? If I say f this and move on- how long will this mark of "job hopper" hurt me? Anyone else have a short stint on their resume?
I took a horrific role at a family office and knew within 3 months it wasn’t healthy to stay. Ripped the bandaid at 7 months. Best decision I ever made and haven’t looked back since. During my search, the short stint didn’t seem to be much of an issue and most were understanding. Life’s too short to stick around at a job you hate.
Thanks man. I'm literally having a personality change and am miserable- and I'm way too old- I've put in my time a long time ago this is just total BS. Only silver lining- my boss' boss reached out to me- I'm highly valued- he knows there's an issue but I can't see myself surviving long enough for it to resolve I'm absolutely miserable. The turnover where I'm at is incredible- and it's all because of this reason.
M&F?
Will not confirm nor deny. Would prefer to be as anonymous as possible.
Times have changed. Just make sure the story makes sense -- you have a 15 year career, if a 1 or 2 year (or less) window is what folks are focusing on then you probably dont want to be there anyways.
Thanks- if I was to take the jump- the story makes sense. It's my ex coworkers- former people at the same firm- they reached out to me and they know the deal of this situation.
Then sounds like you have nothing to be worried about if they know you and your skills / talents.
Make the jump. You are a seasoned veteran. I’m guessing we are about the same age. Life is too short. Just tell the next employer that you ended up with an incompetent boss. We’ve all been though it 20+ years into a career.
Echo the above - you don’t need to put with that stuff with so much experience- surely your prior colleagues would help you / take you back? Why had you left in the first place?
Bounce immediately. Went through a similar situation. Lateraled to a firm with 12+ years under my belt. Had two group heads. One psychopath micromanaging everything and the other was MIA most of the time only to surface last minute and start the fire drill. I 100% should of left early but I stayed for the brand name and comp. The kicker was getting caught up in layoffs at the bank after putting up with this shit on a daily basis. Good luck.
It sounds exactly like my situation. Thanks for advice. I needed to hear it.
That sucks; I hear you, I've been there (see below). Hopefully if you end up leaving it gets better somewhat before you leave.
All the advice above is good, my add on would be just make sure the next place you go is also what you want. Having a short stint at a job isn't bad, but having multiple in a row is when people start to ask questions. Also, its 2022, job hopping was a thing in prob the 70s, now everyone knows the deal.
My story: I worked at this chop shop firm, smaller investment bank. Did research. The analyst on our team was horrible. We had companies with small coverage so you could skate by not doing actual research and just repeating the earnings call as your note. Pre-covid time, our analyst would just disappear on Fridays; not leave, disappear, so you didn't know where to wait it out because he'd be back or leave at a normal time; but he would get heated if you left or even took a break. Also, he would actual leave during earnings, not tell us when he would be back, so we would be waiting hours for to see if he'd be back just to discuss if we should use "," or ";" in a note. Then covid hit, which, if someone is unorganized in an office when youre together, they won't get better when you're remote. I came from an actual bank, so when this starting I immediately began looking for roles.
God the debate over punctuation is the worst. I had an awful micromanaging flip-flopping boss at my first job and left because of him. Literally the worst. He would call me to review comments on a deck and then ramble for hours going down rabbit holes every 5 minutes. This post gave me PTSD lol.
Your post gave me PTSD! haha
I feel you. I've had really good bosses and really bad bosses. I can say without a doubt that the bad ones always focused on little details instead of the big picture, specifically, they always focused on punctuation for some reason. At the job I referenced above, every note I put out had would receive some punctuation comment, but never did I receive one challenging my investment thesis or my numbers.
In a similar boat; going to be pulling the plug on a job after about ten months due to a mix of culture / operational disorganization and head back to a prior employer who also similarly identified the problem and opened their arms. Like others have said, I think its less about punching out early from this job, but moreso whether the next spot is a long term solution because a second short term hop would make it a problem. But I completely agree with you; as a veteran professional, you don't need to put up with with that.
We hired someone for a VP level position who had changed banks once every 5 years. Heard the MD even make a remark about it in the interview process but he got the job . Also switching companies every 2 years is likely something i see myself doing unless companies start handing over raises and promotions more. Last time I switched jobs got a 50% raise , was at new one a year and had another bank offer me 100% raise (was for a promotion level higher) yet my company wanted to only give me a 3.8% raise
I think moving around once every 5 years is totally acceptable.. and you're right about salary although I've been fortunate on that end. I hate the thought of a short tenor on my resume but I guess it is what it is.
Moving once every 5 years wouldn't even register to me as being "job hopping."
Get out!! It's fine to recruit after 5 months.. Obviously it isn't a normal pattern of work behavior so if you have one bad exp and want to get out, it won't really hinder you..
I'm going to ask a simple question - out of your 20 year career, do you have a habit of bouncing before a year (ideally 18+ months)? If the answer is no, then bounce. When asked, you can say tell the truth - the culture was not there, and it created a difficult work environment. It's pretty easy. As you get older, you don't need the headache that comes with that kind of bullshit.
Dude you’re what,40? Go do what makes you happy. The time to put up with bullshit is behind you.
yeah, I'd agree you should bounce. The only thing I'd ask is are you able to move back to where you were and live with why you left in the first place? or do more research if you go somewhere new so that you don't end up in another similar situation.
Good luck!
Patrick
Thanks Patrick. Considering you probably know who I am I appreciate it even more. I'm not going back to my last place- they would gladly take me back but I was bored there. Former colleagues from other walks of life have been reaching out but good advice- whatever I decide I will do my due diligence hard to make sure I don't end up in another bad situation.
It’s frustrating how conservative people are about labeling ppl job hoppers. I think mix of boomerism and as someone mentioned a structural problem w us needing to move to advance in many cases.
Not as senior as you and you've probably heard this yourself / given this advice - look out for yourself #1. if you've already been in the industry >15 years, the next marginal year of your career is a much higher % of the remaining time you have left vs the gunners in their 20's.
With an unreliable economy as the backdrop and sporadic labor shortages / gluts - you need to control the narrative. In your case, that means taking a proactive decision in recruiting and leaving. It will look much worse if you get laid off via an impulse firing or if your negative (admittedly warranted) outlook bleeds into your performance
I think you will be (pleasantly) surprised at the more refreshing mindset people have nowadays vs 20-30 years ago when it comes to wanting to be at the right place at the right time
Frankly good on you for having toughed it 5 months already before manifesting this as a tangible thought. Realistically with the holidays coming up, most recruitment timelines are pens down. If you put out floaters now you'll hit some processes starting January for a potential Mar-April start at earliest. That will mean your time at the firm from a paper standpoint goes up from 5 to 8-9 mos
Thanks for the well thought out reply. I appreciate it. I'm so lucky that I have a reputation and am actively being sought out right now. You've given me some very great pointers to think about and I appreciate it. I think I'm at zero chance of layoffs due to very senior mgmt reaching out to me and telling me they see what I've been contributing and how much they need and appreciate me. Which puts me in the drivers seat so I'm grateful for that.
feel free to DM if you want to talk more - would be interested learning from your journey as well. and no problem at all - happy to help
happens all the time - not a red flag at all. same thing happened in my group
How have you been in the industry for 15 years but are VP level?
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