Leaving first job too early?
Want to leave my first job as an analyst probably 1-1.5yrs in. Variety of reasons for this, none of which are related to the actual job. Is this a really bad idea? It’s pretty important to me to make a move but I won’t get into the personal reasons here.
Not trying to switch type of role I’m in would actually be looking for the exact same sort of role in the second job.
I mean, this is what's called a "pure lateral", which at the 1-1.5 year stage of a first job, is most likely a "reset", meaning your time to promotion/advancement counter gets reset to zero (this is not always the case, but it should be the expectation if you do this).
You mention personal reasons, is this is a market switch? If not, you better be ready to explain that upfront, because it will look like you have been fired/pushed out without really good explanation. COVID probably makes this less bad, people are jumping and being laid off, so more understandable than other times.
In fairness, this is not the easiest jump to make, but if you gotta do it, then do your best.
Geography is the reason
All things equal, that is the most "forgivable" reason, a geographic move for personal reasons. In fact, explaining that up front in emails/cover letters and when networking is a good idea (you don't need to explain the nature of the personal reason if you don't want to). It then makes sense.
This can still be a "reset" on the timer, but not really anything to affect your long-term career unless you somehow let it. I'd say it will matter zero long-term, good luck!
Should add, if you can, try and find a good reference at your current firm. Someone who understands the situation and can vouch for you, this could be really helpful in making the case you are not leaving because you suck (I'm being serious, it's better to think ahead on these fronts).
Thanks good to know
Completely disagree. If it’s your first job, you can move in 1-1.5 years and no one will care. You can also do it a second time, I’ve seen people do it a lot actually. It’s by the third time that people begin to question it.
To the OP: if you don’t like your situation, move. Life is too short to deal with things we don’t have to do with (unless of course we have to). It’s your first job - most people don’t like their first job and move.
I would argue what those moves are matter a lot, if they are or can be viewed as "upgrades" (be it title/firm/role etc.) then they can make sense, pure laterals without clear advancement look bad at early stage (clearly, most don't do the move if not for an upgrade, so not an issue for most). Devil is in the details.
Still, my main point is that the relative advantage of a move at say 2-3 yrs so much more than 1-2 years, that it is often optimal to hang in (if you get the major upgrade early, take it of course!).
If you switch geographies, could claim a life move? You're overly vague to get any decent answer
I left my first job after ~22 months to move to nyc and just left my second job after 16 months because it sucked/COVID. Was hired by another firm very quickly and all the interviews I had, they asked why I was leaving my current firm and I gave an honest answer - my duties have changed and aren't coming back, my team is not cohesive, and the organization has done some sketchy things during my time - every recruiter found this response acceptable and left it there.
If you want to leave, go ahead. Just have an honest answer as to why you're leaving and move on.
Be careful of this. Recruiters will not say so on the phone, but this can be viewed as a negative. Employee is complaining about employer.
Perhaps, but my employer made headlines. Think it was quite obvious why I was leaving.
This is always so funny to me. Because truth is people leave jobs for betters jobs. Sometimes the honest truth is the people you work with are not nice, the firm is completely disorganized and terrible. But people are so concerned with being nice, that you can’t say anything bad - but yet they want the truth on why you are leaving. It’s always been a funny conundrum to me because if people sniff out that you are lying, they will want to know what the truth it - but wait - I can’t tell the truth because my boss is an a**. And in today’s culture - if you say that, you become the a** when actually you might be fine.
Anyway..that’s my rant and how I feel about it. There are some recruiters that I love, and I have gotten jobs via recruiters, but for the most part I’ve found they have no clue what they are doing and just want your resume to read exactly like the job. I get it - they want to get paid. But many don’t even understand what it is we do on a daily basis. I’ve actually had recruiters put me up for jobs who asked me to chat offline for 20 minutes so I could explain to them the job description I was interview for.
terrible advice. Never say bad things about former employer... rule #1
"Terrible advice" even though I have a new, better role, okay. But either way my firm made headlines so it was pretty obvious why I was leaving and therefore could explain.
NATE PAUL
You were definitely at an M&M or equivalent doing shiesty shit ... or a super toxic team like Appel's
I left my job after 10 months. Had an offer at a developer and I was coming from a major lender. Both of these firms are household names, but development is generally considered 'more prestigious' or whatever than lending. I say that only to point out that if you leave a firm under a year:
A) no one gives a shit but make sure you have an explanation why. I did get asked during my interview why I was leaving so quickly but all I had to say was that the job was no longer challenging. You can also say that a certain figure (Group Head / MD etc.) in the organization has left and that the job description has changed. Those are both valid reasons but I think saying you are no longer challenged is better because it gives you a good alibi and makes you look like a worker who enjoys a challenge.
B) generally if you're moving to more 'prestigious' institutions no one will question the decision. It's as simple as that. My former employer even understood and didn't give me a hard time when I left.
I've known people to work at a place for two weeks and then leave. They still have careers. It's not as concerning as you consider it to be.
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