Leaving job shortly after promotion?
April 15, 2013 9:46 PM Subscribe
I landed a big promotion. I don't think it's been a good fit. How do I develop an exit strategy?
I'm being purposefully vague, but I can fill in details if needed.
Six months ago I got a pretty big promotion at my company (this marks the third promotion in two years). I worked hard to get it and researched the job, but it hasn't been so great. It is very different from my previous job. I knew some of this going in, but now that I'm here the type of work I do isn't a good fit. I'm doing ok and I'm engaged, but I'm stressed out and rarely feel like I accomplish something at the end of the day.
I'm fully aware of impostor syndrome, but I do think this is an issue of fit rather than me producing.
A job similar to my old one has opened up in another department and I'm considering putting in for it. What's holding me back is that I feel a lot of faith has been put in me to do this job. It's a visible position within the company, and I think my boss and others expected me to be here much longer than six months. The work environment is fine, my working hours are fine, co-workers are fine...I simply don't like it (and I actually enjoyed my previous position).
So, if you've left a promotion after a short amount of time, how did you do it? If you stayed within your company, how did you deal with the fallout, if any?
And should I have a conversation with my boss? What about just being honest and saying, "I don't think this is working out because of x,y,z"?
I realize I'm in a privileged position here complaining about a promotion, but I feel really stuck here and not looking forward to 1-2 more years of this.
I'm being purposefully vague, but I can fill in details if needed.
Six months ago I got a pretty big promotion at my company (this marks the third promotion in two years). I worked hard to get it and researched the job, but it hasn't been so great. It is very different from my previous job. I knew some of this going in, but now that I'm here the type of work I do isn't a good fit. I'm doing ok and I'm engaged, but I'm stressed out and rarely feel like I accomplish something at the end of the day.
I'm fully aware of impostor syndrome, but I do think this is an issue of fit rather than me producing.
A job similar to my old one has opened up in another department and I'm considering putting in for it. What's holding me back is that I feel a lot of faith has been put in me to do this job. It's a visible position within the company, and I think my boss and others expected me to be here much longer than six months. The work environment is fine, my working hours are fine, co-workers are fine...I simply don't like it (and I actually enjoyed my previous position).
So, if you've left a promotion after a short amount of time, how did you do it? If you stayed within your company, how did you deal with the fallout, if any?
And should I have a conversation with my boss? What about just being honest and saying, "I don't think this is working out because of x,y,z"?
I realize I'm in a privileged position here complaining about a promotion, but I feel really stuck here and not looking forward to 1-2 more years of this.
Everything dcrocha said was terrific.
Now I will tell you how things would go in my company: they take your discomfort with the promotion as a lack of commitment to the company and starting from the moment you express said discomfort, your career advancement is halted forever; from this point on, finding fault with you becomes a game until eventually, either you are miserable and quit or they find some way to fire you.
All of the above is awful. And I strongly, strongly encourage you to follow dcrocha's advice as your model for how to proceed, because you seem like a decent person and that is clearly how a decent person should conduct himself/herself. But I think it's important that you know this can go south really quickly in the wrong environment, and you need to be prepared for that.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:16 PM on April 15, 2013 [5 favorites]
Now I will tell you how things would go in my company: they take your discomfort with the promotion as a lack of commitment to the company and starting from the moment you express said discomfort, your career advancement is halted forever; from this point on, finding fault with you becomes a game until eventually, either you are miserable and quit or they find some way to fire you.
All of the above is awful. And I strongly, strongly encourage you to follow dcrocha's advice as your model for how to proceed, because you seem like a decent person and that is clearly how a decent person should conduct himself/herself. But I think it's important that you know this can go south really quickly in the wrong environment, and you need to be prepared for that.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:16 PM on April 15, 2013 [5 favorites]
And should I have a conversation with my boss? What about just being honest and saying, "I don't think this is working out because of x,y,z"?
This really depends on your boss and your relationship with them and the company culture. In some companies this would be a great conversation to have that ends in you being moved to a position more suitable for you. In other companies it will get you fired. I had a friend who had to deal with it with a Very Big Tech Company, and they strung her along for a year promising that things would change until she eventually left the company for a new job, which is a possible middle of the road outcome.
posted by empath at 4:15 AM on April 16, 2013
This really depends on your boss and your relationship with them and the company culture. In some companies this would be a great conversation to have that ends in you being moved to a position more suitable for you. In other companies it will get you fired. I had a friend who had to deal with it with a Very Big Tech Company, and they strung her along for a year promising that things would change until she eventually left the company for a new job, which is a possible middle of the road outcome.
posted by empath at 4:15 AM on April 16, 2013
Start looking for positions outside of the company, but for sure talk to your manager.
It's possible that they feel the same way towards you, and they'd LOVE to move you to that other position so that they can find someone who is a better fit.
One way to approach it is to meet with your boss to discuss your first 6 months, to go over what you think works, what doesn't work and to brainstorm some ideas.
For example: "My expectation was that I would continue working on the Blah account, but in a different capacity, what I'm finding is that I spend my days doing reporting, which really isn't my wheelhouse."
The way to broach this is, "I'm aware that a position has opened up in the Q department that is very similar to my previous position. While I'm committed to making this work, if it's mutually agreeable to you, I think it might be better for all concerned if I could move to that position and you can get someone in here who is a whiz with reporting."
No one can guarantee that this will work, or that you'll get that other job, or...anything. But do this with as much dignity, ethics and class you can muster.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 5:54 AM on April 16, 2013 [2 favorites]
It's possible that they feel the same way towards you, and they'd LOVE to move you to that other position so that they can find someone who is a better fit.
One way to approach it is to meet with your boss to discuss your first 6 months, to go over what you think works, what doesn't work and to brainstorm some ideas.
For example: "My expectation was that I would continue working on the Blah account, but in a different capacity, what I'm finding is that I spend my days doing reporting, which really isn't my wheelhouse."
The way to broach this is, "I'm aware that a position has opened up in the Q department that is very similar to my previous position. While I'm committed to making this work, if it's mutually agreeable to you, I think it might be better for all concerned if I could move to that position and you can get someone in here who is a whiz with reporting."
No one can guarantee that this will work, or that you'll get that other job, or...anything. But do this with as much dignity, ethics and class you can muster.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 5:54 AM on April 16, 2013 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Thanks for the responses, they all make sense. I think I have enough confidence to have this conversation now. It won't be a fun conversation, but I doubt it will be so negative as to affect my employment. Thankfully our culture is not that cutthroat.
posted by bombastic at 1:03 PM on April 16, 2013
posted by bombastic at 1:03 PM on April 16, 2013
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Luckily I had another opportunity and left for it - with total support from my former boss. She even said "when things change here I'm going to hire you back". None of this would have happened should I have acted behind her back. So talk to your boss about your current situation. Two things can happen: s/he will be an asshole about it, then you're free to pursuit the other opportunity; s/he will support you in trying to change things for the better or for you to move to your desired position.
And never forget to, should you decide to leave, recommend an equally competent person for the position you're vacating. It will score you many many credibility points.
posted by dcrocha at 10:00 PM on April 15, 2013 [7 favorites]