Can I quit this job without wrecking my career?

January 4, 2022 2:09 PM

I'm a new library manager, I've been at my role for 6 months and it's getting worse and worse by the day. I want to quit. Can I quit a job after 6 months without ruining my career?

I can't do this job. It's a terrible fit. I'm afraid to quit because I don't have another job lined up, but it's only going to get worse. I have no clue what to do.

This was supposed to be a great opportunity, but it has become... worse than my wildest nightmares. I need out. Now.

posted by VirginiaPlain to Work & Money (12 answers total)

You can quit. If it keeps getting worse, you may get fired, which would be harder to explain that quitting. Regardless, though, the tone of your question answers your question. Quit. No job is worth whatever it is that made you ask this this way.
posted by dpx.mfx at 2:15 PM on January 4, 2022 [10 favorites]

give yourself 3 months and start applying for jobs now. save as much money as you can in those 3 months. you'll probably have a new job by then, but if not, go ahead and quit with your cushion. if money/insurance is not an issue, just go ahead and quit now.
posted by misanthropicsarah at 2:16 PM on January 4, 2022 [12 favorites]

I remember your original post asking about taking this job, and that you had misgivings but you also had a support system of folks that thought it was a good move.

Are the people that hired you into this position around to address the discrepancy between "what you thought you were hired to do" and "the dumpster fire you're languishing in"? Are any of the folks in your support system available to offer library-specific insights or feedback?

But yeah, like dpx.mfx said, it sounds like you're done, and it's ok to be done. When somebody asks about a 6 month tenure on your resume at some future interview, you can say "I thought it would be a growth opportunity but the position wasn't a great fit; my strengths are A, B, and C but that job really needed Q, R, and S." And the job market is en fuego right now, so you ought to be able to find something.

(I prefaced that with my other questions because I have felt that way about about a few jobs, and leaving was the answer sometimes; once or twice talking it out with my boss and redirecting some work to align with my strengths went a very, very long way to making "stay" a reasonable answer for me.)
posted by adekllny at 2:34 PM on January 4, 2022 [4 favorites]

Six months in one job is not a big deal. if you have a string of short tenures in jobs, that's a different matter. If you think it would help, talk to your boss about the struggle you're having, but start applying for jobs as soon as you can either way.
posted by dg at 2:43 PM on January 4, 2022 [1 favorite]

If you are that unhappy, get out. People leave jobs all the time for many reasons.
For what it’s worth, I quit my library job a month ago with nothing else lined up. The environment became so disfunctional I couldn’t stay. I don’t have another job yet but I’m grateful that I was able to leave a very toxic, stressful situation.
posted by bookmammal at 5:16 PM on January 4, 2022 [1 favorite]

Also—if you do decide to quit, you certainly aren’t the only one. Google “Great Resignation”—record numbers of people are leaving their jobs right now.
posted by bookmammal at 5:20 PM on January 4, 2022 [3 favorites]

Response by poster: I'm just feeling so horrible about this job. The staff have become completely unmanageable. I know it reflects badly on me to leave, but if I stay any longer... I feel like it's going to ruin my career even more.

I might just follow your advice misanthropicsarah, save all I can and quietly apply for jobs.

Now, would I be dumb to include this job on a resume?
posted by VirginiaPlain at 6:53 PM on January 4, 2022

I am not a library person, but I would not judge someone harshly for a short term position, as long as it wasn't a part of a pattern. Thinking about resumes I've read and other people's linkedin profiles, it comes up fairly frequently in my line of work.

I like the idea above about having a straightforward reason to share (if anyone asks). Per that script, don't assign blame to the job or to yourself, just talk objectively about it being an incompatibility. Hiring is not an exact science, and bad fits happen all the time.
posted by How much is that froggie in the window at 7:21 PM on January 4, 2022

would I be dumb to include this job on a resume?

I would include it. Six months is long enough to create a notable gap at this stage, if you're looking in the same field then it can be a small world and an interviewer might know that you worked there, and finally you probably have had experiences in this role that can usefully be framed as answers to job interview questions.
posted by plonkee at 2:32 AM on January 5, 2022

Were I hiring this year, given the chaos of the last two years, I would be more understanding of someone leaving a job after a shorter time. SO many workplaces have been dysfunctional, particularly those that interface with the public. Also, many people have had their personal situations change suddenly for various reasons. Normal hiring principles don’t entirely apply right now. Just have a diplomatic explanation and a clear sense of what you really want. Really it reflects well on your managerial judgment if you can recognize when and how a system is broken. I don’t even normally find one short stint worrying in itself if it doesn’t seem typical for you.

Note: I don’t have public library experience.
posted by Comet Bug at 10:05 AM on January 5, 2022

I am not a library person, but I would not judge someone harshly for a short term position, as long as it wasn't a part of a pattern.

I am a library person (tho not one who hires people) and I concur. Some libraries are just difficult, and can be even worse nowadays given the pandemic. Six months is definitely the "college try" range, it doesn't look like you just couldn't hack it and bolted. Depending where you try to go for your next job, you can decide how politic to be about why you left. This could be anything from "Poor support for COVID-19 policies within the county system" to "They told me this job was one thing and it turned out to be another" to "Staff if full of vipers and I was not given the tools to help rectify the situation"

Have a good vent about it to a friend (or even here) so that you don't carry that energy into a new job interview--it can be tempting but just get it out of your system--and start applying for jobs now. I am sorry it was not the job you hoped it would be.
posted by jessamyn at 12:43 PM on January 5, 2022 [2 favorites]

re "The staff have become completely unmanageable" - was it your job to manage them? If so, will their behavior reflect on any report of your employment if a new employer calls for references? I know that many organizations will only verify that you worked there for fear of having problems if they talk negatively about you, but I don't know if libraries follow that policy or not, and I don't know if there's a "let's have coffee and we'll talk" type of thing that might go on, either.
posted by TimHare at 9:33 PM on January 5, 2022