(Forbes) Scan my profile on LinkedIn, and you'll see several of my notable stops. However, one clutch job is missing. It is time to tell the story.
In my last semester at Purdue University, I had a dream schedule. After grinding through engineering courses for four years, I left the most relaxed elective classes for last. I had nine credits left to graduate, which meant a schedule that could fit neatly on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
A four-day weekend for a college senior is downright dangerous, so I decided to fill some empty space with a part-time job. I submitted my résumé to a few online postings, one of which was titled "Data Entry Clerk" at a company named Carpet World (or something close to that.)
I had no idea what a data entry clerk did but was enticed by some of the more alluring bullet points in the job description:
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Flexible work schedule
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Air-conditioned environment
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$8.20 per hour
I stopped reading after these three perks. What else did I need to know? This seemed like the perfect college job. After a 15-minute phone interview, the manager asked if I had any questions.
"How long is the lunch break?"
After hearing a suitable response, I asked when I could start.
I was replacing another college student who worked in this role for two years. She was graduating and would be training me. After filling out paperwork and meeting the staff, I dove right into training.
Armed with a stack of Excel like print-outs and an old desktop computer, my role was precisely what it sounded like. I transcribed numbers from paper to software, all day long. The job was as mind-numbingly dull as it sounds. My trainer, an introverted accounting major who loved quiet work, thought this was the perfect job. As an extrovert, I was appalled by the dead quiet in this store.
I punched in hundreds of numbers, barely surviving until lunch time. Predictably, I ate too many enchiladas. By 2 p.m., it was a battle to keep my eyes open. Somehow, I survived the afternoon and at 5 p.m., my manager and trainer congratulated me on a productive day of work. It felt like I had just worked for three weeks straight with no sleep. My manager told me how she looked forward to seeing me again on Friday.
Friday? I only got one day off before I needed to fight my way through another boring eight-hour shift. I couldn't believe that I signed up for this during my coveted blow-off semester. I could be bartending or serving tables with shifts flying by. I wanted to tell my manager that I made a horrible mistake and wouldn't be coming back on Friday, which was the truth. Instead, I half-heartedly smiled and said, "Looking forward to it!"
The Stigma Of Quitting Too Early
I knew what I wanted to do but felt the heavy guilt that comes from any social contract. I signed up to do a job and felt like I needed to fulfill my end of the bargain. The lovely people at Carpet World chose me over other candidates and invested in training me. Did I owe them anything?
Many people know within one day of starting a new job that they made a mistake.
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The work you are asked to do varies significantly from what was conveyed in the process.
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Your manager might reveal a different personality than they portrayed in the interview.
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The culture is broken, which was carefully guarded by the managers while you were recruited.
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You made weak assumptions about the fit of the role and recognize it isn't for you.
If you've ever felt this way, you are not alone. Harvard Business Review reported that 33% of employees start looking for a new job within six months of starting and 23% leave before their first anniversary.
General advice about how long you should "stick it out" is often misguided. Some will tell you that you have to stay one or two years and avoid the label of "job hopper." Many people miserably remain with the same company to protect their résumé.
Others remain because they feel bad about leaving the company in a difficult spot. As a manager who has hired many people, I can assuredly say that I would rather an employee give me notice on the first day than after six months.
After one day, the company's only investment is on the recruiting side. Most new hires take several months to ramp up and become productive. During that time, the entire office invests in the onboarding effort. The cost of a departing employee rises every day that they delay the decision if it is indeed inevitable. If you know you made a mistake, rip the band-aid off.
Not Much Different Than Dating
The parallels of dating and hiring are staggering. Most job searches start online today. I met my wife 20 years ago in a bowling class. Today, most couples meet online.
The company has limited information on a candidate, seeing only what this person chooses to share in their resume, application and online profile. The candidate also has limited knowledge, seeing only what the company shares on a website and some online reviews on sites like Glassdoor. During the interview process, both parties are careful, showing only glimpses of what both can actually expect in a long-term relationship.
Dating is the same. Both parties see only what the other side wants to show in their public profile. Only the best (and highly filtered) pictures are in the public domain. Habits and hobbies are carefully listed to portray an incredibly fascinating life and perfect partner. After weeding through an astounding number of choices and misinformation, two people decide to meet for a first date.
Most first dates don't go swimmingly. One or both parties know within a short period if it is not worth pursuing. In this case, the best decision for both parties is to call it like it is and move along. No harm comes from the cost of a meal and a few drinks.
How many people would consider dating for the next year to finish what they started? Zero. They never see each other again, and there is no public record that the date every happened. It wasn't a good fit, and the two move on without compounding the situation.
Why can't employment be the same way? You are not signing a long-term contract. If the company figures out that you are a poor fit on the first day, do you think they will keep you around for one year out of a sense of loyalty? I can assure you this will not be the case.
Unless you have a unique contract, you are employed at-will. This means that your company can terminate your employment for any reason aside from discrimination, without notice. If you are deemed as a poor fit to the organization, trust that your company will take full advantage of its rights as an at-will employer.
A Tax Return For $65.60
I went home after my first day with a sense of dread. I worked plenty of tough jobs until this point - butcher shop, construction, landscaping. I enjoyed all of them for the pace, comradery and toil. This data entry job was just a bad decision. Thinking about one more day in that office, tapping away on a number keypad, was more than I could stand.
I needed to quit. The only thing left was telling my friendly manager that this wasn't for me. I didn't have it in me, so I hatched a plan and learned how to delegate. For the price of a case of Busch Light beer, I contracted a friend to make the call for me. In his best Michigan accent, he called and impersonated me.
"Hi, this is Ian. I don't think this is working out. I hope that's OK?"
She told him (me?) that this most certainly wasn't OK and he apologized. Had it been me on the call, I might have folded and dragged myself in for work, but he held firm. Two weeks later, I received a paycheck for $65.60 (minus the case of beer) and even got a W2 the next year at tax time. Not my best moment but staying three more weeks would have left Carpet World in much worse shape. They still had the departing employee who could train the person replacing me and their only sunk cost was one eight-hour shift.
Carpet World never made it to any version of my résumé. If you leave a job after a short period, you have no obligation to put that company on your résumé.
If you decide early that you made a mistake, it is better to cut your losses than getting caught up in the Sunk Cost Fallacy. For starters, your job search is still relatively warm. You might have a few other companies you were pursuing or a recruiter who was working for you. Pursue those leads quickly, find a new position, and like that unfortunate first date, act like it never happened.
My adventure with Carpet World taught me to do more homework before accepting a job. In twenty years after graduating from college, I only worked for two companies and did an incredible amount of diligence before taking both offers.
I wouldn't advocate for giving your notice the same way as this author. But, I would certainly encourage anyone to cut their losses quickly if faced with a similar situation. When the decision is inevitable, it is in both parties best interest to move on sooner than later.
