Might Don’t Make It: Why I Quit a New Job I Hated

June 26th, 2012 - By Alissa Henry
"Black Woman at Work"

Source: coloredgirlconfidential.com

Two days into my brand-new job, I knew I wanted to quit.

In my defense, I never wanted the job in the first place. It was a year after college graduation and I was looking for a part-time job that would help me make rent while I pursued a full-time job in my desired career field.

A woman I’d known for a while knew I was looking for a part-time job and suggested a full-time job with her company. The job wasn’t even close to keeping with my career goals, but she insisted I was a shoo-in. She loved her company and had moved through the ranks relatively quickly from entry-level to management and knew of an opening I was qualified for. “You’ll be great!” she promised. And when you can’t get the job you want, shouldn’t you just take whatever job you can get?

Reluctantly, I began the long interview process. I didn’t know what I was getting myself into, but everyone seemed to think it was an “awesome opportunity” and I’d be “great” at the job. Ignoring my instincts, I accepted the job when they offered it to me.

Weeks passed and I hated my job more each day. The co-workers and managers were nice enough, the job had great pay and great benefits, but I hated the work. I felt like I was driving down a street with a “No Outlet” sign, barreling full speed toward a dead end. I tried desperately to focus on the silver linings, but I was miserable. It got to the point where I would excuse myself to go hide in the restroom and send my boyfriend dramatic text messages like “Dyyyyyyying!” “Saaaaaaave me!”

A friend who knew how much I hated my job suggested I give it a year before I resigned. This was ludicrous considering I didn’t want to give the job another day.

Instead, I reasoned I was still within my 90-day probationary period, so if I was going to quit, the sooner the better!

Still, fears flooded my mind. What will my manager think? What will my co-workers think? Will the woman who put me up for the job be mad at me? How will I face them after putting in a two weeks notice?

I felt like an idiot for letting someone pressure me into taking a job I knew I wouldn’t like. I felt awful for wasting the company’s time and resources. But I also felt resolve. I made a bad decision taking the job, but I refused to turn that bad decision into a worse decision by staying there.

A few weeks later, I mustered up the courage to put in a notice. To my surprise, because of the nature of the work, they didn’t allow two-weeks notices, so the manager had to let me go that instant. I don’t remember ever being so relieved as I grabbed my heater fan under my desk and practically ran out of the building.

While I don’t recommend haphazardly quitting jobs, I’ve never regretted that decision. I went against my better judgment by taking the job in the first place, but I was smart enough to know I didn’t have to stay. As far as the woman being furious with me? I think she still is. But life is too short to spend it trying to please other people while suffering in silence. I decided that day that I would never again let someone pressure me into taking a job that I knew I didn’t want.

Shortly after I quit that job, in a sheer twist of fate, I met a popular businessman in my city whose company happened to be looking for someone to manage social media. After a short interview process, I was hired with better hours, better pay and better benefits than the job I left. Had I listened to my friend’s advice to stay at my previous job for a year, I would have missed this extraordinary opportunity that turned out to be the best job I’ve ever had!

By getting rid of the things in our lives that don’t belong there, we open up our lives for the things that do.

And just as leaving that job made me available to accept my next job, I know that my leaving also opened up a place in that company for them to hire someone who loved it.

Have you ever quit (or wanted to quit) a new job?

Alissa Henry is a freelance writer living in Columbus, OH. Follow her on Twitter @AlissaInPink

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  • Happy

    I was in the same situation. I just quit yesterday. The first two weeks of training everyone told me how “overwhelming” and “stressful” the job was, but I would “love it” if I just stuck it out. After the two weeks I was on my own. I hated every second of it and I felt miserable every morning when I woke up for work knowing I had to endure another day. Nothing we learned in training prepared me for what I was actually supposed to do for my job. On the 4th week of work, a Monday morning, I sat down at my desk and as I looked at my first order on the computer screen I asked myself, “What am I doing here?” I too had also found myself hiding in the bathroom texting my boyfriend, “Lord help me because I’m ready to walk outta here after first break”. As I mustered up the courage to walk back to my desk the VP of sales (the one that actually hired me) asked me how I was doing that morning. I smiled and told him I was doing just great, but in reality I was feeling stressed, emotional, scared, intimidated and ready to bust the hell on out of there!

    As slinked back into my cubicle I debated what my next move would be. I was an hour into the work day and hadn’t even entered one order yet. I knew pretty soon they would come onto me. Why hadn’t I been doing any work yet? What have I been up to? Was everything okay? I was scrolling around my mouse looking at things on my screen, but I wasn’t reading any of it. I didn’t understand it and I knew at that very moment that this was the end. The woman sharing a cubicle with me got up to go on first break and that’s when I made my escape. I grabbed my belongings off my desk, the junk in my drawers, papers, notes and slowly opened the top drawer and grabbed my applesauce and Quaker oat bars. I looked quickly around hoping no one saw what I was planning on doing. I quietly got up grabbed my bag and walked out of the office.

    Now I know it seems ridiculous that I was just get up and leave like that, but I didn’t want my managers asking me why I wanted to leave nor did I want anyone to change my mind about it. I also felt incredibly guilty for leaving this job. The pay was great, the benefits and the people, but inside I felt like I was trying fit a square into a circle. I just didn’t belong.
    When I got into the car I just started crying. I felt guilty and ashamed…and scared. I knew I could go back inside and just say I had taken an early lunch, but who was I fooling? I was out here crying, while my boyfriend was on the phone trying to console me, ” You’re not dumb love. If you didn’t like the job, you didn’t like it”.
    Of course I ended up calling my manager and telling her the truth on how I felt. She wished me good luck, but I couldn’t tell if it was sincere or not. I spent the whole rest of the night wondering what horrible things they were probably saying about me in the office. How long would it take me to find a new job? Why the hell did I leave such a good paying job?! What in the heck am I going to do?!! All I could think of was how much I just wanted to be happy………………….aaaaaaand the next day I got a new job! Someone online saw an app I had turned in and I did an interview that day. The job doesn’t have the same great benefits and pay, but as long as I’m happy then I’m content with the choice I had made that Monday morning.

  • Reece

    I can relate to ALL of these comments. I’ve been at my job for almost a year and a half, but every day I’m MISERABLE. I didn’t go to school for four years to have people treat me like a servant and make barely above minimum wage. Every day there is like a scene from awkward black girl… for black history month they actually had a day where people brought in friend chicken and grape pop. (There’ve never been more than three black employees at one time).

  • http://twitter.com/itsmeYamilee Yamine

    This definitely makes me nervous seeing as though Im a new grad and been on a couple of interviews. There is this job that wants to offer me a position but I am somewhat nervous because the interview went so fast I barely know what Im getting into its something I would like to do but its far from my dream job idk Im not sure we will see.

  • anon

    Thank you so much for this article. I am in the sam situation right now! i HATE my job and everyone is saying not to quit b/c of money and how it will look being unemployed. (im a law school grad). I’ve had my two week notice in my bag for a week now, scare to hand it in. Thanks for this!

  • fabwtalk

    Kudos to you! I have been here plenty of times myself and know that if you are not doing what you truly love, you will never be satisfied.

  • Guest

    I just quit my job yesterday after working it for a year(I had 2 jobs so at least I had something to fall back on) and I feel so relieved now that I’m away. When I first got hired a lot of the staff was really mean to me(I think it was because i was one of about 12 black people that worked there), the company made a lot of bad decisions that made them lose business, and there were a lot of incompetent people in managerial positions, it was just a bad vibe all around… yesterday I just decided that I had enough and I went to HR and told them that it would be my last day…I will miss the handful of people there that i did get along with, but I know there’s something better in store for me, I’m allowing GOD to order my steps and lead me to another job that I will love.

  • Papillon

    I once quit a job after one day. It wasn’t out of anger, I just got a bad vibe about the place. They put me in a different position from the one I applied for and pretty much ignored me the whole first day. I was supposed to replace the manager who was leaving in a week or so, and I didn’t understand why I wasn’t shadowing him and taking notes. That kind of showed me how things were run at that place and I didn’t like it. Plus, most of the (small) staff were college-age, white, male, video-playing geek types (which was also their target demographic) and I felt like I stuck out in a bad way. There were other things, and when I added everything up, my intuition was screaming at me to get out. To kinda paraphrase the author, it was the wrong job for me, but probably the perfect job for someone else.

    It was hard to quit because I had never, ever done anything like that before. And then my Black guilt, you know, “white people think we’re lazy, unreliable and don’t want to work and I’m proving them right!” Well, I couldn’t be the model negro this time and they would just have to think whatever they wanted to. A month later I got a job at a bigger company doing design which is what I wanted in the first place, with less stressful work and a lot more pay, better hours, just better all the way around. Several years after that, the job I quit was bought out by my new job. It was hilarious because during my interview at the smaller company, the interviewer was going on and on about how bad this big company was and how much better they were. So this company he despised so much he ended up working for anyway.

  • MLS2698

    LOL at no two week notices. They were mad, and couldn’t contain it.

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=507044948 Amber Isaidit Taylor

      actually many companies in many industries dont allow you to work after you give your notice

  • Kenedy

    I worked @ AberCrombie & Fitch for 2 days then quit….if you know yourself, & know you’ll hate what you do…i say just leave…doing it too frequently raises an alarm…but once or twice i think is fine.

  • MILITARYWIFE

    I was doing visual for 2 stores for a retail company the pay was horrible and I received no benefits don’t get me wrong I love the work I did. The District Manager loved the way I dress the mannequins, the displays and how I did the advertisement. The fact is I quit after 5 months my manager got promoted to assistant store manager and his EGO grew you could not tell him anything. He is gay so any comment or opinion that came out of my mouth were wrong. I tried to talk to the store manager about it but she was in Denial about a lot of things in that store. I just got so angry one day because Mr. MAN tried to play me like I was not going to do anything about it. I didn’t say anything just clean out my locker clocked out and left. I am not a angry person its not in my character to get angry I called my husband who was drilling that weekend upset and he was told me dont worry about it things will get better.

  • bluekissess

    I wish I had her blessings in getting a job so easy after graduation. I’m lucky to even get an interview these days

    • Papillon

      “So easy”? She said it was a year after graduation, though she doesn’t say whether she had other jobs in the interim.

      • bluekissess

        The point is she had one and I’m still looking

        • Papillon

          I’m not arguing with you and I do understand your frustration. I was laid off a little over a year ago and if you had told me then that it was going to be this long before I found another job I would’ve said you were crazy. Yet here I am, it is what it is. I had coworkers who were laid off after me and have already found new jobs. They had better networks, different skill sets that were in demand, and sometimes just better luck than me. I could be resentful, but them not having a job doesn’t mean it’ll be easier for me to get one. I’m happy they’re working again. Maybe they’ll spend those paychecks and help boost the economy, which will make it easier for me to find work :)

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