Wrong new job, what to take into account before becoming a job hopper

Question

After around two years working in my first job, I decided to try something new and accepted a new job at a promising startup that looked extremely interesting.

A few weeks in and I began seeing it not as promising as I thought and decided to wait some time for confirmation. Three months in and still not secure about this, but for the sake of precaution lets assume: No faith in the management and inability to learn and grow professionally (The point is not to discuss these assumptions as if one of those didn't hold the answer would be easy).

Cons of leaving:

Possibility of burning bridges as leaving so early is hard to justify.
Having a bad experience in a otherwise good professional profile, the question would arise for sure when interviewing with new employers.

Cons of staying:

Can find myself looking for what would be an ok time period to stay and counting the days.
Getting my professional abilities rusty (even though this could be solved by working on some side projects).

Extra info: The current position has nice colleagues, no long hours and not much stress, so it's not a burden apart from cons scpecified before (unlike My new job is a bad fit. I want to leave after 4 months)

Assuming the objective is to progress professionally, is there anything else to take into account? If not, which path is advisable in general terms?

If not, which path is advisable in general terms? That part we can't answer; we can't tell you what choice to make. As for your skills getting rusty, why would that happen if the problems are with management and professional growth? You're still doing the work promised in the job ad and interview, right? — BSMP, May 28 '20 at 16:37
Not really an answer to your question, but this seems like a particularly risky time to leave without having another offer on the table. That is worth considering too. — Matthew Gaiser, May 28 '20 at 16:38
Hi BSMP. I don't expect everything is taken into account, but if it were the case a general move should exist as other people might have been in the same situation. About the skills, I modified the text slightly as my intention was to make the question assuming the position is not interesting in terms of aquiring new skills — panda4, May 28 '20 at 16:51

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered May 28 '20 at 16:58

I personally wouldn't worry about someone who has one short-term role in their history. You come to the interview, you say "it wasn't a good fit, what I'm really looking for in my next role is X and Y" (remember not to be directly negative about your current employer) and that's not going to set too many alarm bells ringing.

If you've got two short term roles (in a relatively short space of time), I might start to have slight doubts and do some more detailed probing to find out what happened. Three or four, definite red flags.

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered May 28 '20 at 17:00

This will be one short duration job after a two year stint in your first job. You are not labeled a job hopper because you are leaving this job. That label happens when you have several of these short stint entries on your job history.

You have an opportunity with this current crisis to be able to say to a future employer, that you were not happy with the situation. The world has changed. Anybody, even somebody who has been working with a company for 10 years, may now view their prospects with their current employer in a different light.

If you don't see yourself staying, then start looking. Don't wait until the situation implodes, or you explode.

We have no idea how long it can take to find a replacement job. It depends on gut feeling that may not apply in the current situation.

Wrong new job, what to take into account before becoming a job hopper

2 Answers2