I quit my first job!

Same day of the previous month was my last day for my first job. Before this, I had quit some part time or temporary jobs. This was my first time quitting a full time job, which had only lasted for 3 months.

Quitting this job was a painful experience, yet a wise decision. My initial plan was to quit by end of the year or after getting bonus as I was informed that my first choice company planned to freeze hiring. Their earliest intake was targeted to be in Jan 2021, which I suspected might be postponed due to the third COVID-19 wave in Malaysia.

However, the thought of quitting came across my mind sooner than I expected, which was after my first few weeks in this job.

Not Right

I constantly felt like an outsider in my team, even after I was assigned to an engagement. The feeling of discomfort while getting along with my team was beyond the factor of me being new to the team. I had been observing the team dynamics and work style, which I noticed was extremely different from mine. 

My colleagues were extremely cold and distant. From my understanding of the nature of professional workplace culture, the appropriate expectation is neutral relationship with coworkers. My expectation was common courtesy from my colleagues, not expecting to become best friends with every single one of my work colleagues. The biggest turnoff was they neither smile nor greet when bumping into others in the hallway or toilet, except when you are their gang member. The horrible gang mentality had stopped me from putting effort into socializing.

Besides, the way my seniors delegated work to me was unprofessional and their instructions were always unclear. I couldn't feel the teamwork spirit to complete our engagement together, instead the team seemed like wanted to fulfill the minimum requirements and get paid without much effort. The team seemed to care about getting their work done more than our long term professional development. I had read through their work deliverables and documents, which were surprisingly disorganized. Witnessing frequent workplace bullying, gossip and terrible communication were the red flags that screamed "quit this job" to me.

I knew things were so wrong when I found people justifying all the shits happening in the workplace, while deep down all of us were aware of the toxic work environment was more than a job we hate. I thought of reaching out to the management to voice out my concerns or seek for advice, yet the pessimistic feedback from the experienced associates had put me off. 

I also considered to consult my performance manager on the challenges faced, but the management was unresponsive to the new joiners' request to assign us with a performance manager. Ridiculously, the admin manager only took action after I told him assigning performance manager is the first step of my employee confirmation process. However, it was too late as I had made up my mind to quit.

The Deal Breaker

I knew that it was actually the time to walk away when I realized I had signed myself up as an IT auditor without realizing it! When I applied to this job, I was expecting the nature of work to be a combination of  assurance and consulting. IT audit was merely one line of the entire job descriptions. However, after looking into the list of projects, I found out that IT audit was my ONLY job scope. I, someone who dislike audit, became an IT auditor without realizing it! Same goes to the other fresh graduates who joined the team at the same time with me.

I am concerned that the skills and knowledge learnt are not aligned with my career interest in automation or digital solution. As the world is embracing digital transformation, I reckon that tapping into these areas would be value adding for my future career and the job skills would allow me to stay relevant in the industry. Although becoming an IT auditor could gain knowledge about the application system and databases, I realized IT audit is very specialist and restrictive. Rather than providing insights into the system functionality, IT audit focuses on assessing the effectiveness of the IT controls and procedures, which the exit options do not fit my long term career pathway. 

The management has been putting effort into expanding the team's portfolio, but lack of expertise would be the major challenge. After reading their CV, I noticed the management and seniors' skills are limited to either financial statement audit or IT audit. I had witnessed them struggling with a new project for several months due to incompetencies, yet the income of project wasn't lucrative. It would take time for the team to develop new skills to attract more clients, whilst the signs of limited learning opportunities had pushed me to actively seek for exit opportunities.

Concerns

Quitting a job after a short period of time might damage my reputation in the industry, whilst one of the common advice is that it's better if I could stick to my first job for at least one year. I didn't want to be perceived as an unreliable job hopper at the initial stages of my career. At the same time, I was more concerned that spending time in a job which I hate would turn out to be even more terrible for my career growth and negatively impact my performance. 

I decided to quit only after saying yes to a job offer that matches with my career goal. It would be unwise to quit first and job hunt second due to the competitive job market and financial considerations. I'm an adult who should be financial independent and accountable to pay plenty of bills myself. Working a job that I don't passionate about but allows me to pay my bills is part of adulting, and I do acknowledge the learning opportunities: providing insights from the perspective of an IT auditor, dealing with difficult people, learning effective questioning techniques and picking up Microsoft Excel skills. Auditor's peak period provides the steepest learning curve and training ground for stronger mentality, which I sincerely appreciate regardless of the stressful work environment. 

Planning

I took a hard look at myself to understand the factors of unhappiness and find out the right fit for me. The short period of work experience provided me a clearer picture of what I really want in my life. I tried to avoid the habit of pointing the finger at other people because I knew I should be responsible for all my career decisions. It's time to cut losses and create a plan to quit professionally.

It was challenging to plan due to multiple uncertainties during the unprecedented time, yet I recognize the importance of being flexible and resilient. It's not about sticking to all the details in your plans. Planning provides directions as I could know in advance how to addresses multiple situations, such as job hunting with an extremely busy work and study schedule, following up with job application, preparation for job interviews, whether to accept the job offer, procedures for resignation and handover. A financial plan is crucial too in covering financial commitment and daily expenses, so financial considerations wouldn't be an obstacle when I decide to quit.