After five years in two high-stress, long hours jobs in finance, I got a new job two months ago. At a new company, but in a remotely related field.
Let’s just say things haven’t turned out how I expected them, and there is light (pay, colleagues, bosses) and darkness (high stress, lots of overtime, insanely inadequate tools and personnel). I’d also say that if things at the new job stay the way they have been so far, I’m out. The only thing keeping me from quitting is the hope for positive change, which might come in the next few months or even years due to new hires, and due to my bosses (themselves having been at this company for less than a year) settling in and implementing badly-needed changes, which they have outlined already. It also might never come, because my bosses get frustrated and quit within a year (like many of their predecessors) , or whatever. I’d give it a 50-50 chance things improve within a year.
Now, I’ve been offered a job at yet another company, which might or might not be better than my current one.
On the one hand, I feel pretty confident in my judgment about my current company and my current job. It feels like I’ve been there for years, not two months. On the other hand, objectively two months are only two months, and you can learn only so much about a new company and a new job in two months.
So, at what point in a new job would you reassess and be confident in a decision to stay and “hope for the best” or pack up and move on – to an even more unknown newer job and company? How long do you stick it out? Is two months enough? Or put another way - is hope a reason for staying?
I know there is no one size fits all-solution. I know I’m a rather impatient person, but I feel this should be well thought over. I’d appreciate your input.