Resign

Ma77h3w

I'm trying to decide whether to resign Monday.
Basically I'm a 2009 Graduate (Durham 2:1 Aeronautics), with a job I've had for 5 weeks. It's my first career related job I've managed to get. I'm the Mechanical Design Engineer for the company and contracted for 40 hours a week mon-fri 9-5:30, and on a salary of £17000.
Had a couple of other things since I graduated - working with kids etc but generally was unemployed for 8 months..

Here's the Pros / Cons of my job

Pros

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Work interesting (chose this job despite bad pay)

Really good at my job and the actual design work I'm asked to do

Good for career - (I'm doing all the mechanical design for the company atm - i've learned a lot so far)

2/3 fellow co-workers nice

I'll have to go back to parents in a month if I resign (but may get fired anyway) and get back into job seeking - which I've got use to

Cons

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Unpaid overtime (1-2 hr every night) (other colleagues doing even more, but I've been knackered and using the excuse that i'll do stuff tomorrow when i'm fresh just to get out with only a couple of hours extra)

A couple of colleagues worked till midnight on Thursday unpaid, and now are working sat + sun unpaid (because of bad project planning by boss) This is not an unusual thing for them. Will be expected of me at some point..

No time for clubs - normally would enjoy rock climbing n karate

No time to make friends (see clubs above) - relocated from London to Newcastle so have few.

No time to look for new job - overtime/need to call people in office hours

Boss may well be looking for a reason to fire me anyway
-got told off for being late when I know I arrive 10 min early, maybe because other people tend to get to work half hour early.
-also almost got fired for leaving my phone in bag (it's always turned off) - it's supposed to be upstairs in a drawer (he probably doesn't trust us not to use them) (never taken phone out of bag so no idea how he found out - spying? ) now I'm not allowed it in the building or he'll "throw it in the river and instantly fire me"

Very Low pay (compared to similar jobs in other companies)

Ridiculous staff turn over - 47 previous employees no longer working there from the last 5-10 years (in a small company with 7 ppl)
Boss - "don't think it costs me much to find another Mechanical Design Engineer"

Still not received job contract after 5 weeks - unprofessional - makes it very unclear where I stand (asked a few times - with the response "dont think I legally HAVE to give you one for 8 weeks")

Probationary Period extended to 6 month after I almost got fired

Matt

P.S. Anyone got any jobs in Newcastle bar/waiting/checkout/admin/data entry/engineering/3D CAD/anything else? Immediate start. I'm a hard worker but not accepting an excessive unpaid overtime jobs
Part time ideal, just to cover rent for 6 months while I look for my career break

Material_Girl_2

That job does sound horrible and your boss seems very unprofessional!

I guess you'd be better of leaving but can you afford being out of work for now? Would it have been easier finding a job in London and if so, could you move back?

Ma77h3w

I could easily move back, just will be depressing after moving out. I can just about afford another months rent up here, and landlady is ok with me leaving if I have to quit. I will then be on £zero but have £1k intrest-free overdraft if I absolutely have to.
I should be able to find another job, just hope the job markets better now cause it took me ages to find this one in the first place.

To anyone: How bad is a job I quit after 5 weeks going to look bad on my CV? Even if I can put lots of useful experience-bullet points down?

dmg24

How would it look to your next employer that you resigned after such a short time?

What would you live off in the meantime?

It is a break into the industry, whilst it might not be ideal you would be stupid to give it up without giving it a proper go.

Zazen999

Ma77h3w wrote: »

I should be able to find another job, just hope the job markets better now cause it took me ages to find this one in the first place.

If it is so easy; then wait until you have another job before resigning.....

teabelly

5 weeks isn't really long enough. If you do quit you don't really want to do it before 3 months are up. Tough it out a bit longer. Meanwhile look for other things as it is always easier to find work if you're in work already.

Your boss is a bit of a twonk but try not to point it out to him. They don't generally like it!

Ma77h3w

@ dmg

Could survive by living off parents at home, where I was before this job - although of course I'd rather not

I think another employer would understand If I gave a decent reason (although without complaining too much - if at all) "I really loved the work, I just had to leave for personal reasons" - "Love karate and my job prevented me enjoying this and any of my hobbies"

The Dilemma is - how long will I be an acceptable candidate if I do restart my job hunt. And would this mess up my career at all.

@zazen

sadly have no time to call employers due to overtime
hardly any time to do a proper job search
and cant take holiday for interviews (have been invited to a few since I started this job) because my contract I've not seen apparently has something about no holidays can be booked within the first 3 months

Foggster

TBH after only 5 weeks I wouldnt put it on a CV, it has very little value for a future employer.

Your employer sounds like a throw back of the 80s, the only person who "fires" these days is Lord Sugar! Sadly he sounds like he has your cards marked. I would walk before he "fires" you.

Ma77h3w

@ teabelly

Twonk! I like it! Not heard that work before.
Luckly when he was on his power trip getting close to firing me on thursday.. I stayed completely calm and reserved. Didn't say a bad thing about him. Most people wouldn't have done that in my situation.. trust me.

Material_Girl_2

After 5 weeks I would just put it down as a or work experience if you have to mention it at all. I know you don't want to move back to your parents but in the short term it seems to be the best idea. If your parents live in or near London you'd have a much better chance finding a job there I would think. Once you've got a job and some deposit/rent money saved up you can move out again.

LittleVoice

Ma77h3w wrote: »

Still not received job contract after 5 weeks - unprofessional - makes it very unclear where I stand (asked a few times - with the response "dont think I legally HAVE to give you one for 8 weeks")

Probationary Period extended to 6 month after I almost got fired

Well your boss is correct about the 8 weeks so it sounds as though he has some experience in sticking to the letter of the law in some respects at least! Did you not get an offer letter with pay, hours, job title?

How long was your probationary period going to be originally? What would the end of your probationary period mean - increased pay, extra benefits?

Given that your job is in your professional area, then it would be very sad to drop it off your CV and leaving after such a short time would make it very difficult to include.