Ask HN: Leave new job after one month?

9 points by glasnoster 9 years ago | 9 comments

I'm nearing the end of my first month into a new job. I'm starting to question whether I made the right decision in taking the job and am thinking of giving notice.

I have about 6 years of backend dev experience, mostly Python and Ruby. I recently fell in love with Elixir and am pursuing a pet project in my spare time.

I am the company's first permanent dev hire - until now they've used freelancers to build the product. The stack in Python/Django.

My team also consists of a frontend developer and two app developers. None of us had to do any form of technical interview to land the job. The result is that the team isn't as strong as it could be - for example no one apart from me has any experience in TDD.

The owner (he sees himself a CTO) is just technical enough to be dangerous. He knows the buzzwords and feels comfortable making decisions without fully understanding the impact. I believe that with some management the risks here could be mitigated, but I don't have the personality or will to manage my boss. Today, for example he threw a spanner in the works of the work that we did over the last month because he didn't mention something crucial. It's not a train smash, but I foresee this kind of thing happening regularly.

Basically I have to build the product, do all devops work, mentor the team to make sure their work is up to scratch and manage the boss. To me this seems like a mammoth task and I don't feel up to it. I also don't like being the "smartest" person in the room.

I think the company needs someone who is looking to move into a CTO role and comfortable with managing developers and business expectations. I just want to do technical work and solve problems for as long as possible.

Would it be fair for me to give notice now and leave? I'd be letting down the team and owner and they would have to find another developer.

Would I be passing up a great opportunity to learn?

asimuvPR 9 years ago |

What they ask of you:

Basically I have to build the product, do all devops work, mentor the team to make sure their work is up to scratch and manage the boss.

What you ask from them:

I just want to do technical work and solve problems for as long as possible.

What they need:

I think the company needs someone who is looking to move into a CTO role and comfortable with managing developers and business expectations.

Would it be fair for me to give notice now and leave?

Its not about being fair. Its about being human. You are not a robot. This is a mammoth task and the risk of burnout is very high. Your health is more valuable than any job.

Would I be passing up a great opportunity to learn?

A good learning opportunity does not come with such price of admission.

But what do I know?

I went through the same exact scenario (even using Django) and lost a great deal of time doing so. Life is too short. Better opportunities exist out there. Good luck!

kafkaesq 9 years ago |

Would it be fair for me to give notice now and leave? I'd be letting down the team and owner and they would have to find another developer.

Ultimately it's the responsibility of the company to provide a challenging, nurturing, stable, health-promoting, etc, environment. If they fall short, then it's your career, health, and sanity which are as stake -- so really you shouldn't think twice about the possible negative impact on their side, and certainly not about "letting them down" personally. If anything you'd be doing them a favor by quitting after 1-2 months (if you can afford it) rather than 6-9, by which point they would have made a far greater investment in you.

All that's required on your side is to be tactful. There've been many posts here about "how to quit my job", but ultimately it comes down to this: don't fuss about preparing some lengthy explanation (or worse, a lengthy resignation letter). At the time you resign, you don't have to say anything up front -- but you should be prepared to give just one simple reason, easy to digest (like a tweet). In your case it could simply be, "I'm sorry, but the role just didn't meet my expectations -- there turned out to be just way more chaos to deal with than I had bargained for. So it seems the most ethical thing, for you as well as for me, is to resign sooner rather than later."

That's pretty much all you have to do. If they press for detail, you can give more detail -- if you want. But the important thing is to not assault them with detail up front (and only provide it if they specifically ask) -- no matter how well-merited the roots of your frustration are, it just makes you look bitter and disgruntled.

Would I be passing up a great opportunity to learn?

Any experience can be a "learning experience" -- even a negative experience. But it sounds like you have more important things to learn about then how to deal with dysfunctional teams and politically tricky environments.

In sum it sounds like this is definitely on occasion to trust your gut (as soon as you can afford it financially), stick to your guns and do the right thing -- for them, ultimately, as well as for yourself.

anonymous_iam 9 years ago |

Perhaps you should have a meeting with your CTO to address your concerns before you decide to leave. Maybe the two of you can come to an agreement over roles/responsibilities (which you probably should have done before you started). If what he needs is more than he hired you for, you may be able to negotiate a salary increase as well.

iaw 9 years ago |

> The owner (he sees himself a CTO) is just technical enough to be dangerous. He knows the buzzwords and feels comfortable making decisions without fully understanding the impact.

Three thoughts:

1) The owner/"CTO" is going to create extra stress for you regardless what working relationship you develop. He's not going to get better about this.

2) Just because the company needs someone to be the CTO doesn't mean that it's C-suite/board know that. Without explicit communication about trajectory you can find yourself doing a CTO's job without the recognition, respect, or salary.

3) There's no foul in walking away from something bad for you. It's hard to do when you're used to completing what you start, but every once in a while it's the better decision.

partisan 9 years ago |

I left a job after 6 weeks because I felt like they hadn't completely represented the state of affairs and their future vision for development efforts (they were heading down a path that was only clear once I had joined).

It wasn't the best feeling to do so, but it was the right decision for me. I didn't put it on my resume, but I mentioned it in subsequent interviews.

maramono 9 years ago |

If you're already considering leaving, I would take a gamble and tell your CTO/boss exactly what you said and be honest with your employer.

Who knows, maybe they trust and respect you enough to make the right changes and you'll end up loving it there.

All relationships (including professional ones) build; they never start at that perfect place.

borplk 9 years ago |

I don't know enough about the specific case to prescribe something confidently however if your gut and other sensors tell you you should be leaving do it. Better to leave after 1 month (and ignore it in your resume) than to stay for 9 months.

endswapper 9 years ago |

It is fair to give notice and leave.

However difficult that turns out to be for the owner and the team, it may be be the best for everyone involved. You can mitigate this by helping steer hiring of the new developer as you seem to have a unique insight in to their needs.

It doesn't sound like you are planning to make management part of your career path, so I don't think you are passing on much.

jakobegger 9 years ago |

You make a pretty convincing case that this is not the right place for you. It sounds like you already made up your mind and are looking for some kind of justification for leaving.

You don't need a justification. Just leave.