She was checking her emails and noticed an urgent email from her boss to stop by her office ASAP.

She had been really excited when she landed this job. They had told her this role was only a stepping-stone and she would be able to move to a more senior job in a few months, it had been 6 months. When she interviewed, the other employees seemed so happy to be there. This was also the first job offer she received after 4 years of college and 7 months of searching with countless interviews at a host of other companies. Needless to say, she had eagerly accepted the offer without much consideration or any negotiation. This was her chance to prove what a great employee she would be.  

However, the job description was a complete lie. They said this would be a marketing role (her major in college) and instead this was more of a telemarketing role. Oh and you know that part of the job description that says, “other duties as assigned?” She didn’t realize that kitchen cleanup was part of that. Might we add that she was the only person tasked with this. Also, they must have hired actors to walk the halls of the building on the day of her interview because those happy employees seemed to have disappeared. Despite that, she liked her boss enough and cheerfully entered her boss’ office that morning hoping maybe this was that promotion they had told her about when she was hired.

Her jovial hello was met with her boss abruptly asking her why she needed to leave 30 minutes early that day. A request that was put in 3 weeks ago for a doctor’s appointment. She hadn’t taken a single day off since she had started. In fact, this was her first request to even slightly deviate from the 9-5. And in her eyes, it wasn’t that big of a request. She had hit her tipping point. She had a stain on her only white collared shirt from a container she had just cleaned out that wasn’t even hers (the glorious kitchen cleanup days). She had yet to do anything other than cold call people (how was that marketing?). And if you read our post on being broke, you’ll know that her salary wasn’t what she imagined. In a moment of a haste, she thought: f*** you, I’m out. Luckily, she only said the words: I quit.

For some reason, the “What have I done?” question didn’t cross her mind until she was driving home to the apartment she would clearly no longer be able to afford. In that realization, she quickly took a u-turn back to her favorite coffee shop. She was back at square one, looking for another job again (more to follow in another post).

Okay, okay, we aren’t saying you should abruptly quit your job and storm off like a child. That was probably a bad idea, there’s a reason we say this blog is about our misadventures. But sometimes you need to stand up for yourself and in this case quitting was the answer. We understand that finances don’t always allow for this to happen but in this case it was one of the best things she could have done even if this meant that one of us moved back home for a while.

Now, back to the story…

She promptly started back on her job search, one that she thought would take another 7 months but a few days after applying she was called in for an interview. She knew better this time, and she would do her best to avoid getting into the same situation. So, now when she was interviewing, she was much more diligent and asked more questions to get a better understanding about the job, the company, and the employees. She realized the interview worked both ways. This time she walked into the interview with a little more skepticism and her lucky seven set of questions:

1. How will this role align to the overall company strategy?
2. What are some of the other duties that fall into my role that are not depicted in the job posting?
3. What does your ideal employee look like?
4. What does a typical work week look like for someone on this team?
5. Is this a newly created job? If not, why have some people left?
6. From a career pathing standpoint, what would be the next move for this role?
7. What’s unique about this team’s dynamic?

She didn’t take the first offer either. She realized that she was a value to a company just as much as they were a value to her bank account. It did take a few months, but she didn’t consider an offer until she found a company that answered her questions in a way that fit her personality and goals. Oh, and she definitely negotiated this time (more to follow in another post).

Remember your job is what you make of it. If there’s a way to fix your situation, find a way to fix it. If you want to do more, make it happen. And just know that some jobs don’t have a silver lining, if you’re in one of those, quit. But if you do decide to quit, quit a bit more gracefully (check out Amy Chen’s LinkedIn blog post: I Quit: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About (Gracefully) Leaving a Job).

From our experience, it’s not called quitting if you’re moving in the right direction.

You’ve heard our experience, now let’s hear yours…