Today was my first day on a new job, and I can see that it isn’t for me. Do I have any obligation to them, or would it be alright to not come in again? I would of course let them know of my decision, not just go awol without saying anything.
There are several reasons why I no longer want this job:
Although I knew this job was temporary from the beginning, I assumed there would be potential for me to impress them and gain a permanent position too. This doesn’t look that likely anymore. I get the impression that when this job is done, I am done, almost no matter what.
This job is actually through a temp agency, which I didn’t realize at first. I wouldn’t actually be employed by the company I’d be working at.
The work I would be doing isn’t what I expected. I though I would be doing more entry level tech support type of stuff, but it ends up that I’d be pretty much just making/changing appointments and kind of doing customer service stuff.
The job is about 30-40 minute commute for me. I was willing to overlook this before because I thought the job was different than it really is.
I didn’t go through a long interview process for this job at all, in fact I only applied last week. I applied online last Monday night, got called back Tuesday morning, interviewed Thursday and started today. A week ago at this time the company had never heard of me.
The company I’d work for is swamped by a big project they have right now, which is why they hired me (and some other temps). They are still hiring for this position as well. Its not like they hired me, and figured they had the position filled. It is pretty much an ongoing vacancy until this project is completed in like 2 months, at which time the job is no more.
I still would be learning this positon, and I can’t do it yet. I pretty much just job shadowed all day today and would be doing that for another day or two, while gradually starting to do the job myself.
So I guess I have 2 questions.
The first question: Am I being unfair to the employer by quitting after just a day? Do I owe them a 2 weeks notice or anything like that? Even if I can just walk out on them, is it something I should do?
The second: Will quitting this job come back to haunt me? I am a recent college graduate so I will be looking for work in the near future. I assume that dropping this job would ruin my chances with this specific employer or the temp agency, which isnt’ a big deal to me. But, could this hurt me in other jobs/employers? Do temp agencies share resumes/names? Would I get “blacklisted” or something like that?
Quit. You are under no obligation to keep working there.
Depending on the temp agency’s policy, it may not even ruin your chances with them. Most give you a second chance when you quit an assignment.
Temp agencies don’t share ANYTHING with each other. The industry is intensely competitive. Don’t worry about it.
All in all, you’ve got no obligation to continue in a job that wasn’t what you thought it would be. Don’t even look back.
Don’t just quit. Call the temp agency and let them know this job won’t work for you, for the reasons you cite (the most pertinent of which is that it’s not the job you were led to believe it was). They’ll handle everything from there.
I’ve worked many temp jobs and it’s been my experience you are under no obligation to return to an assignment you are not comfortable at. In fact, it’s actually in your best interest not to return as your work performance will be less then they contracted with the temp agency. If you want to continue working for the temp agency then you want to be a good employee. Accept jobs you are suited for amd notify them when you realize you have accepted one you aren’t.
It’s been my experience they frown on you repeatedly turning down assignments or not returning to ones you’ve accepted but in this case, it does sound like it would be best to call them asap.
Go with what ** KneadToKnow** said. Let your agency know. Personally, I’d go in tomorrow just to not leave them thinking of you as a no-show, while you both earn another day’s pay and give your agency adequate forewarning.
Ditto, Ringo. If you just don’t show, that will get you a black mark with the temp agency. If you still want work, they would be willing to find something else for you if you show that you’re a good employee by showing and calling to tell them the job is not what you expected.
People I know who do agency work quote as one of the advantages the fact that you aren’t stuck in aplace you don’t like. The agency provides another body and you move on to somewhere that you are happier. I know a woman who got a job as a trainee librarian and quit before lunch on her first day because she knew she wouldn’t like the job.
Thanks for the advice everyone. Along with my friends’ advice it helped me decide not to continue this job at all.
I seriously considered going in tommorow, but I decided against it for several reasons. The main reason was that they would be wasting more time trying to “get me up to speed” than I would be able to help. The other workers would be able to get more done by themselves than they would trying to help me. If when I call in tommorow, they still want me to come in for a day or two, I guess I probably would, but they’d really have nothing to gain.
Well, I kinda did it already. I already emailed my only contact with this job (I think she works for the temp agency) and told her that this job won’t work out and not to expect me tommorow. I made sure to apologize in the email for any time or resources wasted on me. I plan on calling tommorow morning as well.
I totally agree with this, I don’t think I could have done a good job at something that I wasn’t interested in, was outside of my field, and I didn’t want to be doing. This is one of the reasons I didn’t think this positon could lead anywhere for me. I could have only done an average at best job doing this, and that wouldn’t have gotten me a permanent position with the company when the temporary project ended.
I didn’t even have to call anyone Tuesday morining, because they already replied to my email before I got the chance. The lady that emailed me was super nice, and wished me good luck and stuff. She basically just emailed me to ask my reasons for not taking the job. I emailed her back with mainly the reasons I stated in this thread, and thanked her for her time and everything. No one from the temp agency or the actual place I was working seemed mad at me at all.