New job, not good fit

Anonymous

May 12,2023 at 3:44PM UTC

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New job, not good fit

I started a new job about 5 months ago. The organization is very hierarchical, inefficient and rigid. I spent the last 16 years of my career learning, growing, strengthening my skills, expanding knowledge and thought this role would be the right next step in a leadership track. Have the title and mediocre team but I feel like I'm going to rot and waste away intentional efforts I put into my career because the organization operates like it's stuck in the 90s. I want to make it work but everyday I'm more frustrated, it's hard to hide it now. So all this to say, it's not a good cultural fit for me.

Is it best to move on? I think for organization to change, it will take years. I've been in high tech more recently before switching to this industry which is govcon and I miss the innovative and entrepreneurship mindset. It was chaotic and stressful at times but the good outweighed the bad. I took this role for the role but didn't realize how archaic the organization thinks and operates.

Perhaps I answered my own question. ?

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Paula BrantnerMay 12,2023 at 3:53PM UTC
Some people are concerned about moving too quickly after starting a new job, but I personally think the danger is that you will stay too long and become burned out and stagnant. If you need more challenges and excitement, I think it's time to start looking, and then when you're interviewed, you can say: "I took [old job] for [good reasons] but when I got there, I found there was not the fit I was looking for." Then pivot to "this[innovative, entrepreneurial] quality at [this new company] is what attracts me to working here." Don't dwell on it, but people know what government contracting firms can be like, and how they're different from private industry, but I think that sharing it like what you did here, with showing them genuine enthusiasm for the opportunity to come back to a more dynamic industry, should work for you.
AnonymousMay 12,2023 at 4:01PM UTC
Like you said, it sounds like you've already found your answer. You know what works for you and the culture you are looking for.
If you've exhausted every option to make your experience more positive, it's definitely time to move on.
Joan Williams, Senior Talent Acquisition SpecialistMay 12,2023 at 5:03PM UTC
What are you waiting for - fire up that resume.
AnonymousMay 12,2023 at 6:37PM UTC
If you want to be at a high level in a large hierarchy, then you need to embrace hierarchies in general. Government agencies in particular have to be slow-moving because of the numerous legal requirements they have on top of their core practices. They also have top-level positions that are revolving doors, so the people in upper-middle management become very committed to ensuring stability, even at the cost of agility.
If you want autonomy and flexibility, a smaller organization or working for yourself could be better. If you want to be a star tennis player, don't join a football team.
It's great to be ambitious and want to implement your ideas, but everyone else in a hierarchy (above entry level) is also ambitions and they also want to implement their ideas. Hierarchies are deliberately slow-moving and conservative because of the multiplicity of goals and viewpoints in a large organization. A loose cannon can throw many others' work into disorder and chaos. Unfortunately, silos in hierarchies make us ignorant about the ways in which our decisions could be impacting others. The administrative structures above us are tasked with balancing needs that are sometimes in conflict.
I just escaped a government hierarchy that reminded me of 1950's "Organization Man." If your large organization has come as far as the 1990s, that's pretty good. Also consider that if the organization achieves its goals, the way it works internally is rather irrelevant to the stakeholders.
AnonymousMay 12,2023 at 7:11PM UTC
If you believe you can, single handedly overhaul the entire company then stay your course.
AnonymousMay 12,2023 at 7:24PM UTC
I agree with the two respondents below. Even with the short timer concern, I would trust your gut instinct. Good luck!
Lori SchmitzMay 12,2023 at 8:08PM UTC
Sounds like you did just answer your own question. I know everyone says, stay for at least a year… but would you stay in a romantic relationship that wasn’t a good fit just to have it for a year? Now that you know you prefer when it comes to company culture, find one that makes you feel like you’re learning / growing.
AnonymousMay 12,2023 at 8:42PM UTC
I think you've answered your own question. Sometimes it helps to say things "out loud". As long as you don't have a resume full of short stints, by all means, start looking for a better fit. As a hiring manager, I would not discard your application simply because you had one instance of a short-term role. If I was interviewing you, I would be interested to hear about what you learned from the experience, and how you're going to do things differently to avoid a repeat bad fit. Best of luck to you!
AnonymousMay 13,2023 at 6:06PM UTC
I think you might have! But, think long and hard about why you went into govcon. Generally the wheels move very slowly there because of regulations and requirements that have not changed in many many years. Can you bring your thought leadership and innovative thinking into their fold? Not knowing what kind of product they make or what they do it would be hard for me to say but I do think that you can be impactful and make a difference and perhaps have more peace and sanity in your life than in the tech space. But you would have to change yourself to do this. If that is just not in your wheelhouse then be super honest and move on. When you leave do tell them that the rigidity and lack of dynamism just doesn't your life. Chaos is good but it does create undue stress but maybe you just need to get used to letting go a bit.