Michelle wasn’t looking for a new job in 2021. But she’d been working nonstop since the start of the pandemic, at a Washington, D.C. policy organization where she’d been for seven years. When another organization she’d collaborated with started recruiting her, she thought it was a good time to make a move to something new.
The salary increase, Michelle says, was “a life-changing amount of money.”
“I knew that I was giving up something really special. But I thought I was going to something that would potentially be even more special,” she says. (Michelle, who is in her late 30s, asked to use a pseudonym to protect her privacy, since she still works in the same niche industry in D.C.)
But when she started her new job, “by day three, I knew something wasn’t right.”
The people who recruited her were nowhere to be found. Her new team had significant trust issues. And the strategic plan she had put together was all but ignored.
Almost immediately, she started trying to find a way out.
Michelle’s situation represents a challenge some workers face as the Great Resignation evolves. Though the prospect of a new job, higher salary and better working conditions are tempting for those who have become disillusioned with their roles during the pandemic, what awaits them in their new job may not be much better—and could be even worse.
An April report from accounting firm Grant Thornton found that 40% of people who took a new job are likely to return to their former company.
“We’re seeing a higher incidence of people saying, ‘Hey, this place that I viewed as my escape hatch is not my escape hatch,’” says Corey Berkey, senior vice president of people and talent at human resources services firm Employ, Inc.
If you took a leap and ended up with regrets, you have options for how to approach your next step.
When That New Job Isn’t What You Expected
After five years working as a trauma psychotherapist at a Washington, D.C. nonprofit, Tanya knew she was ready for a change, even though her position offered a flexible schedule, a convenient commute on public transit, and what Tanya calls “amazing” health insurance.
While interviewing for a job with a private health care company, Tanya says the location for the job wasn’t discussed. It was listed as one neighborhood on the job advertisement, but turned out to be in a completely different area once she signed on, and one that didn’t have public transportation. Tanya, who is in her mid-thirties and asked to use a pseudonym to protect her identity, doesn’t drive.
She liked having about $20,000 added to her annual salary, but didn’t enjoy the work, and didn’t know how she’d get to the job site once remote work was phased out.
“I was going to quit at the four-month mark, but they begged me to stay,” she recalls. She was promised a higher salary and better benefits, but says it never materialized. “I was just promised a number of things that did not come through.” She stayed just six months before moving on.
Read more: How The Great Resignation Can Help You Get A Great Raise
Michelle’s and Tanya’s experiences may seem extreme. But near-immediate regrets about starting a new job are more common than you might think: Online career platform The Muse found that 72% of people it surveyed in early 2022 experienced what they coined as “shift shock.”
“It’s normal to feel nervous starting a new job, but it can be a big problem to be hired into a role with one set of responsibilities and then be expected to perform another, or to join a company culture that turns out to be cliquey when you were sold on the idea of camaraderie,” wrote CEO of the Muse, Kathryn Minshew, in an op-ed for Bloomberg.
Trying to figure out whether her new job would improve at some point made Tanya feel anxious, along with feeling that her skills were being wasted.
Tanya, who is Black, says she also faced blatant racism from both clients and colleagues at her new job. “I would have clients, who were often white men, make disparaging comments or have such surprise about me being their therapist,” she recalls.
Fifty-seven percent of people who left a job in 2021 said feeling disrespected at work was a factor, according to a Pew Research Center survey. It was the third-largest factor, following low pay and lack of advancement opportunities.
How Long Should You Stay at a New Job You Hate?
In pre-pandemic days, many experts recommended staying in a job for at least two years to learn new skills and demonstrate that you prioritized career growth.
And while old standards for how long you need to stay in a job may be beginning to fracture—80% of survey respondents told The Muse it’s okay to leave a mismatched new job within six months of starting—leaving quickly can have consequences for workers.
Some hiring managers may look down on a short tenure, even though more employers have become understanding of short-term jobs and resume gaps. And making several lateral moves in a short time period could stunt your salary growth.
If your new job is wildly different from what you expected, your first step is to check in with the person who hired you and any recruiters you worked with. You have the right to ask about promises made to you, and when (or if) they’ll be fulfilled.
But, Berkey warns, cultural issues may be trickier to resolve. If the workplace is toxic or hostile, Berkey says to make your concerns known, but, “you might just have to come to terms with what you learned, and in the next opportunity, vet the culture better.”
Tanya says she still has moments where she regrets leaving her original job. She may have been able to go back, if she had reached out within a month or two of leaving, but wanted to try to pursue a new path.
Trying to return to an old employer is called the boomerang effect, Berkey says. He adds that this can work if you left on good terms. But your old employer has to be confident it’ll be a good fit on the second try.
Above all, Berkey says sticking with a new job you absolutely hate doesn’t do you any favors. “The worst thing you can do is stick around and make yourself miserable and make everybody you work with miserable,” he says. “You have to do what’s right for you.”
Read more: 57% Of Americans Say Their Pay Raises Aren’t Keeping Up With Inflation
Take Lessons From Your In-Between Job
Berkey says it’s still a job-seeker’s market with lots of career opportunities, and those early conversations with a recruiter or hiring manager can help you determine whether a company has any of the red flags that made you miserable at your new job.
As you do your research and begin your search, he says, “Don’t let your current [situation] put a sour taste in your mouth or ruin future opportunities that might be great.” Berkey says to practice explaining why you’re already trying to leave your current job before you start your interview process.
Both Michelle and Tanya were able to find a new job within six months of starting the job they ended up regretting.
Tanya now works at a medical facility, where she earns slightly more than the salary she had at her in-between job. She has a short commute on public transit, but she doesn’t have the flexible schedule she enjoyed in her original role. And she says regular racist comments from her colleagues have made daily life more difficult.
She says her experience over the past several months reminded her it’s important to “disconnect yourself from your job” because many positions can be thankless. She started offering private virtual therapy services part-time during the pandemic but says her recent experiences have motivated her to focus on growing her own practice so she can be her own boss. “I don’t like being in situations where I can’t fully be myself,” she says.
Michelle, meanwhile, landed at an organization that feels like a better fit—and still offered a 20% pay increase from her original job. “I’ve seen significant growth,” she says. “I feel a lot more comfortable and confident in who I am, and understanding what works for me.”
And in the future, if she finds herself in another workplace that wasn’t as advertised? “I know if it doesn’t work for me, it’s OK to walk away.”
