How to recover from a bad career move

[Ralf K.]

Hi all,

First of all: Yes, I am a millennial and yes I go to the job I signed for:).
But the situations is that I actually don’t enjoy my new job. Not that want my previous one back, but I took a bit of a quick decision to change company (non supportive manager).

I made the move from R&D to a commercial role with this change and like this fact. The new company’s business strategy and product I am not convinced nor fascinated. Additionally it is a bit far away from my expertise and from science.

I left my previous employer on good terms and told them why I leave, but their reaction was not so clear to me...

Would you get in contact with the former employer and test the waters? Or do I sound desperate after 1 month? Here we generally have a 3 month probation period that is valid for both sides so leaving would be OKish once.
Apply further or stick it out for a year? I have already a couple of years work experience.

Thanks

[RSD]

It sounds from your post that going back to your previous employer would be a mistake. You don't want that job, and you like moving into a more commercial role but just not this exact role. Plus your old employer now knows you don't really want to be there.

My suggestion would be to stick it out for a while, learn as much as you can from this new role, and network as much as possible so you can leverage this new experience into a role better suited to your interests and background. Treat it as a stepping stone into your next commercial role, but I think you should plan on staying for 6-12 months to learn the position.

[PG]

Doing one bad career move is painful but it isnt something that you cant recover from especially if your next move is a good one.

I agree with RSD that it sounds like going back would be a bad move and that networking is key. If you find another position that is a good move ie in the direction that you want to develop your career and with a good Company there is nothing that prevents you from accepting that position also after a shorter time period than 6-12 months. Having a single very short stay on your CV will look like what it is ie a bad move which is something that happens. Having multiple very short stays looks either like you cant decide what you want to do or that you are the problem and not the companies/bosses.