I hate my new job... need advice.

[wegs the wegs]

I graduated this past May with a BS in Business/Human Resources. During June and early July I was not really looking for a job because I thought I had a nice inside hook-up with a large corporation. A mentor of mine works for the company and told me specifically that I had a position in the company; we just needed to work out in what department. After several interviews, daily phone calls, and lots of run-around I eventually gave up on this company because it seemed that no one else within the company was having me. Bygones.

So about three weeks ago I posted my resume on Monster and immediately received a dozen emails and phone calls from companies requesting an interview. Some were directly within the field of HR and others were various fields like financial advising and college admissions. I interviewed with five different companies. One company really stood out to me. It was a recruiting firm, which is HR related, and from the initial interview I really enjoyed the location, office building, benefits, interviewers, and job description. The only downside was that the salary was roughly 5k a year less than what my goal was setting out. From what I heard in the interview the job sounded to be right up my alley and a great starting point in HR.

A few days passed and I talked with this company again. I found out I had a job with them and I could start immediately. This actually surprised me a little bit and made me slightly nervous. From the horror stories I have heard of from others looking for a job it seemed a little too easy. However it seemed like the best fitting job for me out of the offers that I had received, despite the lower pay. It was in the field that I want to get into and sounded perfect for me. I was wrong.

I have just concluded my first week on the job and I hate it. It is not at all what was described to me in the interview. I sit on the phone all day cold-calling people all over the nation while they are at work. I am supposed to pester them into giving up personal information about their positions, education, salaries, and cell phone numbers and home addresses. I just feel sleazy doing it. My co-workers have told me it’s easy when you make up lies and tell the clients you’re a student doing research for a paper. That just does not seem right to me.

Over the job is pretty easy. I get a list of names and numbers and dial away. My co-workers are all really cool and I have already made friends with most of them. The supervisors are pretty cool as well. I have no complaints with anyone or anything about the company. But I do have a problem with my job. It disgusts me to do that all day and I really want out.

The problem lies in the fact that I’m apprehensive about quitting so soon. The first thing of concern is having a ‘job experience’ on my resume that is only a week or two long. I fear that it will look bad in the eyes of future job prospects. Second, what’s the deal with this two-week notice thing? If I have only worked there for one week do I really have to give a two-week notice? Third, I’m trying to do this in a mature and adult way. I want to handle this as professionally as possible with all respect towards my employer. Would bailing out on them this early be childish?

Any advice on this matter would be appreciated. I’m just a newbie in the real world and not sure what to do in this situation. I’m hoping there is a better way than to just suck it up and getting used to hating my job for the next forty years. I do realize that work is going to be hard and unenjoyable most of the time but I shouldn't be crawling out of my skin every moment I'm there, right?

Forgive me if this is in the wrong forum but I choose this one over OOT because I’m hoping the replies here will be a bit more mature than to sleep with my boss or something like that. Thanks to all who read this post.

[raydel]

Man. That job sounds terrible. Since you have only worked there a week, you do not need to give them any notice. You can just tell them it is not working out and you won't be coming back. You needn't even put it on your resmue. Have you considered temping? You can try out jobs and industries without having to really commit. A lot of companies use temp agencies to hire permanent employees and it's a good foot in the door. Never mind that you may be doing some crappy task at first. If you are a good employee, you will be able to move up.
Good luck!

-Ray

[Granite]

I would quit and treat it like the job never existed. Don't put it on your resume.

As for giving notice, it depends. If your not putting it on your resume and you feel they misrepresented the job, just outright quit.

I would say from a HR perspective you can look at this as a learning experience.

Granite

[mbb]

Your job isn't HR, it's sales. And it's crappy sales, based on lying to people.

The sooner you quit, the better it is for everybody. Including your employer.

You don't have to give two weeks' notice. You don't have two weeks' worth of value that you can deliver, so your employer won't want you to stick around.

The most he'll want is a list of the potential customers who another sales rep should make a followup call to.

[Thremp]

[ QUOTE ]
Your job isn't HR, it's sales. And it's crappy sales, based on lying to people.

[/ QUOTE ]

What is he selling?

[thing85]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Your job isn't HR, it's sales. And it's crappy sales, based on lying to people.

[/ QUOTE ]

What is he selling?

[/ QUOTE ]

Nothing. It sounds like he's gathering information so that someone else can do the selling.

[elus2]

Quit. It seems like you can get another job in almost no time at all. As long as you have some money saved up while you do some more job searching I don't see what the problem is.

The company you're working for misrepresented your role and duties in the organization. You'll resent them everyday for doing so and you'll end up making yourself miserable as long as you stay there.

[Vincent]

I think the work you're doing is standard for HR companies. My roommate does the same thing successfully, and he worked a couple places. If you plan to stay in this line of work, I'd suggest having good contacts. Get to know A LOT of skilled people, and keep them in mind when you need to help a company fill a position.

He's always hated his job and has been planning to get out for years. Welcome to the real world (actually I'm jobless, but whatever).

[beeyjay]

a friend of mine grad in december and had a similar experience. he quit after exactly 1 week and got far better job that he really likes.

trust me these places are so used to people doing this they will not be mad/judge you/whatever.

[mbb]

He's looking for somebody who's ready to make a decision, who fits his employer's criteria.

That's prospecting, which is part of sales.