When a job raises red flags immediately, should workers cut and run? [View all]

[Jilly_in_VA]

Nicole noticed a red flag within hours of starting her new job at a Miami-based boutique PR firm in 2022. The CEO didn’t bother introducing her to clients on her first-ever company Zoom call; he dominated the conversation, leaving no room for other employees to speak. Nicole tried to carry on but was shocked on her second day when the CEO swore at a colleague in the middle of a team meeting.

On day three, Nicole worked up the courage to ask that colleague if outbursts like that were normal. “She said, ‘That’s just how he is’,” recalls Nicole, who is in her mid-20s. “Everyone’s scared of him.”

On her fourth day, Nicole wrote her resignation letter. She was gone by the end of the week and never looked back.

At a time when many people are reassessing their personal and professional priorities, and swaths of workers still hold power in the labour market, some people are choosing to cut and run – leaving jobs that they’re unhappy in, after mere weeks or even days in the role.

There are any number of reasons people ditch jobs after such a short period of time: the role was oversold; the leadership was micromanaging; the culture was toxic; or the company's values seemed suspect. In some cases, say experts, these swift departures are due to reckless, fickle decisions. But other times, they're the result of carefully considered choices – and the right options for workers.

https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20230808-when-a-job-raises-red-flags-immediately-should-workers-cut-and-run

I almost wish I'd quit my last one like that. My manager was SO toxic. I could have gone back on the road or found another quickly enough, nurses being always in demand.