How long should I wait to start interviewing for my next job? [duplicate]

Question

Some background: I started this job at this company about three months ago. During the interview they said they would be working on new technologies.

However, after I joined here, I find that there is not much scope to learn here. Also, the tasks are very mundane and my skill set is not improving either.

The pay is not very fancy either. I am seriously considering to start interviewing for other jobs, but I think it is extremely unprofessional to do so after three months.

I am not sure how the company interviewing me will take it. They might think I would do the same to them after 3 months. Also, I am pretty sure it will not go down well with my current company either.

How long should I wait before it is professionally ethical/acceptable to interview for another job?

Answer 1

If you feel staying in that company makes no sense for you professionally, then there's no right or wrong waiting time to start looking for a new job.

Unless you are changing jobs every three months, it will be very easy for you to explain what happened when interviewing for other jobs, especially if you are a software developer (based on your username and your question). You just explain the truth: the company and the role itself was not what was sold to you and you want to ensure you keep progressing in your career.

Interviews give both the company and the candidate the possibility of finding out some basic information about each other. However, that's not enough. That's why, in most of the cases, you'll have probation periods.

It looks like you are not very happy neither with your salary or with what you are doing there, so don't be scared to move on if this place is not for you.

Answer 2

How long should I wait before it is professionally ethical/acceptable to interview for another job?

Start today.

There is no magic number of months after which your desire to leave becomes ethical/acceptable. And it makes no sense to continue for a few more years when you have already concluded that this isn't the job you want.

As long as you don't make a habit of leaving jobs after three months, this shouldn't negatively affect you. To that end, dig in deeper and learn more about it before accepting your next job so that you won't feel the need to leave so quickly.

And be prepared to answer the inevitable interview questions regarding "Why do you want to leave your current job so soon?" You'll need to calm the interviewers' fear that you'll leave them quickly.

Answer 3

Take it from my experience - do not wait to start looking for a new job.

As you've correctly identified - your skillset isn't improving in this role.

The longer you are in this role - the longer you won't have the relevant experience.

Also - I may take you longer than you anticipated to find a new job.

If anyone asks why you left the job so soon after starting, you can be honest - it wasn't expanding your skillset and wasn't challenging enough - this actually reflects well on you.

Answer 4

I've had colleagues leave after five months or so when they figured out that the current job was not for them (or that they had better opportunities waiting for them). You could do it earlier too. I've had one job where they had me program PHP on the first day without ever having mentioned it to me during the interview. I should have quit that one in the first week but alas I soldiered on.

As long as you don't make a habit out of it, it shouldn't be a problem. Even then, if you can keep persuading your EMPLOYER+1 that hiring you is a good idea, there is literally nothing stopping you.

A final note: just like most questions here that say they are about ethics, this is not actually about ethics. That you think it is, is a con (to put it harshly) played on you by companies to make you want to stay there against your best interests.