New Job Not Working Out - Weighing Options [closed]

Question

I recently left my job of nearly 3 years as a software engineer to join a new company for what sounded like a very similar role. I’ve been at this new role for a little over 2 months now. Turns out that this role is very much more so an empowered business analyst role than an engineering role. I have let me manager know; unfortunately our quarterly goals set by management involve a lot more BA work.

Once I arrived at the new company it seems the lead engineer transferred from my team to another team and the other engineer on rotation finished leaving my team with only two engineers and my manager. Likewise the company is undergoing a hiring freeze with exemptions for teams in need and my team isn’t one of them despite being quite short-staffed.

Having said all this the work itself isn’t actually difficult.

At this point I’m beginning to think this job isn’t for me. I have generous vacation booked up near the end of the year. So the options as I see them are

1. Start looking for a new job right now while at this role.
2. Ride out the rest of the year, especially because I’ve managed to get a few weeks vacation and wait for the new year to start looking for work.

Either way I’m concerned that if I leave the job before reaching a year there it will look bad on my resume. I have had sub-year tenures as a contractor on my resume but never as a full time employee. If I start looking now I can just leave this job off my resume. If I start looking next year I’ll probably keep it on.

Any thoughts? Advice?

Answer 1

Start looking now. There's no reason not to start looking, get some feelers out with recruiters, and plan to change your career come the new year. Depending on your location and specific industry background, it could take a few months to find something decent.

Unless you are going through a clearance process, there's no reason to include the job on your resume if it isn't relevant to the position you're applying for. If you want to list it, you can state that the business reshaped your position to be more of a BA position due to their needs, and you are looking for more of a developer position.

You can also speak with your manager to align your understanding of what you were presented and what you are actually doing. If they are in need of a developer and you have that skillset, it behooves your management to migrate you to the appropriate role and hire for the empty one than end up with both positions vacant.

Answer 2

Start looking for a new job if this one is not a good fit. From what you're saying, you don't want to continue in this job anymore so do it now - don't waste your and your company's time.

Either way I’m concerned that if I leave the job before reaching a year there it will look bad on my resume.

Not if you tell the interviewer that it was not a good fit and that you'd rather quit early than let the company waste time and money by investing on someone that's not a good fit.