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I resigned/quit 3 days ago from a company, after having worked there for 6 months, as it was firing people and about to shut down. I got a new job but now I feel as though the new job is not challenging but the company is stable. What are some things I should consider when deciding whether to stay or leave?

My last company was mentally abusive and threw me into a depression. The new company is fine, but the work is not challenging. The work at my last company wasn't challenging either.

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  • We can't tell what you should do. Maybe after some time you'll be able to get more challenging stuff or not but we can't really guess.
    – Walfrat
    Commented Jun 23, 2020 at 8:06
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    Perhaps you should give it more than three days
    – morsor
    Commented Jun 23, 2020 at 8:16
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    Am I the only one to think - why should a job be challenging? How is a challenging job better that one where you just know how to do it?
    – Simon B
    Commented Jun 23, 2020 at 18:01
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    @JoeStrazzere, well it's fair enough to disagree, but it may be helpful for the OP to explain where you differ and make it clearer. For example, why is it you think loser firms would advertise themselves as such to candidates, since by definition candidates are trying to avoid them? Moreover, you hold a built-in assumption that there is always a winner ready to recruit, and the OP need only choose it - if the OP at a particular moment only has loser firms to choose from, then what ought his choice be? To withdraw from paid employment?
    – Steve
    Commented Jun 25, 2020 at 17:06
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    @JoeStrazzere, you spare endless time to keep reiterating, but not to add further explanation. What makes you think the average (probably youngish) job candidate is more wily in establishing the truth, than an experienced (probably middle-age) hiring manager of a loser firm is in hiding the truth? Secondly, what makes you think the OP had the choice of any job that was not with a loser firm? What makes you so confident that there was any winner firm recruiting at the time, with enough openings for all candidates looking to choose jobs with winners?
    – Steve
    Commented Jun 25, 2020 at 20:09

3 Answers 3

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You've been there for three days. Three. Days. That's not enough time to get a complete picture of how the work is going to be - in the mean time there's lots to be positive about, the company is stable and if your coming into it on the back of an unpleasant and stressful environment then maybe a bit of an easier time is just what you need.

Also if you were to leave your new place soon then it runs the risk of starting to look like job-hopping, a couple of relatively short stints back to back is going to set a lot of alarm bells ringing for some hiring managers.

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    leaving after 3 days would not be seen as job hopping, it would be seen as a bit unhinged, as OP likely spent more time interviewing with this company than he spent working in it, and didn't leave for reasons like "I got beaten up by my boss".
    – Aida Paul
    Commented Jun 23, 2020 at 8:43
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    Yeah. I have been in positions where the expectation was that I get computer access around month 2 because it takes to **** long to arrange for it. I have been in positions where 3 months were ramp up time. 3 days is like comically short.
    – TomTom
    Commented Jun 25, 2020 at 12:03
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In most jobs you'll spend most of your first week settling in, going through training and other slightly tedious things - you're rarely going to be stretched too far.

Give it a few weeks (at least) and see if you're still feeling the same way. If you are, talk, to your manager and explain that you're not feeling very challenged.

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You can rephrase your question to: "The work I've been given to do is not challenging". That is very different. If it isn't challenging then do you have spare time, or are you bogged down with huge piles of meaninglessness? If it's the former, start making yourself invaluable. I certainly wouldn't give a new hire something critical to do until I know how well they are doing and what their skills are, so don't expect to be CEO in three days. However, there are probably projects going on that you can start learning about and making an impact in.

If it's just piles of work that really are boring, two things: first, you chose the job, so evaluate that. You said that the previous job wasn't challenging either. Maybe it's you? What are your standards for a "challenging" job? Why didn't you find one? Second, boring work is screaming for efficiencies. As before, make yourself invaluable by focusing on streamlining processes. Can you automate parts of it to free up time? Can you improve on what is done and when? Can you allocate resources more efficiently?

Three days is not long enough to decide if you like the job and should stay, but it is long enough to start thinking about how to take ownership and excel at the position.

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