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I'm a fairly recent college grad whose first job out of college was as a statistician for two and a half years at a small company. For the last six months, I've been working as an analyst at an ad agency but I'm considering leaving because I'm not doing the things that I feel will help me with my career. I want to end up working on big data and classification problems as a data scientist, but in my current job there is so little data and I'm only using linear models. There's just little in terms of work where I'd actually be learning. In the last few weeks, I've found a job as a data scientist and am interviewing. However, I'm not sure about whether I should leave. My employer is awesome and I don't want to cause them to lose money or think less of me, so I'm weighing whether it would be ethical of me to leave now, or should I wait for a year or so. I don't hate my job or dislike my coworkers, it's just that a better job that fits with my career goals has emerged.
Is it fine to leave a job after 6 months if it'll get you closer to you real career goals?
I should also note that my second job is in MN (moved from KS) and I am getting sick of winter. So it's not all about a job which is better in terms of career goals, it's also about the winters in MN being unbearable. I have a minor physical disability and walking becomes an even bigger issue in the cold with snow/ice. I have issues with stability and have fallen numerous times each day when walking to and from the bus, and I'm getting frustrated with the difficulties caused by this weather. The job I'm interviewing for is in southern CA.
Last edited by tonym9428; 02-25-2014 at 01:11 PM..
Certain states do not consider you eligible for unemployment insurance if you didn't have one year in your job. It's not total job history they look at but the prior job time. So if you do odd jobs or temp jobs or got hired by a firm or company that went under and only had 1 month till the 1 year quota then no unemployment benefits.
So you want to find out if your state is one of the 1 year states. If so keep at the job to meet the quota then seek out the new job and quit, getting UI if the new job opportunity doesn't pan out and you have to be UI for a time.
If this job is really not turning out to be what you imagined, is it because the employer misrepresented the position's responsibilities, you just decided on your career path after doing this job, or you didn't ask the right questions when you were interviewed?
If you respect your employer and don't want them to lose money, at least wait a year. It will look better on your resume and cause fewer future problems for you. But if you're already interviewing for jobs in Southern California, why are you even asking this question? Sounds like you're fishing for someone to rubber stamp a decision you already made.
Is it fine to leave a job after 6 months if it'll get you closer to you real career goals?
Hah! Come here to Silicon Valley. At some companies, people start and quit the same month. And we're talking engineers, VPs, project managers, etc. People who make $130k+ salaries.
It's unusual in the old economy states back east and in the mid-west, where people became "lifers" working there until they died or retired. It's 2014. You can be hired and fired within a week now if plans change. I'd say make that move to a better climate if that suits you, and the job is closer to your career goals.
The reason companies like when applicants have stable work history is because they want a person that gets stuck in the same routine and that is good at being a sheeple.
Life's too short, OP. Do what you want to do. If this job isn't what you want and you get a better offer, move on. You're not an indentured servant.
I think people tend to be too stuck these days anyway. I had a relative born in 1919 who used to talk about how her brother left home (in Missouri) when he was 16 and went to California and got a job in a shoe factory and he died at age 94 still living in California, had always worked, worked his way up (things are different now, I know), and had a nice home and a nice life. Why are people so afraid to follow their dreams like that now?
Why did you switch from statistician to move out of state to become an analyst at an ad agency? I'd be a little concerned that something happened where you were let go from the statistician position.
Assuming that's not the case, you would be better served long term to get into big data and analytics when presented with the opportunity. IMO, it will look better for your overall career development that you've actually only been out of analytics and stats for six months as opposed to longer. There is still a shortage of good big data people, but there won't be forever. I understand your situation, but to me it's pretty much a no-brainer if you get an offer.
The basic question is: what happens later on down the line when you're looking for a new job and potential employers are looking at your resume and asking you about the short stay at this job?
If you leave your current job to move directly to a fulfilling new opportunity that's in line with your career goals, that is a great non-suspicious answer to a future interview question. Even relocating is an understandable answer. You're moving TO something, you're taking charge of your career.
If you leave after 6 months and just spin your wheels, you had better be prepared to have a good answer why.
If you do leave, regardless of reason, if you are at all concerned about your resume then be sure to try and stay at your next employer for a year or more. One six month job doesn't look bad, even a few might not look bad in a volatile economy, but if you present a concurrent pattern of voluntarily leaving jobs, that's when employers raise eyebrows.
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