Does it Look Bad to Quit a Job After 3 Months

It’s a terrible feeling to have. You’ve just started a new job, and it’s not what it was supposed to be. The job that you thought you were going to be working at just isn’t the job that you’ve ended up at. And it’s so bad that you feel like quitting.

Or maybe you took a job when you were desperate and now you have the option for a better job.

Does it look bad to quit a job after just 3 months? Can it hinder your chances of getting work in the future?

Good questions and ones that are important to think about before you quit your job. Because it can be a major decision and it is something that definitely will raise eyebrows when looking for work.

How do You Explain It?

Before you even consider quitting a job that you’ve only been at for 3 months it is a good idea to have a plan on how you’ll explain it. You don’t want to quit a job and then not know how to discuss it on a job interview.

Why? Because everyone will ask you about it. It’s a major red flag when someone is only at a company for a short amount of time. And if you have a string of these short jobs, then you are really sabotaging yourself.

However, even if you only have a single short term job listed on your resume, if it’s recent, then it’s going to be a major area of discussion in your interview.

So, how do you explain it? Well, there are a few methods.

One is to refer to the role as a contract assignment. This is a bit of a risky option because if the hiring team decides to do a reference check with your former employer, and they learn that it wasn’t a contact assignment and you’re lying, then you will have certainly lost the job.

A more appropriate decision is to politely explain that the role wasn’t a good fit and that you were told it was different than what it ended up being. Do not sound too negative, but express your honest thoughts about why it wasn’t the job you thought it would be.

If you don’t have a way to explain it, then even if a recruiter does respond to your connection request on LinkedIn, you might blow the initial call with them.

Quitting a Job 3 Months In Without Backup

If you’ve not already lined up a new job, then I would suggest that you put serious thought into quitting your job after only 3 months.

Why exactly are you doing this? How will you pay rent, insurance, and other bills?

If you are someone who hasn’t lined up a new role, then realize that it will be hard to find a new job unless you are in the medical field and work as a Nurse or other hospital tech.

Corporate work, even entry level admin roles, are much more difficult to find and the market place is hyper competitive.

Leaving a role after only three months without a backup plan is dangerous for a few reasons.

First, you might think that you’ll be able to land a job quickly, but that might not be the case. Some people think that a recruiter can gaurentee them a job. This just isn’t true. A recruiter might be able to find you work, but that’s not their respomnsibility. They are tasked with finding the right applicant for their client.

And secondly, and in line with advice from the recruiting end, it looks bad to potential employers.

Put yourself in the shoes of a potential employer? They might wonder what type of person quits a job without another job lined up? How are they paying rent and bills? If they have someone supporting them, or if they are on a government assistance program which pays for their rent, food, and medical care, then the employer might think that the person is not really in need of work and therefore won’t be motivated.

None of these might be true, but it bears mentioning that this is what potential employers think when they see someone who quits a job without another job lined up.

How Long Should You Wait to Quit ? Is 90 Days Enough?

The question on how long you should stay at a job before you move on is a tricky one. If the job is awful and if your boss is a nightmare, then you should probably exit immediately for your mental health and well being.

If you have any ability to quit in these circumstances and have any backup plan at all, then it’s fine to quit. You can even leave the job off your resume if it’s very short.

However, make sure you have an emergency cash reserve for these events. You don’t want to be in a situation were you will be evicted and even worse things will happen because of quitting your job.

If, however, the job just isn’t what you thought it would be, then you might want to try and stay for 6 months.

Three months is simply too short a time to have on your resume. If you’re somewhere longer, then it looks better.

If you do quit and it’s not even been 3 months, then many recruiters will tell you to that it might be worth it to simply not list the job on your resume.

All things considered, if you quit a job within 3 months or 90 days, then it’s not a good look.

Is 3 Months Too Soon to Quit a New Job?

Unless you are in a work environment that is extremely unpleasant, then yes, three months is too soon to quit a job.

As someone who has reviewed tens of thousands of resumes, it’s a glaring red flag to see short term jobs on a resume unless they are contract assignments.

You should realize that most hiring managers have a bias against people who work short term assignments, even if they are contract roles. And it’s much worse if the person left the job of their own choosing.

Many times you will be in a situation where a role is a contract assignment or a temporary role that will not extend longer than a few months. In those cases, there is not much that you can do. However, if you voluntarily choose to quit a job 3 month in, then that’s going to be a major issue to discuss with a future employer.

It’s actually turned into a situaiton where people are “quiet quitting”. This is a somewhat popular situation where people are not actively giving notice…instead they are showing up less, doing less, and maintining their workrole while actually working full time elsewhere.

While working two jobs at the same time is common in some industries such as Social Services and Healthcare, the corporate world is comming to terms with employees now taking a payhcheck and working for another company. This article in the WSJ discusses some recent events with regards to quiet quitting.

One of the reasons people are now quiet quitting is to lengthen the stay at their job. In most corporate roles, you need to account for all jobs…unlike medical staff who can have large gaps in their resume, corpoate employees need to account for work experience and lack of work experience.

So, some quiet quitters have decided to staty on to lengehtn the time they can say they worked at a location instead of simply leaving it off entirely.

Telling Recruiters Why You Left the Job

If you do have a short stint on your resume, especially if it’s a recent role that you are just exiting, then you will have to discuss it with your recruiter.

The important thing here is to figure out how to best discuss the role. How would you explain how it was that you only were at a job for a few months?

Remember, recruiters are in the business of finding the best candidates for their clients. They are not your case managers, so do not expect them to massage and handle your mistakes and career errors.

That doesn’t mean that you should lie to the recruiter and say that the job was a contract assignment, or that they were downsizing. Be upfront about the reason why you left, just don’t be too upfront.

There is such as thing as TMI in the job world. Just come up with a standard answer that you’re comfortable using with recruiters and hiring managers.

There is a bias towards milneals that they job hop without any thought of consequences. And while that’s certainly an image that recrutiers and hirning managers are aware of, it’s not something that you necessarily have to project in an interview–especialy if you’ve been in the workforce a long time.

Remember, don’t lie and say that the role was a contract role unless it was. If you end up working for a large company that does reference checks or employment verifications then you will likely be caught and lose the role.

Part of the new hire process for many companies is a reference check. This might include calling your former boss to discuss your work performance.