On point 5: How much can you learn from a job that you've only been at for two weeks, other than you hate it?

You'll think this is a good idea until your 22-year-old daughter shows up at your front door with her suitcase in hand, announcing that she's moving back in with you.

Maybe I'm an old guy (that not uncoincidentally has a 22-year-old daughter back living at home), but I just don't understand how you can have more respect for yourself living at your parent's house than actually working for a living.

It's a good thing for my daughter's sake that I busted my butt all of these years at a stressful and difficult job so that she'd have a place to come back to so that she can "respect her well-being". What a sucker I am.

I just don't understand how you can have more respect for yourself living at your parent's house than actually working for a living.

And nor should you have to understand. The important question here: Do you trust her, or would you rather see her happiness or happiness trampled underfoot?

It's a good thing for my daughter's sake that I busted my butt all of these years at a stressful and difficult job so that she'd have a place to come back to so that she can "respect her well-being". What a sucker I am.

Is that how you really feel? Like a sucker? What's to say that she wouldn't be "respecting her well-being" without your support? Perhaps you should try talking, rather than approaching her as an inexplicable burden?

Just a thought.

Hey! Boomers and X's take another look at this brilliant girl Jamie. I read her story. She worked her way through college as the business admin inside the college, worked as a grocery clerk and had a full schedule at college. All the while winning first place awards for marketing and graduated top of her class.

She worked in Chico for a coffee distubutor after college. She wanted to be on her own, have an apartment and have her own identity. She was much to over quaified for that position. But she stuck it out. She had always dreamed of working for a great company so she decided to see what she could find in SF area and found a company she liked. She had an interview with this seemed to be great company in SF and as it turned out the interview lasted 3 hours. They hired her on the spot and they said they wanted her the next day to start working, but she had to give her other job 2 weeks notice. She uprooted her whole life of 6 years in Chico to a new life in SF. After one week of working at this company, at 16 hours a day and the weekend she found that everything they told her about working there was a lie. She found out the owners tell people things at the company but they never follow through with anything. She found that her co-workers hated thier jobs and that the turn-over was out of control. They had lied to her about what she was hired for and gave her high hopes of advancement and opportunities but that was a lie too.
She was brilliant to understand the happenings of this company so soon. She figured this out early on and wanted out before she would lose herself and dignity. If people were more like her it would a happier world. But now I see that boomers and X's are self destructive and idiots and they do not know themselves. The Gen Y generation wants more because they see that the older generation just settle. They don't take risks and they are cowards. They would rather stay at a company for 6 months and waste that companys time and money rather move on to a richer and more fulfilling happy exsistance. I am positive that Jamie will be successful and be an asset to any company she works for. She is an inspiration to all who know of her.

NOTE: I would be proud to her Mother

You go Taylor!

I think what we're seeing here is a changing of the guard. Many of these folks believe that the world is still as it was, you know: "don't rock the boat, never burn your bridges." Meanwhile, these same corporations that we should suffer at, will cut you loose in a heartbeat if it's to their or the shareholders benefit. Ask the employees at AIG, Lehman Bros, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch and company how they feel about being pink slipped while their bosses arrange to take home 100s of millions of dollars in bonuses even as they've horribly mismanaged the future of those firms. The times have changed.

Personally, if my daughter came back in that situation, I would welcome her with open arms. She's the most perfect thing that I've ever done in this life and our door will always be open for her, no questions asked. So I agree with you 100%, she's worked hard, given it her best shot, been mislead and now needs to regroup a bit. That's what parents are there for, fortunately for her, her Dad's name isn't Scott.

Good luck to you Jamie and good on you Taylor for telling it like it is!

I agree with Taylor that it is important to know the full story. Two scenarios-1)Person who never "sticks" with anything, little motivation and no sense of personal responsibility. 2)Person with sense of integrity, drive and focus who identifies right away that a mistake has been made. If its #2 and you learn from the mistake and it drives you to actively pursue your Sustainable Passion, you are better off than many!
I posted today about this in An Open Letter To My Daughters.
Best of luck Jamie!

I have had several interviews lately and I would never trust a company or any other type of employer (government, non-profit) who offers an applicant the job on the spot/in the interview. I had this happened to me just two days ago. When I said tactfully that I didn't think that the position was a good fit, the interviewer ended up trying to talk me into accepting the position (and no, this was not a fast-food job or similar type). The interviewer then made several generalizations to convince me that this was the "only" job for me. Um, no it isn't/wasn't and I've actually turned down two interviews over the past couple of months because I know I wouldn't be happy there and thus wouldn't do a good job, so I think what "intersected" is saying has a lot of value. I also base this conclusion off a job I accepted five years b/c I needed the salary (I have no parents or family that I can temporarily live with then or now) and I ended up getting fired after 11 months of pure misery. Seriously, the place where I worked at should be where they send prisoners to serve their time. I knew two weeks into the job it was the wrong position and organization for me and I wish I'd quit then. Although I learned a lot about myself from the experience, I wish I had quit two weeks into it b/c when I have to explain the "reason for leaving" for it on job applications, I wonder if it negatively effects me. (I don't lie about it). Just a few things to consider. These days I am happy to stay in the temporary position that I have and spend my job-hunting time ONLY applying to positions that I think I can perform well in both for my sake and my employer's. I hope that these comments can help someone out there.

So why didn't she do some research first?

From what I remember is she was never a business admin and instead made posters and browsed the net looking for fonts. Mostly she spent a lot of time on Facebook and MySpace honing her "skills". well, i mean when she wasn't hung over from her nightly drinking. lord knows she already had the social aspect down.

and lets not forget, her entire marketing team hated her.

still proud, Mom?

Organizational theory and its supporting body of research consistently show that it takes an individual an average of 3 months to assimilate into an organization.

When someone quits a job after two weeks, and it's their "first" job at that, as a hiring manager, I don't see a want for passion, or a need for meaningful work, I see someone who got a big dose of reality and couldn't swallow it.

Are you kidding where do people get thier facts!!!!Organizational theory NONSENSE…. Who are you to say this. You don't even know this girl or the situation. Maybe if you research the situation of what happened to this girl you would know why she left this job. Wow these smarty pants people think they know-it-all. They research all their world books of organization skills and such but don't research the person to see the real facts. Shame on you smarty pants. Some people live by passion and what matters. You are as cold as your books. Jamie is Brilliant!!!!! Find out Why!!!

I'm a Gen Y and I think that there is no way you can know if you love/ hate a job after 2 weeks. You simply haven't given the job a chance. What a short sighted post.

This sounds great, unless of course you have student loans to pay off and other bills to take care of.

I don't think Jamie was advocating becoming a permanent fixture on her parents' couch. Her message is to quit for a job that's a better fit.

Hahaha, I have to agree with others before me – this does sound lame and immature. Unless there was violence or illegal actions, you just can't get that unhappy in two weeks. Plus, when mom and dad are not around any longer to take you back home and provide for your food and shelter, you might think twice before recommending quitting.

This can be true — sometimes. It is not true across the board. And if you do it repeatedly, you will eventually make yourself unhireable to a lot of good employers. It should be a strategy to use only very rarely.

I can't see that after 2 weeks, enough of an impression had been made to really form a decision. Now, absent some extreme circumstances (company doing illegal things, job description was woefully incorrect, etc), all you have done is wasted the company's time and money.

Now aren't you also trying to get a job with Twitter? How does this play into that? If I were Evan Williams, I wouldn't hire you as a secretary, knowing that you're willing to leave at the first sign of discomfort.

It's sad really. I bet this girl actually found another job. And I bet mommy and daddy have more than enough to take care of her.

Meanwhile, there are thousands of recent graduates everywhere who don't have parents or even a parent to fall back on and no job (not even one to quit). Employers are hiring the wrong people.

OK, let's talk about class. There seems to be an assumption among commenters that moving back home is a poor-little-rich-girl's way out, which I find a bit insulting, as a fellow "boomeranger."

First of all, there's living at home and then there's living at home. I sleep in the same bed I did in high school, but now I help with bills, do my own grocery shopping, and cover my own insurance. It's not exactly 50/50, but I no longer file my taxes as a dependent. I don't have the savings to make renting in my hometown (Boston) the smart move right now, but I do have enough to do this. Jaime isn't necessarily being indulgent by moving back home; in her case, maybe indulgent would be maintaining a Bay-Area apartment in the face of an extended period of job hunting, just to save face.

Second, since when did multigenerational households become an upper class thing? In my experience, working class families, particularly minority families, often assume that kids will live at home until marriage. Even kids with college degrees and professional careers ahead of them, like Jaime, spend their early twenties at home, again as partial-contributors rather than as dependents. It's an arrangement that can make sense at many income levels. What changes is the cultural expectation–and I'd argue that the stigma associated with living at home is strongest among the middle class, not the lower. (Here's )

I'd also refer everyone to Penelope's post on the who boomerang after college. The times, they are a-changing.

I don't think two weeks is long enough to decide whether you hate your job. I've changed jobs frequently, and it usually takes me a few months to get rolling in my new job. I worked at GE, and while it's true that they encourage job rotation, the period they prefer employees to stay at one position is generally 1 1/2 – 2 years. The idea is to learn the job they're currently doing before moving on, and taking that experience to their new position. I'm not sure how much you can digest in two weeks. You can't possibly get to know your fellow employees in that short of a time.

I really admire your efforts to get a job at Twitter, Jamie, and looked forward to this post. Unfortunately, I agree with ScottS above, and even more unfortunately, there's a good possibility this will hurt your chances of getting that job you obviously want so badly. How will the powers that be at Twitter KNOW 1000% you won't hate that job too and do them the huge "favor" of quitting? You seem to want that job so much it might not live up to your expectations.

Individual situations vary of course, but if your parents paid for you to go to college, you sort of owe it to them to become self sufficient at some point, even if it means working at a job you don't like for a little while.

You are not your job and an active, busy life outside of work can compensate for a crappy job and help you find a better one. There are plenty of ways to work toward having a "dream job" or at least a job that will make you happy while working too.

Your first impression of the job is usually dead-on. Case in point: several years ago I started a new job and could tell after day two that it wasn't for me. Someone else started at the same time and gave her notice almost immediately. I stuck it out for six months, and it did not get any better. In fact, I only began to hate myself more with each passing day. That is a courageous move and I applaud you, Jamie!

I echo the other commenters, but would also add that this is really strange advice for people who are starting their first job out of college. Every entry level job sucks, and of course your first job our of college will make you unhappy (at least some of the time). That doesn't mean it doesn't have value.

Your first job out of college should be a stepping stone for you to get to the next place you want to be (grad school, a better job, a better company, a better location, etc.). If 2 weeks at an entry level job was enough to make you quit, then you either a) accepted a job that you shouldn't have, because it didn't relate to your long-term career goals; or b) you don't know what your long-term career goals are.

Although you may have done the right thing quitting after two weeks (don't know the details), and are most likely a smart go-getter, I do have a more general problem of taking career advice from a 23-year-old.

Why?

Naybe because a twenty-three year-old hasn't had a career yet. She has had a job or two, but she isn't qualified by experience to talk about what does or doesn't develop a successful career.

Maybe it's thinking of myself at 23, thinking I knew everything, and looking back and saying, HAH! what was I thinking?? Maybe if this post was more of a "why I quit after two weeks, why I think it was the right thing and what I've learned" it wouldn't have caused me to click ALL the way over from my RSS feed to comment. But the post was definitely successful in generating traffic and comments.

this sounded like a mini-me article or a knock-off of Penelope

@Anna, numerous times. The only response I got was "you're a great programmer, we trust your work".

I am a great programmer and people should trust my work but that doesn't mean I understand every facet of a business that people usually need an advanced degree to work in.

As a developer I am an expert in my field, I am not an expert in your field. I learn a lot, I'm a sponge when it comes to learning new things, I thrive on it. That being said, working for a client who doesn't insist on a thorough review of the software responsible for their main source of income is a game of russian roulette I don't want to play.

Why quit when you could be looking for a new job while receiving a steady paycheck, building credit, and blogging in your free time?

People work at jobs they dislike while they pursue their passions, it happens all the time. I'd rather have had a post from someone explaining how to deal with a job you dislike while pursuing a passion, since that situation is probably far more likely for the majority of people today.

I don't know how you could possibly feel good about quitting before you ever gave the job a shot. I doubt the company felt they failed you either, just thought you were incapable of doing the work or that you had personal issues. Why would they blame themselves after such a short time frame? How bad could it have been to give up so easily?

Loved what Ron Graham said in earlier comment – same lines as what I was thinking!!

"When someone quits a job after two weeks, and it's their "first" job at that, as a hiring manager, I don't see a want for passion, or a need for meaningful work, I see someone who got a big dose of reality and couldn't swallow it."

I disagree with Jamie that it's smart to quit after two weeks, but then again I had the opposite experience. I started at my first job out of college moving up to Silicon Valley with a brand new division of a company. For several months, they gave me very little to do, and I became pretty unhappy with the job. I ended up sticking it out for a little under a year when that division of the company was dissolved and I was moved to another division that completely fit my personality and skillset. They also gave me my full bonus for the time that I spent in the other division, even though I had very little work to show for it (because I wasn't given any).

I've now been with my new group for 8 months or so and couldn't be happier. I love my job, I'm challenged, and the pay is great. It makes me glad I suffered through a rough start to end up where I am.

Jamie – I know where you are coming from (one of the things I love about our generation is how we place self-actualization over financial potential), but you need to understand quitting a job after two weeks for these reasons really make you appear like a petulant, unemployable loser.

I'm a solid member of Gen Y, and it's infuriating to me when I hear X and Boomers complain about our generation's sense of entitlement, and lack of professionalism. I'm always on my heels defending what I see as a unique perspective, but posts like this make me question that stance.

There are germs of truth to all your points (except 4, which only means you don't understand the kind of investment any company puts into the first two weeks of a new hire), but you need to temper this with a little humility. In this economy, I'd be pretty wary about burning bridges like this…

You win Penelope! I often think that you're career advice shows naivete and a complete and utter disregard on how to actually be successful in life. This post, I'm sure, is to show that you're brilliant!

2 weeks – Every single point in the article would be appropriate for someone leaving a job after 6 months. Unless this job was a barista, Jamie didn't have sufficient time to figure out what the job was, let alone whether it was a good fit.

The level of entitlement in this post was laughable. I truly wonder if you've ever held any type of job in your entire life. Presumably a college graduate would have some kind of clue about what type of career they are interested in, the pluses and minuses to the first job they chose?!?!

I actually did quit a job after a few weeks (more like 3 is my recollection). My second job was at Baskin Robbins when I was 16, what I thought would be a huge step up from the video store I shelved tapes for when I was 15 and had to walk to work. I learned early on that B&R wasn't for me. I still managed to find another job before quitting and trained my replacement. I learned a lot during that experience. I guess the sad thing is that you're learning it now – at 23, on your parent's dime.

Jamie – I want to agree with you, I really do. I wish people would give more respect to Gen Y, of which I am a member. But this post is exactly why they don't.

I agree that staying in a job that makes you miserable is a bad idea. I'm totally on board with that. But like many have said before, after 5 years of experience in the full-time work world I can tell you without a doubt that you need an absolute bare minimum of 1 month at a new job to even have a grasp on what the job IS, let alone whether or not you like it. 2 weeks is too early to make an informed decision about whether or not the job is a good fit. When I start a new job, I always make up my mind to suspend my judgment about it for the first month and then have a look and see what I think about it.

The company does not think you're doing them a favour. You aren't. You just wasted their resources on training you without providing them with any value in return because you weren't there long enough to provide that.

The ONLY excuse I can think of for quitting after two weeks is if you are offered another position shortly after accepting the first one, and the job offer is *significantly* better than the first one in terms of what it will provide your resume, your skill set, your network of contacts, and your enjoyment of your job. If the job is just equal or only slightly better, I wouldn't bail. I would only quit if the offer was something I simply couldn't justify passing up.

You need to learn a lesson about sticking to your commitments.

I disagree as well that it's a good idea to quit your job after just two weeks. In two weeks, you're just getting settled in, understanding your duties, figuring out how things work, and beginning to do your first work. I don't understand how you can *know* you hate the place or the work after such a short period of time. You need to give it a few months, and I would only understand quitting so early if it was some sort of exceptional circumstances that made you dislike the job – bad relations with boss, perhaps something that makes you question your morals, etc. But even so…it's not something that shows passion or engagement at work. I think everyone should spend a little more time figuring out whether the job really is that bad, before quitting.

Jamie – I really want to completely agree with you, but I can't. There are very few jobs that you know you will be completely happy and satisfied with after two weeks. Also, it takes longer than two weeks at most professional jobs to get trained and get used to the work routine. Retail to me seems to be one area where there's little actual training required and anyone with a brain could do supervisor work.

I know it's not easy working a soul crushing, mind numbing job where you are not challenged to your intellectual capabilities. It also is demoralizing to learn how little a college degree is valued – it feels like you wasted 4+ years of your life for a job that you loathe, not to mention having to take orders from people who have no business being a supervisor.

Give the job 6 months. Once you get a routine down, then maybe you'd get more responsibility and more interesting assignments. If you really feel that you still hate the job, start looking for a new one while still employed. It common sense – don't quit until another one is lined up.

As far as whoever commented earlier about the interview process, I have to agree with that. You are also interviewing them to see if they are a place that you want to work for. I was invited to a group interview for an administrative assistant that was more of an informational meeting with 50 people and only got to answer one question during the actual half hour of interview time. I don't have any experience with HR or hiring, but I don't think one question per person would be enough to decide whom to interview for one on ones. I wasn't too upset not to be contacted when they demonstrated that our time wasn't worth much for essentially a dumbed down membership pitch.

I knew I hated my last job within 3 days. I am 100% on board believing you can figure out whether the job is right in 2 weeks.

I stuck the job out for 6 months (hated it more every week), and I learned SO MUCH–SO MUCH–especially working with difficult people, and learning how to get assignments I want. I do not regret making a terrible decision accepting that job, and I would not be in the great position I am now if I hadn't learned from my mistakes. I cannot even imagine what a stupid decision it would have been for me to LEAVE after 2 weeks! What the hell does that teach you?

And to another point someone has already made: probably one of the greatest things I learned was asking the right questions during interviews and making sure the company was a fit for me so that I will NEVER be that irresponsible jerk who quits after ten days. What a disrespectful waste of company time and money.

I quit a college (read: dead-end) job after two weeks. I have to agree that yes, everyone feels uncomfortable for the training period, and in most cases, that feeling goes away and they start to enjoy their job. My issue was a gray-area ethical one, and I'm ultimately glad I quit. I wasn't going to waste my time and theirs with a lot of stress.

The duties were fine; the administration was awful. You couldn't find out about that during an interview. If a your bosses are jerks, to hell with them. They can find another sucker.

I've hated every single job I've had during the first two weeks. Its called transition.

And almost every single one of them I've loved after 6 months.

Jamie – I'm taking your side here, and adding a big congratulations for a brave choice!

Let's take a look at what may have happened if you had stayed. I'm a career coach and work with people in the first 10 years of their career who want a career change. When do I see most of them? In their first 5 years of work. That means that they made a bad decision early on – usually with their first job.

After some deep soul searching, they almost all remember that actually, they knew this was the wrong job for them from the start! But they were to caught up in the idea of 'giving something a go' to leave. Some were worried about how it would look on their CV.

The result? Some of them start again in a new type of role, in a new industry. Essentially saying goodbye to the past few years. Well done Jamie for being smart enough to see where this was heading and cut your losses after two weeks.

I disagree with the posts above that this is immature. The opposite – how difficult is it for even very senior people to acknowledge a mistake and cut their losses? Incredibly. If not, there would be no need for we career change coaches!

I'm not sure the sniping at Jamie's luck in being able to move in with her parents is helpful either. Any career changer should take realistic stock of their situation and take on the options available to them – there is no need for a recent grad to ignore the fact they have a welcoming parental home.

Jamie's choices show maturity, forward-thinking, and quick responses to situations. If more people thought like her, I'd be out of a job.

Plus, she has thought through her situation and articulates herself well enough to be an impressive candidate to a forward-thinking employer. I'd place bets on Jamie doing very well indeed.

"People who have self-confidence, respect, good teamwork instincts, and a sense of when it’s time to cut their losses; these are the people who succeed."

People with good teamwork instincts don't quit their job after 2 weeks without making a true effort. Nor do people with these skills take jobs that aren't a good fit.

People with self confidence are confident in their choices and don't quit after 2 weeks.

Explain to me how someone who is "mature" would make these claims and then not practice them?

Jamie reminds me of this Harvard grad I used to work with who would tell our boss she was curing cancer and then go back to her computer and surf Facebook all day. All talk with nothing to back it up.

Hey! Boomers and X's take another look at this brilliant girl Jamie. I read her story. She worked her way through college as the business admin inside the college, worked as a grocery clerk and had a full schedule at college. All the while winning first place awards for marketing and graduated top of her class.

She worked in Chico for a coffee distubutor after college. She wanted to be on her own, have an apartment and have her own identity. She was much to over quaified for that position. But she stuck it out. She had always dreamed of working for a great company so she decided to see what she could find in SF area and found a company she liked. She had an interview with this seemed to be great company in SF and as it turned out the interview lasted 3 hours. They hired her on the spot and they said they wanted her the next day to start working, but she had to give her other job 2 weeks notice. She uprooted her whole life of 6 years in Chico to a new life in SF. After one week of working at this company, at 16 hours a day and the weekend she found that everything they told her about working there was a lie. She found out the owners tell people things at the company but they never follow through with anything. She found that her co-workers hated thier jobs and that the turn-over was out of control. They had lied to her about what she was hired for and gave her high hopes of advancement and opportunities but that was a lie too.
She was brilliant to understand the happenings of this company so soon. She figured this out early on and wanted out before she would lose herself and dignity. If people were more like her it would a happier world. But now I see that boomers and X's are self destructive and idiots and they do not know themselves. The Gen Y generation wants more because they see that the older generation just settle. They don't take risks and they are cowards. They would rather stay at a company for 6 months and waste that companys time and money rather move on to a richer and more fulfilling happy exsistance. I am positive that Jamie will be successful and be an asset to any company she works for. She is an inspiration to all who know of her.

UGH. All of you people with your superiority complexes, beating up on Jaime for a decision that was probably right for her, make me nauseous. Get down off your high horses, people.

And Jamie's not on her own high horse?

Some of these comments are making me go "huh?"

Is Ms. Varon really displaying heights of irresponsibility previously unknown? Really? Is she really destroying all her future job prospects? Really? Is she a criminal and lazy for relying on her parents as a back up plan at 23? Really? Is this really the strangest advice anyone has ever heard on job-seeking in your 20's? Really? And who in God's name came up with the 6 month rule?

Inexperience goes both ways. The answer to learning from inexperience is not to stick it out at a crappy job in all cases. Perhaps she didn't realize before she took the job how crappy it was. So in this instance, her inexperience taught her not to trust what happens in a job interview, so she quit. If you ask me, she made the absolute correct decision. What is the brilliant rationale that she should not have quit? To gain all-important experience at a job she hates and will not stay at…please. More power to her.

Also, getting mad that her parents are her back-up plan is like getting mad at someone who has a big enough savings account to do the same thing. A back-up plan is a back-up plan, regardless of the arrangement. There is nothing morally reprehensible about relying on one's parents in their 20's. Chances are your parents will be relying on you in the future. Que sera, sera.

Something similar happened to me when I was out of college, and to be honest, it struck me as entirely unremarkable to quit the job after two weeks, not that I was the biggest mistake of my young-adult life. I was more than capable of discerning the awful management and unappealing work tasks were not going to get better if I stuck it out 5 months and 2 weeks longer. Furthermore, I've lived to tell this tale, and since then secured an even better job and stayed there 4 years.

Maybe this post would make someone reluctant to hire her. Sure. Who cares. But the idea that her views here only prove to prospective employers she is unworthy and incapable of holding a job is nonsensical! There is no employer out there who is so delusional they assume every applicant is ready and willing to devote the rest of their productive years to them, regardless of the value they have to offer outside of a paycheck.

Bottom line: Jamie is just doing what most people don't have balls to. Taking action, and gasp, writing about her experiences. If you ask me, everyone else is just jealous. Heck, I was when I saw her website – I think it's a great idea, and well-executed. Furthermore, she is not irresponsible. Perhaps if she was the sole breadwinner of a family of five – but as a young, single woman deciding where to stake her claim in life, she's making the right choices.

Milena! You said to so well. I think you are absolutely right about the jealousy factor. Heck! I am jealous too. However, it negative and authoritative tone of the majority comment is somewhat concerning.

"Maybe this post would make someone reluctant to hire her. Sure. Who cares."

Who cares? It seems as though Ms. Varon cares seeing as she laid out justification for her leaving and placed the blame squarely on the company.

I think hurting your employability, especially when you have little skill (at least comparatively) and there is a small market, is irresponsible. And I don't know how it became cowardly to learn something from a bad work situation. I'd really love to learn more about that. Don't stay for the fear, stay for the experience.

@Lance – I have to be honest, I don't buy it! You think she made a huge mistake? I can see how it is not one-size-fits-all advice, but it is not objectively bad advice or bad judgment. I'm not sure who said it was cowardly to learn from a bad work situation – it wasn't me. It's neither here nor there – that's my point.

Put another way – if she stayed to learn something I would also say, "Great choice!" In my eyes neither choice is "better" or "preferable." Neither choice is going to make or break her life, but people are freaking out about her choice as if she is ruining her life and the fact she aired her opinion is going to brainwash scores of other 23 year olds to act the same. Well, if the people who disagree with her are so confident they are correct, they should be happy, right? Their chances of lifelong success sticking it out in crap jobs just expanded with the masses of inexperienced 23 year olds fleeing from said jobs, no?

I don't know, I haven't seen her resume, but from what I have seen, maybe all she can do is design great websites, generate massive amounts of interest in her personal brand, and write distinctive and interesting blog posts. That's a lot more than most semi-literate college grads her age are capable of doing. So the claim of her inexperience relative to most 23 year olds doesn't hold in my opinion.

I'm generally a big cynic, I think you know this about me. ; )

But I think that in particular in a competitive job environment when one has arguably little experience, she is doing things to stand out above other applicants. Is it a marketing stunt that is not offering intrinsic value? Maybe. But I think that is debatable, and the results of this social experiment are yet to be seen.

I think her risk-taking is guaranteed to be refreshing for some employers – for others probably not so much, and that's a completely valid point. But I'm guessing she is not unaware of that.

I mean, I write blog posts and Tweets that probably decrease my chances of employability on a daily basis. The fact that I don't like the current administration's policies and am vocal about it means 66% of the country thinks I'm an crazy raving asshole. But I don't care, because I don't want to have the kinds of jobs that require me to be someone I'm not. And I realize that is a luxury and heavy burden to bear in this kind of economic environment – but I'm willing to pay that price (Heh, and so is my husband, I promise I asked him first.)

But regarding Jamie, she clearly wouldn't want to work for companies that don't like her approach – so that fact they don't like it is…not an issue. That's where my "who cares" is coming from. If the worst thing that happens is she doesn't get a job at Twitter and moves on to the next thing, or moves back home, that is a risk she is wholly willing to take on. The way people are talking about her is ridiculous though – the anger, the incredulity!

It boils down to this: different strokes for different folks.

You said:

"Jamie is just doing what most people don't have balls to. Taking action, and gasp, writing about her experiences. If you ask me, everyone else is just jealous."

What am I supposed to assume about people who don't quit after two weeks if they don't like their job? They don't have the balls? Maybe they see a better way than quitting?

"In my eyes neither choice is "better" or "preferable.""

In my eyes, there is an obvious preferable choice from both a personal development standpoint and a career standpoint. This is something I've been talking about for years on my blog. You can't expect to make your career on two week or two month stints. It is the opposite of being a "careerist."

I'm not saying this is the end of the world. Nothing is the end of the world for an under 30 person. But they can't cry about the injustices of perception when they are the ones creating it. This reinforces stereotypes that I have to undo whenever I go in for an interview or when one of my older colleagues interviews someone else from Gen Y.

The difference about writing about a political matter is a bit different than this though. I would argue that writing about your sex life online is different than this too. I can convince a ton of hiring managers to look past politics and look at your work record. This is a reflection of her work attitude. I think the two are completely different.

And yes, she will certainly learn from this but I think she would have been better served dealing with a dose of unhappiness for more than a couple weeks.

Following your dreams can break your heart and make you unhappy more than a job and if that's what she wants, then I think it is an easier lesson to take when you're young. Dealing with the disappointment of a job helps you deal better with the disappointment of having a book proposal rejected or the disappointment of the business you started suffering through difficult times.

@Lance –

You make excellent points I hadn’t thought of. And boy am I glad to hear you say my political views don’t stand in the way of my future career prospects! ; )

You say,

"What am I supposed to assume about people who don't quit after two weeks if they don't like their job? They don't have the balls?"

Not at all. I don't mean to imply staying means people have no balls. I just think Jamie showed courage most people wouldn't, despite obvious risks. I don't think quitting jobs is a great idea as a rule, but I think it works in this case, and some people make the wrong decision by staying in a job too long.

I'm someone who stayed in a non-dream-job, but I'm glad I did, having learned things I never knew I needed to know. I’d do it over again, which clearly supports your thesis.

I don’t think there is a career ‘silver bullet’, and even if you have your dream job, it requires 90% work, and 10% fun. My husband is an artist, and he has his dream job basically drawing pictures all day – but he experiences the same kinds of frustrations every employee does from time to time. However, I still don't think the issue in this post is black and white. For some people staying in a bad job is a bad idea, for others it's a good idea.

There are two comment streams going on here. One is general career advice, and honestly, I probably subscribe to your thinking more than Jamie’s for my own personal goals. You come from a place of authority and clear, rational thought (which I’m a big fan of!) – so I’m not attempting to supplant common sense with "new rules for career-seekers.” Nor I do not subscribe to the limitless "if you dream it you can achieve it" mentality prevalent in pop psychology and talk shows which I think can be incredibly damaging in the heads of unstable and flighty people. Some advice is absolutely not meant for everyone, but that doesn't make it bad advice.

The second level of commentary is about Jamie on a personal level. I happen to think she made the right choice, and has not marred her future chances for employability. Maybe my impression is differently formed because I’ve been chatting her up on Twitter, but she doesn’t strike me as flighty, or unaware of the risks or possible impact of her decisions or goals.

But beyond all that, I'm baffled at some of the more bizarre personal attacks from what seem to me to be overly-emotional and possibly insanely jealous commenters. I wanted to speak up because I know how frustrating it is when people are completely clueless how to hold a civil debate, and instead hurl personal insults irrelevant to the topic at hand. Some people need to get a grip.

I commend Jamie on several points.

First, you're a fabulous writer, you've networked well, you know a lot more about Twitter and social media that MOST people your age, and you're obviously hard working and passionate (otherwise, you wouldn't be doing what you're doing.)

Second, while some might think this post was risky– you've most certainly driven a lot of traffic to your Twitter blog. Smart move girl. Smart move.

I think you may actually be a 20 something that leaves college knowing what she wants to do, and what it will take to get there. If your gut instinct told you to run after two weeks, then good for you. (I did the same thing at 24 when I found out the company I was working for lied and cheated. I had to live off a credit card for months before getting a different job, but that was better than selling my soul.)

Good luck to you!

You must not read very much if you think she's a fabulous writer.

I feel like many people hit this point in there life, but instead of quitting they suck it up and go home feeling miserable everyday…what a waste of time in your life! Jamie, you were right to quite after two weeks.

A question to oneself: do you sacrifice your own morals, ethics, and mental state to a company you don't fit or agree with? No, you remove yourself from the negative energy. And NO company would spill all the beans during the interview (they usually sell themselves to you as well, so you want to work there). Obviously this company was doing something she did not feel comfortable with.

I think what Jamie did was risky, and I think she is brilliant for what she has surfaced for herself and her blogs.

Most people don't spill the beans about themselves either. I bet Jamie didn't say to her interviewers "if things get rough here, I am totally bailing." So who is misrepresenting themselves?

People also deal with rough patches at their dream job. You're either naive or clueless if you don't understand that. I love my second job but it is frustrating and it makes me unhappy sometimes. Not everything is rainbows and sunshine.

Jamie really is brilliant! I wasn't totally convinced after the first five posts that said she was, but I am now. Who could argue with all those exclamation points? And what could possibly be more brilliant than bolting a job that totally sucks?

People used to say Einstein was brilliant, but what did he ever do? Just some stupid science stuff that nobody cares about. He never had a blog, and if he did, it would have been SO boring. Plus what's up with that hair???

Honestly, Penelope's last guest post made me want to unsubscribe, and her own posts lately don't do much for me either.

Now, I see this and I'm convinced. I'm unsubscribing.

I will acknowledge that quitting her first job and moving back home will not automatically doom the author's future, but it wasn't a smart move. And brilliant? Hardly. We don't know the details but it didn't sound like it was the job from hell, just not her dream job. Sticking it out and giving it an honest chance would have been the courageous move. I've never liked a job until a few months in but never quit until at least a year.

I don't take fitness advice from fat people or financial advice from poor people and I'm certainly not about to take career advice from someone who just quit her first job after 2 weeks. You sound pretty sharp so I'm sure you'll recover and land another gig. However, as an older fella with kids, I can tell you that your parents are probably very concerned right about now.

OK, I'm old, been working 30 years, and I don't even know where to start. You have no idea what a job is like after 2 weeks unless you were outright lied to. Last job I gave it a year to decide, then I quit.

Jamie,

Many people who have commented here don't know your background or the circumstances of why you quit your job after two weeks. I didn't either until I went to your blog and new website earlier today and spent some time reading various posts.
I am impressed with the amount of work, passion, and creativity you have put into these sites. Very good job in a small amount of time. I didn't come across the reason you quit your job after two weeks but I wasn't looking for that though. I just read Taylor's comment above and will assume the reason for quitting is as stated there. I can't verify as your site was inaccessible – probably due to the heavy traffic. :)
This is the thing though, I shouldn't have to read through your sites to get some understanding why you gave this advice. After the sentence "It took me about two weeks to admit to myself that I was unhappy. So I quit." in the first paragraph I think you need to explain why you were unhappy and why you quit. It definitely would have helped me to understand the advice you gave in the rest of the post.
My first reaction to this post was you didn't spend enough time on this job to really know if you made the right decision or not. I was ready to comment stuff like "patience is a virtue" which it is but it may not be applicable here. The devil is in the details and you have the details. I hope you write a follow up post and include a link from this post.
Penelope has given you a great opportunity to get exposure and feedback from this post. There's a lot that can be learned from many of these comments so be grateful for that also. Good luck to you in your future endeavors.

Mark

You CAN get that unhappy in two weeks.
Once I took on a job that was a great opportunity; a job that everyone told me I would be crazy to pass up. I had to agree that the job looked fantastic on paper, but I knew my heart wasn't completely in it. Still, I thought I was just being resistant to change. When I was told that I got the job, I just started to cry. I didn't know why.

I stayed there for 3 miserable years. It was a fine job, but not the right one for me. At work, everyone said I was wonderful, but I still always second guessed myself and lost a lot of confidence. Yes, I learned a lot about myself. I also gained weight, racked up credit card debt, and almost ruined my marriage. If only I had trusted my intuition. When you are happy, you make better choices.

I had 2 jobs that I had bad feelings for after 2 weeks.

1. Junior year in college, I signed up to work part-time at the main cafeteria to make some money so I could get a car. Hated it and quit after 2 weeks. It was strictly a transactional relationship as I was just working for the paycheck, no career impact, and not a blip. I actually took an on-campus job mopping floors which I liked better and did that in said (which shows how much I hated the cafeteria job).

2. During the my first 6 weeks of Peace Corps, I was having trouble adjusting, felt that I was offering nothing to my community, and was miserable with the lack of privacy. I told myself to suck it up for 3 months since adjusting to a new job, new country, new everything was tough. I evaluated my goals for joining the Peace Corps and confirmed them. Also, the fact that I was giving myself an out in 3 months made it easier. After 3 months, I turned the corner, stayed the 2 years, and changed my life.

I'm joining the pile on that your post sounds like a rationalization to yourself. If the job is purely transactional and for a paycheck that you don't need to live on, well, leaving is a different story. If it's a down payment in a potential career, it is worth more time to consider. An interesting post could be evaluating this decision in 1 year or later to see if you view it differently.

Penelope, I also wonder why you selected this as a guest post and if you had any guidance for Jamie about the post?

2 cents poorer,
Deadhedge

I am 22 years old and started my first job out of college a few months ago. The first month or so, I was depressed because my life changed dramatically. I no longer had the free time I had in college and my life was no a lot more structured by my 9 to 5 job. That is when my mentor told me that it is completely normal, that it will take some time to adjust and that I will be learning a lot in the next couple of years.

Three months later, I am really loving my job. I am learning something new everyday. Most of these skills are "soft," like communicating effectively with managers, managing my own time, etc. In my first two weeks, I did not understand ANY of this.

I think there are good arguments to quitting a job early and I expected to see some of them when I read the title, but I have to disagree with most of your points.

You go girl!

20 years ago I did the EXACT same thing. It seems hard at that moment, (especially when your brand new boss screams at you saying you'll never amount to anything) but alas, when you go forth to do what you are meant to do, it will be perfectly clear that you did the right thing!

Congrats on following your heart!

I don't believe Jamie's decision can be put down as a Gen Y stunt.

Remember the classic Gen X movie: "Reality Bites".

A bunch of my mates made the same decision as Jamie in our early 20s, ten years ago. I remember when I came straight out of uni (sorry Aussie term), moved cities and landed my first professional job. It was bloody difficult and I was ready to pack it up. As I said, a bunch of my mates did. Its an early 20's thing, not a Gen Y thing.

I don't think two weeks is enough to get over the shock of being in a new place. There's a certain period of adjustment in a new job while your mind tries to assimilate all of the things that are new around you. For most people this is quite stressful.

I would rebut several of your points in turn, but I think this is the most important:

"You'll have more respect for yourself if you respond to your needs". Feeling unhappy is just one of many emotions people can go through when starting a new job. In general, people fear change. I'm trying to picture an entrepreneur starting a business "responding to their needs" instead of doing what's needed when they're forced to work longer hours to make their business a success, or having to chase funding, or having to let employees go during tough times.

A critical indicator of success is most definitely not the instinct to quit at the first sign of discomfort, it's hard work and tenacity, plain and simple.

I was the twentysomething who stuck it out at a job I hated for 5 years because of expectations just like I'm hearing in the comments other people are writing.

I think it's entirely possible to know if a job is rotten in 2 weeks, it's just whether or not you're willing to admit you judged your employer or dream job incorrectly.

Staying in my rotten career mainly because it was my foot in the door into the industry I trained for, was a big mistake that started a bout of depression & just about ruined the rest of my life.

Since then I've learned a lot about expressing myself in many more ways to help not become so unhappy, but in my first job after my career demise I realized that it wasn't just the job that drove me away. My new boss and I clashed & it felt like history repeating itself.

Kudos to anyone who has the courage to "cut the cancer" right away.

Alison

Dear Jamie,

I have a lot to say about your post, and I hope my stepdaughter does not read it.

One, I looked at your blog and gist is spelled gist, not jist.

Two, I agree with the previous commentator who said you sound like a mini-Penelope. The fact that you sound so much like her might be a clue as to as to why you quit a job after two weeks and moved in with your parents.

Three, post-college is a confusing time. Back in 1979, I quit my first job after two weeks (stamping the name of an insurance company president on policies) and after a couple of restaurant fill-in positions, moved back in with my mother (my father passed away my final semester in college, and she did invite me to move back, but it cramped her style during a time when she was discovering new aspects of herself).

I can tell you that my attempts to avoid reality by quitting and moving back home, set me on a negative career course that took a long time to correct.

I believe in my situation, the roots were lack of confidence, and lack of a true sense of what I wanted in terms of a career.

Not sure what exactly is going on with you, but talking with a career coach might be of value.

Personally, and I am basing this on experience, I don't think what you said in your post has any real value for your peers.

Also, speaking on behalf of Baby Boomers everywhere, we don't want our kids back home unless there is a MAJOR life transition reason (like cancer, divorce situation involving baby/small children…)

I am sure all the Gen Yers will rip me up for that, but it's the damn truth!

Jamie,

When you engage in bridge-burning behavior like that, you come across as flaky and irresponsible, and your reputation takes a hit. Remember, people have long memories when they have been burned (especially with Internet search technologies helping to remind them), and this industry is smaller than you think.

FYI, I told my children that their butts are out on the street when they hit 21. The best way to help a child grow up (even an adult "child" like you) is to force them to learn how to make their own way in life.

You can formulate an opinion about a company within the first couple of weeks. Interviews can be misleading since the company will try to put its best foot forward and may not show their true colors until later. There's a lot of bitter parents on here but most baby boomers wouldn't understand Jaime's motives since they've been conditioned to sacrifice their happiness for a paycheck. Baby boomers are out of touch with the entry level job market anyways.

Daughter (now 31) went to law school & her husband also. She loved firm she ended up with, but he didn't so after 5 yrs. they relocated to another state for him to "find his passion." Unfortunately, now she hated her new job at the law firm she ended at. She stayed there practicing successfully while deciding to follow her TRUE PASSION–become a law prof. So she pursued this WHILE STILL BEING EMPLOYED at the firm she "hated." When she got a position as a law prof she left the firm on good terms (never "burn bridges" if you can help it).

If she had a major catastrophic illness or something, I think she would return home to live with us. Otherwise, both our kids were proud to be "off the payroll of the parents" as soon as they went to college on scholarships & figured out the rest themselves. They both had jobs since they were 15–working maintenance at a tennis club or at McDonald's or working the front desk at the tennis club (coming in at 6:00 a.m. Sat. & Sun. morning to start her shifts).

We could afford to pay for them to not have to work, but my husband & I were both basically set out on our own in our teenage years & you learn quickly not to give up on a job after 2 weeks unless you have a better job in the wings.

I want more for my kids than I had myself. I was raised to stick it out, to keep at it and to think that I did not have to like what I did because it was just a job and I work to live not live to work. But alot of what I learned was WRONG!
I have hated my job for a long time and cannot find the courage to leave – the programming is too strong. But at 23, with no responsibilities other than to her or him self, a person should experiment!
Parents should provide a safety net – within reason – as I will with my kids. Life is meant to be explored to the fullest. And that means starting life with the ability to explore, advance, or retreat as needed until one finds one's calling.
Cheers to you Jamie. I wish I could do what you have done. It will make you a more effective, happy, focused and well adjusted person in the future when options are not so freely available.
my2centsworth.

my2centsworth
You are the most BRILLIANT person that has responded to this so far! Everything that you said is so true. Why waist your life away at something you don't love or even like. Even only for two weeks!!!! I was brought up that way too and I was forced to work at terrrible jobs and in terrible situations because my parents told me to stick it out. I was miserable…Jamie is a person that has outstanding insight in what she is capable of doing and what she wants to do. I think she is an inspiration to all young people.

Taylor–were you raised by wolves? Wolves who couldn't spell?

Being a generation Xer, I believe that it is possible to know from day one that you are not going to stay with a company for several years; I’ve felt like this on my last two jobs. However, I did not quit after two weeks. Instead I stuck the jobs out for a couple years each and I learned a lot of valuable things. I also learned that I need to ask better questions in the interview to ensure I know EXACTLY what I was getting myself into instead of going into a job thinking I’ll be doing one thing and then actually performing another. In my generation it’s not ALL about the money but, having some sort of job fulfillment. We know the perfect job doesn’t exist however; working is a major part of our lives – why not at least like where you work or what you’re doing? Quitting after two weeks may be a little rash.

Wow, did this post make me feel old! As a 50 something male, who reads Penelope's blog frequently, and often learns something from it, I struggled with Jamie's post. How would I feel if my 22 year old son showed up on my doorstep having quit his first "career job" after just two weeks because he wasn't happy in his work?

I'm a strong believer in being happy in one's work. If one spends 8 to 10 hours a day at something, one should find some enjoyment from it. But two weeks? Part of growing and maturing is finding the things one can be happy with. If it's not the company, can it be finding a mentor in the company who can provide advice?

My boomer sensibilities say that it's not up to the organization to ensure that the work one does is meaningful. Rather it's up to the individual to find meaning in one's work, whatever that might be.

So, if my son showed up after quitting 2 weeks into his job; you'd better believe he would be paying me rent to live at my place again. Which means he'd have to find another job pretty damn quick and he probably won't like that one any better than the one he just left.

~ Scott

Great article! I recently quit my job after 9 months, yet I hated it from day one. The first three months I felt I had to prove something. After three months, I felt that I had too much invested in the company and couldn't just quit. I found every excuse to stick it out but never truly enjoyed the job which probably prevented me from achieving my fullest potential. I apparently hid my lack of interest pretty well, but as you mention in the article, the Company had no idea that I hated it since day one.

Well, I am now at a new job and absolutely love it. I still look back and try to find the benefit I received from staying there so long but can't find anything. I sometimes wish I would have manned up and quit after two weeks, but there isn't much I can do now.

Matt, I'm not bitter about my daughter moving back in with us. All I am saying is that learning to support yourself on your own is the most important lesson we can teach our children. Your parents clearly understand that, and you yourself have admitted how much better off you are for it. I'm doing everything I can to get my daughter on her feet and learn these lessons (which her older sister has done tremendously, oddly enough), but posts like this can unravel weeks of effort on my part in a matter of minutes.

I know that this doesn't address the actual topic of career advice, but life lessons are important as well. The piece of career advice I would give (and I think Penelope has said something to this effect as well), is you need to work to support yourself. Do that as best you can. But don't necessarily look to your "work" to define yourself. Self-actualize by what you do in your life, not by what you do at your job. If you're lucky enough to combine the two of those, great! But waiting for it to happen is not sage career advice.

Scott – I don’t disagree at all with you on your point. And I apologize for my misinterpretation, I understand how it could have come off as cold – I wasn’t trying to say you don’t love your kids and want them to be successful, not at all.

And you are correct – I am much better off for having supported myself and being able to handle everything that has come (thus far) with very little support from my parents. But it’s different strokes for different folks. I do think that Jamie was a little brash in her decision making here – I understand if something isn’t a fit for you, but in the real world – you have to pay your dues a bit before getting to where you really want to be. It’s not about being miserable for years before your happy – it’s about taking everything in and learning from it. But at the same time, she did what she thought was best and I don't fault her for that – or the fact that she turned to her parents for support during a very difficult time in our economy.

Life lessons are important and you make a great point that I REALLY agree with. The work should never define you; you should define the work that you do. I understand that this has to be realistic and within some constraints at times – but it’s absolutely critical that you don’t lose track of who YOU ARE in any circumstance or situation. If there is ONE thing that I think Jamie, and a lot of other folks reading this can take away – it’s that point; only you define who you are.

I wonder how Jamie is going to explain this, once Twitter (or some other potential employer) Googles her name and discovers her post here.

Exactly what I was saying! (read comments between myself and Anna a couple of posts up from this one) I want to hear how she "spins" this and uses it to her advantage for a new job.

Well, her uncle just offered her a job. So, see, it worked.

This post made me want to vomit. I grew up in a single parent family and my first job was cleaning restaurant bathrooms at age 15. I worked my ass off to get an education and to find jobs I love, but there were plenty of times early on when, if I didn't work, I didn't eat. And yes, I have been hungry.

Today, I am a doddering 43-year-old with an 18- and a 21-year-old at home, and I'm in therapy right now because I am having such a hard time helping them "launch." They have a lot in common with Ms. Jamie, including the luxury of bring supplied with food and shelter while they figure out what makes them happy. Neither of them are even looking for a job right now. I don't have the heart to kick them out.

Back to the post: is it a crime to quit a job after two weeks? Hell no. I'm open-minded; I'm happily on my fourth career right now, not counting waitressing.

But QUITTING. AFTER. TWO. WEEKS. DOES. NOT. PROVE. INTEGRITY. OR. PASSION.

And no company in the world will see a speedy exit from a 23-year-old as a reason for soul-searching about why it's not supplying its new hires with their requisite dose of daily joy.

Grrr.

Thank you.

I am a doddering 53 year old, who on two occasions in my 20s moved back in with Mom 'n' Dad for a little while. But I was NOT in that position because of integrity or passion: far from it! <b<Lack of integrity or of passion is more like it. Had I had integrity, I probably wouldn't have needed their help; had I had lots of integrity, I probably would have accepted it, but would not have asked for it.

You don't file bankruptcy because you're a shrewd financier, but because you aren't. You don't move back in because you're a career success, but because you're a failure – at least for now.

No matter what the situation, or the circumstance, or the creative and self-serving rationalization, to think of it any other way is delusional.

As a business owner and entrepreneur, I want to work with people who are resilient and can get through a tough day with good humor, grace and grit — because that's what it takes to accomplish the big stuff that really makes business fun and rewarding. That's what you could have learned. But not by running home to mommy and daddy, bwaaaaaah!

Good luck to everyone who takes your advice and quits their job in a recession.

My only real problem with this post is that Jamie has turned a very specific personal choice about a very specific personal situation into non-targeted preachy advice.

Just because you live through something one way doesn't entitle you to make a bulleted list for how other people should live like you. She should have told her story, explained her point of view, and ended it. The story-telling element makes blogs interesting. In this case, the advice diminished the story.

The only thing the author is guilty of is being a little flip with how she introduced this post. There is no detail as to the reason for quitting and that may have appeased some of the do or die folks who would have kicked her out on the street if she were their offspring.
But this post is not for seasoned folks like me, it's for newbies! Why hate a job because of the people, conditions, etc when you have the wherewithall to do better? And in this instance, doing better seems to have involved returning home after a move to another town. What could have precipitated this? We can only imagine, but I would be very careful not to label anyone as shiftless or socially useless for making a decision to quit a job when the writing is on the wall that it was a bad decision to take it in the first place.
I find myself asking why corps can fire employees at will but employees must stick it out? Are we letting the economic times influence our thinking or is this really a generational thing?
I for one would welcome my daughter home if she made this choice. I know her and know her character, therefore I trust her judgement. If I didn't trust her decision making capabilities, things might be different.
One shouldn't boot their offspring from the nest just because they hit a chronological marker that's abdication of responsibility in my opinion.

Your comment was the most straight thinking and relevant regarding Jamie's post. And I completely agree with every word you said.

I have mixed feeling about this post. One thing that I will agree with is the feeling of empowerment of leaving a job you hate, even with no safety net. This is something you can only do when you are first starting out (if ever). It really does teach you what you are and are not willing to bear.
I've been on both ends of this issue. I took a job I knew I would hate just because my unemployment was running out. It was a miserable 9 months.
At another job, we hired someone who aggressively courted a job opening. After 2 weeks, he started calling in sick and having "family emergencies". He resigned via voicemail with no notice. That made everyone furious because he wasted our time.
Leaving a job that quickly is something you have to be 100% sure about, because there will be consequences you have to be willing to accept (like not using that place as a reference).

1. Your job performance will be terrible if you hate your job.

No, your job performance will be terrible if you are unmotivated, unprofessional, lazy, or can afford to be apathetic to your situation.

2. You'll have more respect for yourself if you respond to your needs.

As long as not being weak isn't part of self respect, I can give her this one.

3. You'll prove your commitment to passion and engagement at work.

You are not proving your commitment to passion and engagement at work. You are declaring that your passion and engagement at work applies to a narrower than infinite set of work circumstances.

4. You'll do the company a favor.

The only way you do the company a favor is if you forfeit your pay for those two weeks. Or by not taking a job you aren't ready to commit to. While they have a decision to make in hiring you, you have a decision to make in seeking and accepting a particular offer.

5. You'll set yourself up for success.

By proving you can count to five, maybe, as that is now your largest accomplishment.

If you wasn't living with your parents, would you have quit?

Had you had a child I doubt if you would of had that option

Matt's comments above irritated me almost as much as Jamie's. Granted, I don't know the story of why his parents weren't supportive of him coming back home. And maybe his attitude isn't quite as expecting as he sounds.

But sheesh. He had a college education. He had a job. Why exactly did he need to still live with Mom and Dad? Oh, that's right. He wanted to save money. Well, don't we all?

A parent's goal is to raise a strong, confident child who grows up to be a self-sufficient adult. College is one of the tools that aids this process. True, Gen Y disagrees as to when and what constitutes a self-sufficient adult, but for the most part it's when you hit your 20's, graduate from college and get a job.

That's the time you start doing it on your own. And you save your own money by living within your means – on your own – just like everyone else.

Here's the loving truth, as crude as it sounds. If you do too much for your children, you're doing them harm. You're not giving them the chance to learn things for themselves, to struggle and succeed, to gain pride in what they've achieved and the confidence to do more.

Matt, your parents sound pretty wise to me. They let you work hard and be responsible as a teenager (believe me, lots of parents have problems allowing this). They also stood firm in getting you out the door after college and on your own. Again, that's a hard thing for parents to do – it's very possible this was harder on them than it was on you. By nature we want to help our children and do everything for them.

Before you judge Scott or harsh out on your parents, give yourself time to become a parent yourself. You'll be surprised at how your viewpoints change!

Why do people leave jobs so early? HOw do they know it's wrong? Here are my reasons.

I'm 29, not 23 so have a mixed bag of career experience behind me. I recently left a great writing job I'd been in for 3 years to join a small consultancy which seemed awesome at the interview. But, I was fairly sure after 3 days that it was all wrong. I started job hunting soon after and managed to find a new one and leave the consultancy after 8 weeks. I've been in the new job for a year now and have loved nearly everyday of it.

But why did I leave?
- As an experienced graduate I was being asked to do mundane tasks like filing and copying.
- My colleagues were bitchy and rude and often plain ignored me most of the day.
- Work was scarce and there wasn't much on the horizon. I doubted their stability.
- I missed the kind of work I had been doing and realised I wasn't suited to consultancy (yep shoulda researched that more).
- I would go home and cry every night and feel sick to the stomach in the morning.
- My doctor told me I was suffering from severe stress and wanted to put me on meds.
-My employers, despite what was said at interview, turned out to be petty e.g. ignoring overtime but harrassing you for arriving 9:02 instead of 9:00 (seriously).

I would've learnt things if I'd have stuck it out but I didn't like the people or the work and I knew my talents lay elsewhere. I'm so pleased that I did leave as I'm now in the best place of my career to date.

I don't understand the abhorrence people have for asking one's parents for temporary help. Most people I know would be more than happy to help their adult children, provided they're in a position to do so. Where is it written that parental support must cease upon graduation? And what's with the pejorative "loser"? Long gone is the era where you work for one employer for three decades before being given a gold watch. Employers don't exist to make sure their workers are learning and growing and satisfied. That burden is now on employers, and that means changing jobs more often and creating your own opportunities. Sort of like we're all independent contractors now, regardless of how long we spend at a particular job. That might mean we need support now and again. I've been lucky enough to receive it, and I've also been lucky enough to provide it to family members. I hate when people say this in comboxes, but I truly feel sorry for those of you who would never help adult children nor ask for help if you found yourself in a dead-end job. You can't tolerate the concept of career-life happiness because you feel subsequent generations aren't paying their dues as you did. It's a different world now. Time to get on board.

Interesting responses by the Gen Y'ers. For all of their supposed self-confidence, disagreeing with them seems to usually result in being called "angry", "jealous", "a hater", or "bitter". Which, of course, one does when you want to minimize the argument of another party by attacking their motivation instead of attacking the substance.

People can disagree with Jamie's blog post and do it for perfectly valid reasons that have nothing to do with bitterness, jealousy, hate, anger or judgement. And High Achievers, like my 7 year old, can argue their points intelligently without resorting to name-calling.

Now here is my take on Jamie's post: big flipping deal. There is no here here, no big massive insight. I quit a busboy job after 4 days when I was working myself through college. I went back to McDonalds to work with my girlfriend. No life lesson that I needed to bestow on the world except that making out in the freezer next to frozen hamburger patties is cold.

Here is my advice to Gen Y: learn to have some grace, humility and humor as you go through the world. You are not as smart as you think you are and the the other generations are not as dumb as you believe. You haven't fought back evil like WWII, you haven't broke down social barriers like the Civil Rights movement, you weren't part of the great technological advancements of the 80's and 90's; so far, your #1 achievement seems to be an ability to bear breasts on Facebook and MySpace while talking about your massive world saving capabilities from your parent's basements. 65% of young college graduates living at home isn't a statistic to be proud of unless prolonged adolescence is a virtue.

And if Taylor is an example of your "best and brightest high achievers"; then someone needs to open his mind and pull the stick out while taking the shift and 1 buttons away from him immediately. I suspect he wants to bed Jamie but hopefully she makes better choices in men than she does in the companies she chooses to work for.

"bear breasts"??? Are you talking about photos from trips to Alaska?

You did say you from graduated college.

Wow SG, nice job catching a spelling mistake. I guess you can cross that off your list of accomplishments today :)

I guess Gen Y deserves the right to arm bears, or bare breasts :)

Humor SG, Humor…it's easier when the stick has been pulled out :)

Why do you get to let Mommy and Daddy support you when everyone else has to work and make a living? Spoiled. Insolent. Coddled. Brat.

While I don't agree with quitting after two weeks and going home to live with Mom and Dad, I don't think enough of the facts were given in the article as to why she had to quit. Sexual harassment? Quit immediately. As one person earlier said she was lied to about the job description. Yeah, that would piss me off too but I don't think I would have quit. Every bad experience does turn out to be a good one and will be used somewhere in one's life. I've had some good jobs working with difficult, annoying people and I learned so much for the future. There will always be difficult people wherever you work. So this experience has taught her to look out for herself because companies won't. This is true too but there's no need to be narcissistic about it. I hope she'll take care of her parents someday like they've protected and provided for her.

That's odd, all of the links in Jamie's post point to old Penelope posts.

Let's take a look at this…

I had the security of knowing I could go back to my parents’ house to live. (Which, by the way, is such a good idea that 65% of new grads do it.)

Sounds like there's a lot of parents out there that are spineless enablers and plenty of grads that are equally spineless with no sense of dignity.

1) "Your job performance will be terrible if you hate your job."

Your work ethic sucks if you only give a job two weeks. You take on with an employer, you owe it to them to stick with it for six-months to a year, to honor the ethical committment you made to each other. Do you honestly believe that if you told the company you wanted to do a two-week trial-run first, that you would have even scored the job? Me neither.

2) "You'll have more respect for yourself if you respond to your needs."

You'll have even more respect for yourself if you can also look out for the needs of others.

3) "You'll prove your commitment to passion and engagement at work."

You'll prove that you're ADHD and can't keep your eye on the ball for more than two weeks.

4) "You'll do the company a favor."

You'd have done them a bigger one by not accepting the position.

5) "You'll set yourself up for success."

You'll damage your character while deluding yourself into thinking you're brilliant. That's OK in high-school, that's not OK in the corporate world.

This has got to be the most narcissistic post I've seen to date. Don't get me wrong, if I discovered an insidiously caustic environment, I'd jet if I had to, but for none of the reasons above and I sure wouldn't be patting myself on the back. More likely, I'd be kicking myself in the rear. If you read through each of these, the point they scream is that: YOU DIDN'T RESEARCH THE POSITION WELL ENOUGH. Apparently, that scores you a guest post on Penelope's blog.

This is not well written and not well reasoned. Jamie I looked at your blog and girl – leave some commas for the rest of us.

Jobs are like the weather, they change all the time. You get new responsibilities, new bosses, new tasks. If you stay in a job for 2 years its likely to go from good to bad to good every six months. And all that change is good. Its unrealistic to expect you could walk in the door and be passionate about the mission of the company on Day 1.

I think you should consider the possibility that you may have made a mistake, that your personal development and happiness would actually be greater today if you had stayed. Maybe you wouldn't still be there, but sticking it out might have led you to another opportunity. One you didn't get living at home. You seem 100% sure that you did the right thing for you and the company and you want to share your genius with others. I worry that your next job may last just as long as your last job.

A couple theories on Jamie's post making it to Penelope:

#1
Jamie is actually Penelope.

#2
Jamie is not actually Penelope. But she's like many young people who don't quite have an understanding of how the internet can affect their lives. For years.

Transparency works for Penelope because she's older, wiser and well-established. Transparency is Penelope's trademark. For twentysomethings, however, it has the potential to be crippling. Few this age have the acquired discernment to know what will help them in the future or what will bite them in the bootie.

This little posting may just be the ticket for Jamie. She may even get her dream job from it. But just as easily, she may have written her own bad reference and made the whole world privy.

Be careful, Penelope, how you use people to boost your ratings.

I don't think Jamie is actually Penelope, but I do think that Penelope wrote this post, or at least heavily edited it. Either that, or Jamie chose to link only to years-old Penelope posts as some kind of homage to her mentor.

I dont see any negative long term impact from a blog post like above by Jamie. It's well articulated thought process whether you agree or not with her actions. Bottom line, she got a job, rapidly discovered that it wouldnt' work, had the mentality to move on right away.

97% of people would stay at least six months– but more likely for their "safety" and pay and not because they thought it was the "right thing" towards their new employer. Stuff happens.

I am a twentysomething and I'm disappointed that you would think this is a legitimate way of handling yourself. Your rash decision making skills are making the rest of us twentysomethings look bad. Your first job your going to hate- college is much more fun then any job you'll ever have. But at a minimum, by hating your first job and sticking with it, you'll learn what to look for in your next job.

Wowsa-People really get riled on this topic. I still say it totally depends what you do with an experience like this that counts. The proof is in the pudding-do you actively fight to pursue that Sustainable Passion or do you fold up your tent and stay home for the next few decades. We need a followup! In my "An Open Letter To My Daughters" I tired to strike the balance between the 2-its not what you are doing at 22 that counts, but what it leads you to be doing at 52 that mattered in the end!

It is interesting that people think they know someone from a one page post:)
The judgements flow yet few of you, but Taylor has done any background sleuthing as to who Jamie is or what she stands for. How does this relect on you… very poorly.

As an immigrant, I have different ideas about raising kids, more akin to Vicki's. I expect to be a safety net, an advisor (not a dictor), and a role model to my children. I would not advocate keeping the doors to the nest open indefinitely, but a recent college grad needs help and not just financially. That's not enabling!

To those who credit Jamie with much of the moral decay we see in youths today:), I ask you to harken back to what your parents said about you, and your generation. Then determine if your opinions are the result of logic or of the harsh realities of your own lives making you bitter and unempathic.

Life will often suck even with the help of loving parents. But to allow one's self (or one's child) to be unhappy in a position that has no redeeming qualities is just plain self-violation. Additionally the "I had it hard so my kids must have it hard too" ideal is a crock of…!

Parents should be parents in the true sense of the word, and know the child of whom they speak or make decisions about. So far, most of you are just being "soapbox jumpers" with a burr in their britches about societal and generational issues.
My2centsworth, Dale to you Taylor:)

This is the most naive post I've ever read. This girl is so deluded it is truly unbelievable. I perish to think that I may at one time have held similar beliefs. I also, just recently started a new job, at age 34 mind you, and at the two week mark I was literally standing outside my boss's door, ready to go in and give notice. It has now been 4 weeks and things are looking up.

While I do have a mom who I could go home to, I'm old enough to know how unfair that would be to her, plus I want to continue living the in that city I moved to, and she can't pay my bills for me. To quote Jamie:

"But there is a rule for who succeeds and who doesn’t:" The one who succeeds apparently has mommy and daddy to run back to when they don't like their new job.

The one good thing is that you are 23, and I do agree, that if you have the opportunity to take advantage of your parent's situation, now is the time to do it. BUT BE THE MOST GREATFUL PERSON IN THE WORLD! Pretend like you are roomates with them and treat them with the utmost respect. They did their job. Anything more is just being nice.

There is a fine line here. There is "this is absolutely not what I thought this job was and I am unqualified/uncomfortable" and "the people here are utterly terrible".

Even as a professional, I have had jobs that I wanted to quit after two weeks. They didn't get better. It would have been better for everyone if I had quit after two weeks.

This is not the worst advice in the world. It doesn't mean that you should be a spoiled brat – which is not how I read it, at all – but it does mean that you aren't chained to some 50's mentality about service to the company or the almighty dollar.

If she didn't do her groundwork, well, now she's learned what she needs to do. She said nothing in that post about finding her dream job. She just said that it was completely wrong for her.

You are SOOOO young and naive!!! If you seriously think that subsequent prospective future employers are going to have a warm positive feeling about sommeone who quits without really even giving the situationa chance, youare ONE CRAZY CHICK. What this says to me more than anything else is that you are unreliable and someone I definitely wouldn't want to hire. Grow up – if work was 100% fun 100% of the time, you wouldn't be getting paid for doing it. If you want to recover from this mistake, make sure you actually give the next job a chance.

Wow, I'm so glad I came across this. I, too, am a 23-year-old, who just last month, quit a job after only 6 weeks. I was lucky to get another job right away after I got laid off in December, and a job that paid better, no less. Unfortunately, after only a few weeks I could clearly see the disparities between what I was told the job was going to be, and what it actually ended up being. So, in the middle of a recession, when I had no back-up plan, I up and quit my job. Irrational? Maybe, but I would rather make a decision that others disapprove of or judge rather than stay in a job where I am miserable, disrespected by superiors, and in which, everyday, someone else quits as well. No, I'm not lazy, and no, I'm not inept; I just find my dignity much more imoportant than my paycheck.

And luckily, I have a father who understands. While he is by no means a rich man, he understands what it is like to work your whole life at a job you hate, and what kind of toll that takes on your mind and body, and I think that's the last thing he would ever wish for any of his children to experience.

Sounds like you weighed the pros & cons & then made a wise decision. THAT is making a decision based on rational thinking rather thank emotional thinking–which I think can get us in to a lot of trouble when trying to make these kind of decisions.–

I am Gen Y, and I hated my first job after college. Why? Because it wasn't FUN! After a few weeks, I learned how to appreciate my time at work. Of course, I would rather not be at work, than be at work… but work is work. I enjoy what I do, am good at what I do… but would I rather sip margaritas on the beach? Of course.

Sometimes work sucks. This, too, shall pass.

I have been in one of the rotational programs mentioned above. While it is true that each assignment lasts a few months, it took me just 2 days to know whether or not I was going to like the coming months. So, Jamie's 2 weeks isn't the ridiculously short period they might seem to people who haven't changed jobs (or at least often enough to see the pattern of confirmed first impressions).

Umm how about making money so what if you hate your job your not just going to quit and magically get the job you want…who cares if you hate your job your still getting the money you need to provide for your family..not everyone is lucky as you :)

While I admire that you can go with your gut, I guess i would have to ask – how do you know you truly hate it after two weeks. I would also have to ask, if you just graduated from College, what types of full time jobs have you had to compare this two week experience to? I can definitely understand if you had been at a company or two previous for a long period of time and then had something to compare but how do you really know.

1. Your job performance will be terrible if you hate your job.
I agree but at the same time how do you know if it it will if you don't know what your performance could be? I have known many people that have not been happy at their jobs but are very good performers, actually some of the top so this assumption is not always correct but an assumption.

2. You'll have more respect for yourself if you respond to your needs.
I definitely agree. at the same time it has only been two weeks. so what would that say to future employers if you were to build a history of short term employment? maybe that you would never be satisfied, so what incentive would they have to employ you?
Don't get me wrong I applaud staying true to yourself but be sure you can justify the difference between discontent and just plain finicky.

3. You'll prove your commitment to passion and engagement at work.
…people who switching jobs regularly makes people more engaged in their work. This makes sense. If you stay in a job for a long stretch of time, your learning curve goes down and things do not feel as new and stimulating.

I have to disagree with this… if you switch often what can you really learn besides that you have a short attention span for working. some people hate the job, some people hate the people but that does not mean your commitment to learning will stop or that with some companies you don't have opportunities to develop your skills and competencies.

4. You'll do the company a favor.
I definitely agree. at least save yourself and the company the time and money.

Employees at, Apple, for example, produce the best products in the world because they are passionate about the company's mission.
I have to say how would you know this, you never worked their and jokingly if you hated it you probably would have left after two weeks. these employees actually work long hours and have less personal lives then the next person but they get paid a LOT.

5. You'll set yourself up for success.
I disagree.

High performing employees in companies like GE, Proctor & Gamble and UBS all get to rotate through a wide range of jobs at the beginning of their career. This is because job-hopping is a great way to build skills early in one’s career. We should all have that chance. There are no rules that say you need to stay at a job that is not teaching you enough.
Umm there is a big difference between a job rotation and job hopping. they are not the same.

And there are no rules that say how long it takes a person to know a job is not right. But there is a rule for who succeeds and who doesn’t: People who have self-confidence, respect, good teamwork instincts, and a sense of when it’s time to cut their losses; these are the people who succeed. That’s why high-performers leave bad jobs after just two weeks at work.
I am sorry I have to be a little sarcastic but I take it you know this from your in depth and long proven 2-week experience? I know many people who are very talented and have all the attributes that you mentioned but have not been able to get very far…
it all depends. while some people who hate or love there jobs also have the same skills but have the same chance to make it.

i wish you luck but please take into consideration that some of your thoughts, though valid to you, may disappoint you in the future… but i wish you the best

I seem to stick at jobs for about 4-5 years before I get the itch. Even if I hate it, I tend to stay for a few more years before I jump.

Not sure why that happens, but I think it has to do with fear. I am dealing with fear much better these days.

I am more of an entrepeneur these days and see the beauty of creating and building something yourself.

Most people who have made successes of themselves realize that they are the creator.

I'm an early Gen-X'er. I've hated some aspect of every job I've ever had. But I have also learned an enormous amount from each of those jobs so that it was never a complete loss. And ironically what I learned in the jobs I hated the MOST helped me develop my own thriving side business that I'll carry into my early retirement.

I feel for this young woman…I can't tell you how many times I wanted to quit and move back home with my parents back when that was possible. But I didn't out of pride and my own sense of independence. This doesn't mean I haven't experimented wildly and jumped around alot. I have. But I've never spent less than six-months in any one position. And I always, always had the next gig lined up before I jumped.

If you are young and have a safety net and working someplace is "killing you" (the definition of which changes after two decades in the work force) , by all means make plans to leave. But be a bit more strategic- determine what went wrong, what you'll do better next time, where you want to go for greater job satisfaction, etc. Calling it quits after two weeks shows your age, and that is never a good thing.

Quiting your job is not that easy! Money is the key!

Quiting your job will not take you to your dream job

I am rather conflicted myself. As far as Jamie the person is concerned, I am reluctant to be overly judgmental. We don't know the whole situation; there are many sides to every story. And of course, what works for one may not work for another. At the same time, this blog item is one of the most self-congratulatory pieces of garbage I have seen in a long time. It seems she is trying to justify her actions, not only to herself but to the rest of the world as well. Methinks the lady protests too much?

In this missive she seems to have embraced the mantra of "always follow your passion, no matter who or what gets in the way." I could write a 10 page rebuttal, but I won't. I will offer this nugget of wisdom at the ripe old age of 34 (yes, I am a slightly cynical X-er). Passion can be a wonderful thing *if it is channeled appropriately.* Many great human beings have followed their passions: Benjamin Franklin, Madam Curie, Thomas Edison, Gandhi…the list goes on and on. On the other thing, *these* historical figures also followed their passions with gusto: Nero, the Marquis de Sade, Napoleon, Adolf Hitler…again, there's more where that came from too. I will let it hang there. You can draw your own conclusions.