Feeling Stuck in a Tough Job: Should I Include This Short Experience on My Resume?

Seeking Guidance on Job Transition and Resume Concerns

I am in a fix on how I should take things forward. I have 8 years of experience mainly in administration. I have recently joined this firm (4 months ago) as an administrator, but I am not satisfied with the job profile and the work environment. I left my previous organization for better prospects; it was a large organization, but my job profile was limited, and I wanted to learn more.

This is a small architectural firm with only 24 employees. I have three staff members working under me (two office boys and a receptionist) in administration. However, they all make me feel like I work under them. There have been instances when all of them raised their voices at me, possibly because I am younger (I am just 24) and they have been with the company since its establishment.

Since joining, I have not been given a specific job profile. The management (the owners, a husband and wife) hired me to maintain discipline in the office. When I inquired about the profile, I was informed that I would need to take initiative and work independently. This was surprising to me, but I thought I would need to struggle until I settled in. They did not have any HR policies, so I took the initiative to create a set of policies with the help of the Cite HR site, but it was unsuccessful. They complained that the staff were consistently late, so I started recording their timings and suggested implementing late marks. I would compile an Excel sheet and submit it weekly, but even that was unsuccessful.

I managed records of AMC, bills, staff details, scheduled interviews, handled emails, created offers, experience letters, etc., but my work was never appreciated. Consequently, I began completing tasks delegated to me. In the past four months, I have solely organized the office cabinets and filed approximately 1500 documents. If I assigned work to the admin staff, they would respond rudely and outright refuse to do it. When I raised this issue with my boss, she did not believe me. At times, they even lied to me about their actions and provided a different version of events to her.

I understand that it may be challenging for them to accept working under a younger woman. However, I have never acted superior to them; in fact, it has always been the opposite. Currently, my boss criticizes my management and organizational skills every other day. This is hurtful as I have always been praised for my work throughout my professional career. I have not even received my appointment letter yet; the boss keeps promising it but has not provided it since my first day. She disapproved of me conversing with the staff. I believe that administrative and HR roles involve listening to staff grievances. They have installed cameras to prevent staff from chatting, which I disagree with because I believe in enjoying my job rather than just doing it for the sake of it. Ultimately, performance is what matters, and I noticed that the staff delivered despite the strict environment.

The primary motivation for the staff seems to be the compensation offered by the company. However, I have observed many employees resigning. According to the staff, they have endured harsh treatment from the owners, who are unsatisfied, always complaining, and expect employees to work long hours without overtime pay or meals.

I have decided to resign from this position. It is better to leave if both my bosses and I are unhappy with the situation. I cannot compromise my self-respect by tolerating unjust criticism. I acknowledge that I can adapt my work approach, but changing people's attitudes is beyond my control.

Questions on Notice Period and Resume Inclusion

My question now is, do I need to serve a notice period? I did not receive an appointment letter; I was only sent an offer letter via email before joining, which I did not sign as I never received a hard copy or replied to the email. However, my name is listed in their attendance register (the only proof of my employment). Should I include this 4-month experience on my resume, or should I treat it as a gap before my next position (which may affect my resume, but I am unsure if it would be favorable to mention such a short tenure)?

I have attached my resume for any suggestions and improvements.

Please advise, and I would be grateful.

Regards,
Rashi Shinde.

Dear Rashi,

Your problems arose because your employers have not provided you with a proper job description. Another issue is that you have worked in a big company where systems and processes are somewhat defined. In your current job, nothing is defined.

Anyway, what you have shared is your side of the story. Without hearing from the other side as well, it would not be possible to give accurate suggestions.

Taking what you have written at face value, it seems that your employers lack leadership qualities too. If tardiness is an issue in their company, they should have addressed it themselves rather than waiting for you to join and resolve it.

However, this challenge is common in small enterprises, not just in your company. Even if you had joined another company, you may have encountered similar problems.

About Your CV

You have listed the details of your current job first, followed by your academic credentials. It would be better to place these academic credentials at the end. Additionally, your entire CV lacks quantification. I mean that wherever possible, you should include numbers indicating what was increased or decreased. You could mention, for instance, "handled _____ calls per day."

When moving to your next job, be sure to request the job description.

Ok...

Regards,
Dinesh V Divekar

Thank you very much, Mr. Dinesh. I agree with all of your suggestions. I have also made the changes to my CV based on your advice. I am considering leaving my current job soon, but I am unsure as I have not yet found another job. This might result in me being unemployed for some time, possibly even for several months. Additionally, if I do get called for an interview, there could be two perceptions: either that I am changing jobs for financial reasons or because I did not perform well during my probation. If I omit this job experience from my CV, it will appear as though I have been unemployed for four months. I would like to honestly explain the actual situation, but I am uncertain if it will be convincing to the interviewer. I will definitely thoroughly review the job description before accepting any offers. Thank you once again; I truly appreciate your feedback.

Rashi, you clearly don't have the required executive support in the organization. While many companies believe you should 'fight' for it, professionally managed companies try to support it. At the same time, you have also seen that your proposed strategy didn't go well in the organization. So, you might need to change your management style and learn from this experience.

Technicalities aside, I would recommend an aggressive search. Whether you discount the current job or not, you will have to stay truthful and clear.

Regards,
Nikhil

It is a common affair in small firms across many industries to conduct background verification of companies. Many sites are available nowadays. Here are a few suggestions:

1. Be fair and clear in all your communications with your future employer. Keep a copy of the email offer and bank statement in the absence of a salary slip as proof of your job. Why show unemployment when you did your best as per your mail in your current job?

2. Never badmouth your current employer. This world is a very small place. You can always give technical reasons but never say you left because of issues with your employer. As Divekar ji rightly said, people do not know the other side of the story and may find you incapable of taking on challenges and ambiguity.

3. Try to secure a job while you are currently employed to avoid falling into depression.

Thank you.