Is it wise to leave your job after 6 months?

Hello everyone,

I am very confused as to what i should do. Basically i was originally working as a Web Developer, programming in PHP, and some C#. Team of 5 people.

I then joined a company of over 50 people as a Software Engineer working with ASP, Javascript, SQL and C#. The skills i have learned so far is brilliant in regards to SQL, jQuery and AJAX, however when i had my interview, and as per the job spec i assumed i would be working mostly on C# stuff as oppose to Classic ASP.

However i have been there for 6 months and have not done a single piece of development in C#, everything is in Classic ASP. The projects that do use C# are taken over by the Senior Engineers.

Now to be honest, i would rather work with latest technologies such as MVC and C#, but this is not the case. For this reason i am contemplating leaving but i’m thinking if it would look bad on my side for leaving only after 6 months?

Would my next employer not be too happy about this?

Can someone please offer some advice, i would really appreciate it.

Many thanks,

Have you spoken to your superiors about this?

First, talk to your boss and see if you can build a personal career plan. Give them a chance, maybe there’s a good reason to keep you doing those tasks.

Yet, if you’re not happy, I don’t see why you need to suffer. Keep your job while you find a better one.

Changing jobs after such a short time is only a problem if you do it regularly.

Well this is the problem. Because my knowledge of ASP is slightly weaker as i did it in like the first year of studies (4 years ago) i am having to ask Senior Engineers a lot of questions when i get stuck.

This is making my line manager think i don’t know what I’m doing. But the problem in actual fact is that I’m not happy doing classic ASP as i would much prefer and would willingly work overtime if necessary if i was developing using latest technologies.

If i mention anything to the Seniors, it would be called up in the Senior Eng meeting, the boss (being how he is) would probably think, nobody else is complaining so why should i change anything just for one person…

So i don’t want to lose my job without leaving myself having found another job.

I’m stuck really, the Seniors were once in the position i am in, but it took them like 1 and a 1/2 years to finally start working with C# stuff. If i want to be employable i don’t think i would get very far with working 1.5 years in ASP as oppose to .NET4, MVC and C# which is what all the big companies are looking for.

:rolleyes:

Basically the way the manager is, and according to peers, there would never be a salary increase, only if i got promoted to a Senior Engineer’s role.

There have been people working there for 4 years and are still at the same level as where they started. Now I’m not the kind of person to stay at a company just because of the money, i want to build experience and become familiar with all the latest technologies as it would help me in the future…

I have my 6 month probation in 2 weeks, i think they will keep me on and i will pass it but in regards to looking elsewhere, thats where i need the advice :slight_smile:

Then it really depends on how much you need the job. You can do it know or wait other 6 months and expose it later (a year is a reasonable amount of time)

Simply tell him that you already know C# and working in ASP Classic is in detriment of your C# knowledge. When should you do it? As I said, it is up to you.

If you are certain that they’re not going to listen to you, don’t say a word and search for another job.

So far i have not any major difficulty in finding a job, thank God. For example where i work now was my first interview and i got the position.

I would assume if i started looking elsewhere it wouldn’t be too long before someone takes me on. But i want to play it clever. I don’t want to look bad for leaving after 6 months as mt next employer could think i would do the same to them… But at the same time i don’t want to leave it too late and be out of coding in C# etc for a while. So currently it’s been 6 months so maybe my next employer would understand my situation if i’m honest, but maybe not? :frowning:

I have mentioned to my senior engineer that i would prefer it if i worked on the latest stuff to enhance my knowledge and develop my skills further so i will have to see if this is taken into account.

Having said that, even if this is done and i start working with C# i would still have to develop in ASP in majority of the areas. Sooo it all comes down to the following:

  1. Will my possible next employer not take me on because i left my previous job after 6 months?
  2. Should i stay at my current job and see how things pan out?
  3. If i want to be successful and work for corporate or well established companies, would i need to steer away from ASP and work on latest technologies?
  4. Does working on older technologies have an impact on future career development?

Feel free to respond with your thoughts everyone :wink:

Just be honest about it. Going in, you were hired to do x, but ending up doing y instead because you happened to have some background in it.

  1. Should i stay at my current job and see how things pan out?

It doesn’t hurt to try, as long as you go about asking in the right way (in other words, don’t make demands or ultimatums)

  1. If i want to be successful and work for corporate or well established companies, would i need to steer away from ASP and work on latest technologies?

Classic ASP, yes. I can’t say I see too many job listings for that these days. I mostly see listings for VB.NET, with the occasional ASP.NET (C#).

Does working on older technologies have an impact on future career development?

It depends. If those older technologies retain a demand, they you would still have job opportunities. If not, then you won’t. Either way, it’s always good to be aware of other newer technologies in case you have to go in those directions.

According to me,first focus on learning things in your current company or in somewhat different company.Talk to your boss if they will help you,otherwise join some different.

Thanks for your responses everyone.

I have my probation review in 2 weeks so i will bring it up then as i think i have a right to say what i think. (To an extent :lol:)

I will keep you guys updated and let you know how everything goes. Lets hope it all goes well.

Many thanks,

Will my possible next employer not take me on because i left my previous job after 6 months?
No, not at all. Basically, you’re bored at work looking for challenging work. If someone gives this kind of response, I immediately think “He’s a good choice”. Of course, some company are just looking for Human Computer who do nothing but stupid stuff… Yes…they do exist and there is a need. They really don’t care what they do as long as they don’t do overtime.

Should i stay at my current job and see how things pan out?
Yes!!! Stay in your current job. Since you’ve been there for 6 months, you should kind of know if you’ll be working in C# project in near future. Go with your guts, it never hurts to search another job.

If i want to be successful and work for corporate or well established companies, would i need to steer away from ASP and work on latest technologies?
That depends on what kind of projects you want to be involved in. You can’t just say “I want to work w/ a project that uses latest technology”. You need to specify exactly what technology you want to work with. Once you know the technologies you’re interested in, then you’ll know what companies work w/ that technologies. Or, you find the company you want to work for and find out what technology they use.

Does working on older technologies have an impact on future career development?
Yes!!! You’re going to get comfortable and have less desire to learn new technology. Then you get stuck at that company for life. It never hurts to pick up a book to learn new skill so never stop learning