Dear Harlan: I started a new part-time job three weeks ago. I have been through the training, and I don’t like the job. This is my first time working in retail. It’s a business that is already short-staffed. Also, the owner is a friend of my family. I don’t want to let anyone down, but I know this is the wrong place for me to work. I’m not any good at my job and make a lot of mistakes. How long do I need to stick this out without the business owner hating me?
— Regrets
Dear Regrets: It’s too soon to quit. Make sure the job is the problem and not you. Most new things don’t feel good. Yes, making mistakes and not feeling good about your work is hard, but that’s part of learning. Give yourself permission to not be great at the job. Before leaving, give yourself time to get better at this. It can take a couple of months to start to get good. Once you start figuring out how to do the job and get better at it, you might be surprised to find a sense of pride. You might even get a management role. Give it more time and then decide what you want to do. If it’s genuinely not the right fit, you can share the problem. Any business owner would want to know the truth. But hiding, running and leaving will only lead to a new job with the same problems.
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