Leaving new job after 2 months - advise please on seeking new one

I had been working for a very large and well respected multinational IT company for 3 years. Started pretty much at the bottom, in sales, quickly worked by way up to managing corporate accounts and did very well and earned great money in my time there. I decided I wanted a change, ideally I wanted to specialise and go into software sales (database, crm, erp etc) as its a booming market, the money is very good and I wanted to refine and develop my skills. I put my cv on monster.com and got a lot of replies, one especially from one of the very large market leaders in the software game. I got to final round interview stage with them, but before I had my last interview, I got approached by a very small IT Security company offering a very very nice package...

Basically they had only been going under 2 years, got a very good product of their own, and recently acquired the distributorship for a complimentary product. They have under 10 employees in Northern Ireland, and wanted me to head up the development of Southern Ireland. They offered me a huge amount of money and said that if I performed well the world was my oyster in terms of promotions and earning potential. I knew it was a risk but I took the job...

My main objective was to build a channel of IT companies to resell our products for us, and also to try to bring in direct business on the side. The target was huge but I suppose achieveable after many months when I had 15-20+ companies selling it for us. I had some experience and contacts in the field so at the beginning it went very well, but after I had dried up my contacts I had to do a lot of cold calling etc to try to get business. I had done some before but at least when you are calling form a big company everyone knows it makes it a bit easier. They didn’t provide me with any leads, and very little support so it quickly became a struggle I wasn’t enjoying. I was also working from home which was not ideal, I live in a small apartment, I had to find a spare room in a friends office and persuade them to pay for it.

After about 4 weeks they were putting the pressure on me to bring in sales. Building a channel takes time and effort, but they wanted me to hold off on the channel and just go out and bring in sales. That meant making 20 cold calls to get one lead. Not enjoyable. They didn’t give me any help, basically said use the golden pages. I was getting very stressed and unhappy so I have decided to leave. I called up the large software company that I had got to final round interview stages with and am now going to interview with them next week. However, obviously they were very concerned with what went wrong and why I am leaving so quickly.

My question to you all is what is the best way to deal with this when being asked about it in interviews. It’s important not to be negative, but I don’t want to sound like I am incapable. I just think I am not suited to the job. The person that is will do very well, but that person is not me.
Advice appreciated. Thanks

Like you said, stay positive. Highlight your past successes & don't bad mouth your last job, even though you're leaving after 2 mths.

I would look for what are the main differences between job no. 2 and job no. 3 (to be hopefully), possibly also 1 & 2, as reasons for leaving.

Bit tricky though if you're trying to second guess what they're actually looking for.

Hi
Sounds like exactly what happened to my brother - left a very well known mulitmational he was working with in England to move to a smaller, starting up company (he's in management consultancy). He was anxious to move home and altho the first company promised him a transfer to Ireland in a couple of years, he wouldn't wait.

Big mistake. Like you, he was basically left to his own devices to drum up business and put under severe pressure. The great promises of expansion and growth didn't materialise and the company atmosphere was cut-throat.

He managed to get a less high-flying but more dependable job - stressing his successes in the past and never saying a bad word about the other company, just that they weren't going in the direction he wanted and that it hadn't neen a good 'fit' between them, but that he had matured and learned some valuable lessons.

It can be done, and better get out now when you've realised your mistake (don't call it that to the interviewers!) and get into a decent firm.

Best of luck!

I think the key point here is to emphasise your reasons for leaving your last employer i.e. you wanted to refine and develop your skills. You could imply that you took the new job for a probationary period as the role was not clearly defined (only setting up in the Republic etc.) but seemed to pose a challenge which interested you.

You could indicate that you were not informed that the work was going to be home based as you have always enjoyed working as part of a team. Point out what you have done for them already i.e. the Channel, 15-20 companies selling their product in such a short space of time, so you feel you haven't let them down (would try to phrase it a bit better).

Anyway I know in these situations that no one can tell you how to play it. Often one just needs to get a few ideas as to how to approach the problem.

Best of luck.

N.B. Do not bad mouth your employer, looks very bad.

In terms of peace of mind a small company is always a risk, there will always be unasked pressure, you may perform well, but just that the company doesnt have the culture of being in that situation will make life miserable. If I were you and worried about my "personal career" and "Personal Goals", I'd get going with a large MN unless its difficult to get one such or you dont mind taking risks for a larger gain!