quit august 31 or stay through probation?
tl;dr: first job after graduation at an non-profit. took it because the job market is rough. don't like the frontline/field-heavy work or the overly involved “we're a family” work culture. also started my master's and health hasn't been great. told my manager around week 3 that i didn't see myself doing it long term, and we've had 3 discussions about it since. manager knows about my mental health and that parts of the work are difficult/triggering for me. there was also a mix-up where i didn't apply for this specific vertical, but the program manager thinks i did.
23f, first job right after graduating. i took it partly because the job market is brutal and i wanted the experience and income.
started at an ngo in late may. probation ends around sept 30. around my third week, i already told my manager that i didn't see myself doing this long term. since then, we've had 3 discussions about it: one with my manager, one with the program manager, and one with both of them.
i've been pretty clear that i don't like the work, especially how frontline and field heavy it is. i also don't like the work culture or my coworkers. they're very involved with each other and there's a strong “we're a team and family” culture. i'm just not someone who wants that from work. i'd rather do my job, speak when necessary, and go home without all the extra noise.
i've also started my master's, and balancing both is getting harder. my health hasn't been great either.
my manager is already aware of my mental health issues. i've mentioned that certain aspects of the work can be triggering and difficult for me to navigate, as well as the language constraints i face with some people.
when we first discussed my options, i said i'd be okay continuing until the end of probation at most. now i'm not sure i can actually stick it out that long.
there's also a weird situation with the vertical. i didn't actually apply for this specific vertical. there was a mix up somewhere, but the program manager thinks i did apply for this role. i also didn't get the right information about what the vertical actually involved before taking the job, so there's been a weird air around that too.
about 6 weeks after i first said i didn't want to do this long term, my manager has now asked me to put in a formal resignation. apparently there's an exit procedure they need to complete, and raising the resignation ticket now would make that easier. i'm not sure if that's purely administrative or if they're trying to get me to leave before the stipulated probation end date, but they've asked me to resign.
financially, i only really need the money. i don't have another job lined up. if i leave on august 31, i lose september's salary. if i stay through september, i get another month's income and complete probation.
there's also a team day at the end of this month. they usually announce departures and do farewells. i'm extremely introverted and anxious, have barely spoken to maybe 3 people out of a team of 40ish, and really don't want a public farewell. i'd be okay with my vertical being informed if necessary, but there's not even really a handover needed because my caseload would just be redirected elsewhere. i don't see why the wider teams need to know. my manager has said they'll have to announce it.
so would you quit august 31 and take the financial hit, or stay through september?
also, am i being unreasonable by changing my mind after previously saying i'd stay until probation? and can i reasonably ask them to keep the announcement to the relevant people and skip the farewell?
Posted Aug 13, 2026, 4:08 PM UTC