Whenever I place someone in a new role, I phone them a couple of days before they start to say Good luck and stay in touch. I always add that if for whatever reason, the role isn't what they hoped it would be that they should give me a ring. Superstitiously I think that if I say that, then it won't happen and it'll be at least a couple of years until I hear from them again.
Fortunately, it is extremely rare for a candidate to ring me when they are less than a month in and to say that they're not happy. Interview processes are robust, candidates and employers both have sufficient opportunity to suss each other out, to assess the role, the business, the culture and their fit in that environment. However, just occasionally the phone rings and I see the caller ID and I anticipate the worst.
However, occasionally....it does happen. And it has happened recently. Literally 2 days into the job, I had a call. The candidate wasn't happy - everything was wrong. Usually I would go through the issues and try and identify whether the issues were resolvable. This candidate had just worked a lengthy notice period, the new employer had waited patiently and now, 2 days in, the candidate was ready to walk out.
Most people do have financial responsibilities and constraints so the idea of walking out of a role is not feasible. I would always counsel against this too - unless there were some extreme reasons to leave. In this particular situation, the candidate felt that they'd been pitched an employer and role that didn't exist. A couple of employees who had been there for a long time had been particularly negative on day one and the feedback they were giving her had started to raise a series of red flags that they couldn't ignore.
The last time that I had a situation like this, the candidate settled down. It had been early days and after a long spell with their previous employer, they found it hard to adjust to the new business. However, after another fortnight, they were totally on-board and felt at home. Sometimes, that's all it is - a period of adjustment. Another candidate found that they were largely doing administrative tasks and after a couple of weeks was frustrated, but after a chat with their Line Manager, they were given more challenging work and a timeline with their targets and a framework for development. This candidate also is now very happy.
The current candidate was adamant that they wanted to leave, they felt their gut instinct should be listened too and so we agreed that they would sit tight and we would review the market again. Thus giving a bit of time to see if it could be different whilst also putting in place some searches to see what else might be available. In this situation, the candidate didn't want to discuss the issue with their Line Manager, they simply felt everything was wrong and nothing that the employer might suggest would reassure them.
This is a very tricky situation. As a recruiter I have a responsibility to the candidate and to my clients. It's not about fees, we have in place good rebate systems which ensure that should a candidate leave in their first 3 months, the recruiter will traditionally replace or provide a rebate depending on how long the candidate has been there. It's also tricky because if the candidate leaves, they will leave a pretty big hole for the business to fill, and having waited for a long notice period to be worked, they will struggle from a resourcing point of view.
As I say, this situation is very rare. I am very thorough in ensuring that candidates are briefed on all interviews that they go to, to ensure they're only interviewing at businesses that are a good fit for them (on many levels) and that the recruitment process truly assesses if it's the right job and the right business for them. I don't mind when a candidate withdraws after an interview because it's much better to recognise the wrong fit at this point rather than in week 3 of the new job. I trust that employers will assess who is right for them too- and for the clients and campaigns that the candidate will manage.
In summary, if a new role doesn't feel right, try to establish and articulate what isn't right. Where appropriate talk to your new employer and it's very possible that it's just going to take time to get used to new processes and procedures. But if you're absolutely sure, then there will definitely be something else out there for you and a good recruiter will help you do that.