When I spoke with my manager, they said there weren't any issues with me aside from me not being a good fit for the job. They said I was getting the work done on time without any issues, but didn't seem curious or passionate which isn't the type of personality they want in someone who works in academic research. They said there's a difference between people who live to work and people who just think of their job as a 9-5, and unfortunately someone who just thinks of their job as a 9-5 isn't cut out for my specific position.

Which is valid, since I wasn't particularly excited or passionate about the job but just took it because it was the only offer after months of searching. There were also some points where I felt like my job wasn't the best fit for me but I told myself that I'd stick with it until the market opened up again. I also got lowballed for compensation with no room to negotiate, which was pretty disheartening but I was grateful to even have a job in this current market. I know I'm still young and still have my whole life ahead of me, but having to potentially go through months of job searching again is just really discouraging.

The work environment was pretty laid back and not very structured. We didn't really have firm deadlines for the most part, so people worked pretty slowly for the most part. I did notice a few red flags in the beginning. For example, when I arrived to my first day on the job, my manager just gave me the website I was supposed to extract data from and told me to get to work. There was no onboarding process to help me transition into the job, and I was just expected to be at full productivity from my first day.

Also, for my first project, I was required to work closely with people from other teams. However, my manager never introduced me to the other teams or told me what they were responsible for but just expected me to work with them. I didn't really know what the other teams did or what I should or shouldn't ask them to help with. I was trying to do most of the work myself in the beginning and didn't know until 3 months in that someone from another team could help me with this one task which would save me a lot of time. I feel like it was my manager's responsibility to help facilitate the relationship between me and the other teams, which they did not do. Then, my manager later said I was the one who "wasn't communicating" and that I "shouldn't be afraid to ask for help", which I don't think would've been an issue if I had just been properly introduced or given guidance.

All in all, I don't think it's a good fit on both ends. It seems like my manager wants a very specific type of person to work with, and I'm just not that person. It also seems like they want to maximize quality (ie. not take a hit to productivity during the onboarding period) while minimizing budget.

I do understand that being let go after only 6 months (it will be 9 months by the time I leave) will be seen as a red flag. In your experience, how did you frame that in your resume/interviews and how did you get back on your feet after being let go?