u/Guilty-Reception-95

I joined a tech company as a fresher about 7–8 months ago. My initial probation was 6 months, but on the last day of probation, they extended it citing “performance issues.”

What’s confusing is ; the feedback I got was almost the same as what I received 2 months before that. It feels like there was no real evaluation of my progress, or maybe they just didn’t take the time to reassess properly.

Since joining, I’ve honestly put in a lot of effort. Compared to some others who joined around the same time (in different teams), I feel like I’ve handled more work and picked up more skills. I was hired as a backend dev, but I’ve been given a mix of frontend, backend, and even testing work. I didn’t complain because I thought learning more would help.

But the way work is handled in my team is frustrating: They assign me good/important tasks, but then take them away midway saying it’s urgent and give them to a senior ;

This has happened 3–4 times now ;

I end up fixing minor bugs while someone else finishes the same task in roughly the same time I had originally asked for ;

There are no clear expectations defined for me

There’s also clear favoritism in my team. Two people are close to the manager, and they’ve never really helped me. At times, it feels like their opinion influences how I’m evaluated.

Also, during my review period, the senior who usually assigns/reviews my work was absent for a few days. Not sure if that affected the decision.

Recently, the company did silent layoffs and put some devs on PIP, which makes things even more uncertain.

Now my extended probation ends in the first week of June. I’ve been doing everything they’ve asked ; regular check-ins, trying to improve, taking initiative ; but I still don’t know what exactly they expect from me.

Some days I feel like I should just stick it out, other days I feel like they’ve already made up their mind and I’m just being dragged along.

If they extend my probation again, I’m seriously thinking of quitting.

Has anyone been in a similar situation? Is this normal in some companies?

Should I wait it out or start looking for a new job now?

Am I overthinking this or are these red flags?

Would really appreciate honest advice.

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I joined a tech company as a fresher about 5 months ago. The standard probation here is 3 months, but mine got extended by another 3 months citing “performance issues.”

The thing is, I genuinely don’t understand what exactly they expect. The system I’m working on is ~10 years old, pretty complex, and still evolving. I’m still trying to fully understand it, but I feel like expectations from me are unrealistically high for someone this new.

There’s also a senior in my team who is very close to the manager. I’ve heard from others that if he doesn’t like someone, he can influence the manager’s perception of them. Recently, during the appraisal cycle, multiple people who weren’t on good terms with him were either laid off or put under performance review. Some of them had just joined the team and didn’t even get enough time to ramp up.

Now my probation is about to end, and I feel like I might be next. This senior already doesn’t treat me well, and my manager seems to rely heavily on his opinion.

What makes it more frustrating:

- Sometimes I don’t get meaningful tasks, even when I ask for work

- Other times, I’m given tasks that don’t seem impactful or even get released

- I get reviewed every 2–3 days, which feels unrealistic for proper development work

- There are comparisons to AI tools like “this could be done faster with Claude,” which feels unfair because decision-making and context still take time

Meanwhile, people who joined with me but are in different teams seem to be doing much better and are having a smoother experience.

I honestly don’t enjoy working here anymore. It feels like effort isn’t fairly recognized, and decisions may be influenced by internal bias rather than actual performance.

At this point, I’m mentally preparing for the possibility of being let go once my probation ends.

Has anyone else faced something like this early in their career?

Is this normal in some companies, or is this clearly a toxic team situation?

And most importantly — what should I do next?

​

I joined a tech company as a fresher about 5 months ago. The standard probation here is 3 months, but mine got extended by another 3 months citing “performance issues.”

The thing is, I genuinely don’t understand what exactly they expect. The system I’m working on is ~10 years old, pretty complex, and still evolving. I’m still trying to fully understand it, but I feel like expectations from me are unrealistically high for someone this new.

There’s also a senior in my team who is very close to the manager. I’ve heard from others that if he doesn’t like someone, he can influence the manager’s perception of them. Recently, during the appraisal cycle, multiple people who weren’t on good terms with him were either laid off or put under performance review. Some of them had just joined the team and didn’t even get enough time to ramp up.

Now my probation is about to end, and I feel like I might be next. This senior already doesn’t treat me well, and my manager seems to rely heavily on his opinion.

What makes it more frustrating:

- Sometimes I don’t get meaningful tasks, even when I ask for work

- Other times, I’m given tasks that don’t seem impactful or even get released

- I get reviewed every 2–3 days, which feels unrealistic for proper development work

- There are comparisons to AI tools like “this could be done faster with Claude,” which feels unfair because decision-making and context still take time

Meanwhile, people who joined with me but are in different teams seem to be doing much better and are having a smoother experience.

I honestly don’t enjoy working here anymore. It feels like effort isn’t fairly recognized, and decisions may be influenced by internal bias rather than actual performance.

At this point, I’m mentally preparing for the possibility of being let go once my probation ends.

Has anyone else faced something like this early in their career?

Is this normal in some companies, or is this clearly a toxic team situation?

And most importantly — what should I do next?