I have more than ten years of professional writing experience, though I was new to the proposal writing field. During onboarding, I was not informed that new hires were expected to become fully independent in the role within the first 30 days. This expectation was communicated during my 30-day review. I was also not provided with a clear list of deliverables or timelines outlining what success in the role would look like during that first month. Management demonstrated strong technical knowledge and experience in proposal writing; however, the feedback style was often highly critical and not consistently constructive. Early work was described as below expectations, but specific guidance on how to improve was not always communicated. There were also instances where feedback felt discouraging rather than supportive, particularly given that I was new to the proposal profession. On one occasion, I was reprimanded for working remotely while unwell, despite remote work being common practice across the team, including management. Ultimately, the lack of clarity around expectations, combined with an unsupportive management approach, and need for structured guidance during a career transition, made the role unsustainable for me. I chose to leave after one month.
