I was let go from a job after only one month for "not learning fast enough," even though they never told me anything about my performance was a concern to them, especially to the point of termination. Has this happened to anyone else? Is this normal?

Yes it has. Sadly I was thrown to the wolves. No one wanted or knew how to do what I was hired for except TC. I knew my job but they wanted someone to do as they wanted not how it was suppose to be done.. keep your head up you know your worth. Something will come along.

I would suggest reevaluating your take away from this exchange. Most jobs have a 3 month probationary period once you start and those 3 months (or less) is where you are to prove your mettle that you are capable and teachable. With reading your responses to other comments, your double major has set you up for failure as it sets your bar extremely high along with all of your prior experience above and under the table.

Reconciliations, especially banks, are very easy, basic and expected to be done by all size companies. They probably expected with your history that you had done your fair share of bank rec's by then and that you should have picked it up very quickly within your first month, if not week. I would reevaluate what you put on your resume if you want a more lenient probationary period.

It doesn't make sense to me that you could be terminated after a month. I agree with the comments from Armanino LLP - It doesn't matter if you are an experienced hire or someone without any experience. It could definitely be that the company over-hired and used performance as an excuse. It is definitely not normal. I am the older worker and have experienced employees resigning after a month but never being fired for performance.

We’ve seen poor quality coming out of colleges in recent years

Do you have an accounting background?

If it was a recruiter hire, they would do it fast to avoid a payout.

We have terminated employees in less than a month as it was clear they were just not a god fit for the culture. We are in a right to work state, so where I live this is a lot more common than other states.

I'll add that when my boss told me the reason, that I wasn't knowing how to "resolve issues" fast enough, she added "well, you really should have gotten it in the first week, it's extremely easy." I was doing Bank Recs/Deposits for 2 of their locations, cash/check/CC, along with other tasks. They expected me to be near perfect at doing that after one week, meanwhile knowing my background is that of fresh meat out of college, basically. She said that since I didn't get it after a week, that it concerned them that I wouldn't be able to handle more accounting in the future. I'd like to believe that my 4 year, double major prepared me at least a little bit for this, so I'm having a hard time understanding where it all went wrong.

That seems like the new normal

I had something similar happen and I was basically getting yelled at by manager on a regular basis and being shamed on calls “ you should already know this I can’t believe you don’t know this”. It wasn’t a good fit and that happens. Unfortunately some people are good at working but horrible managers who lack empathy and forget what it was like starting out. It’s really to make mistakes when the environment isn’t supportive. In the mean time learn those concepts on your own. Watch videos take practice exams, you will definitely get there.

I had a bad experience recently. I was promised to appoint as a deputy financial controller and grant visa sponsorship. They wanted me to work for 1 week and promised to pay for the week. After working for 1 1/2 weeks they said they can’t provide sponsorship. I had no choice but to accept. Due to their promise, I gave up an accounting assignment and a part time job. Finally they refused to pay sighting some nonsensical reasons. Thank God I realized, finally that was a good outcome that they didn’t hire me even though I lost some money. Leant it was a very toxic environment. Even the head of finance doesn’t come to office and work remotely. Finance staff and MD has to go to the house of the head of finance for any meetings😃. So you get such low level companies. Have to bear it.

OP this was not you. CPA here who has worked for many years. That place sounds toxic and very poorly managed. I know it doesn't feel like it now, but this was a blessing. You'll have many jobs over your career. Don't waste your time and talent at a place that treats its employees like $hit. You should feel valued and have good rapport with management. If not, run. There are many other opportunities. Know your worth and keep your head up.

Can I ask what area you live in?

There’s something to be said for correcting mistakes quickly. One side may not see it that way.

College teaches you the principles of accounting, not application or "how to". If they hired you as a sr accountant and had expectations you could perform at that level after a degree and 1 year experience, I could understand them letting you go. Problem solving is HUGE for an accountant. My frustrations in training Jr accountants and bookkeeper was them not having the ability to problem solve and being able to distinguish between a symptom of a problem and a problem and causing more issues by failed solutions, if they could provide one...

What’s your background OP? What type of job? Public accounting? Small private company? H&R Block? Being termed at 30 days is unusual for most “white collar” jobs. However, without more information, no one except the folks who termed you can provide meaningful insight.

Just because you have a degree doesn’t mean a thing. I didn’t have a degree for a long time. Learning on the job is more valuable. It’s too bad your boss wasn’t a better mentor. Count it a blessing that you got let go. Sounds like it could be a toxic environment.

Sue

Update?