I recommend that you read @tucsonmom’s list carefully. Excellent advice.
I would only add that there are 168 hours in a week (24 x 7). Your bosses would be delighted if you worked all those hours. Fortunately, you may well be able to do this job and have 100 hours left over.
I work in a field that also has seemingly endless hours for those who are ambitious and want to make a name for themselves. We are salaried, and do not think in terms of work hours but rather assignments, projects, and due dates. We work less in teams than you probably do. (My field: academia, at a research university.)
My son started his career at a major consulting firm right after earning his BA. He was probably smarter than his bosses, who were MBA’s. But he didn’t much like the work or his bosses. Nonetheless, he stuck it out for about 3 years, then moved on in his career and has been highly successful. Chalk up those 3 years to being a “learning experience.”
I think you have to give this some more time, work with your bosses (who are also under tremendous pressure) and with other personnel. Do the best job you can do. Make deadlines. Make suggestions. Please the clients. Then after another year or so, reevaluate.
“OP, if you were “average” at Yale (your words) you are brilliant.”
Not necessarily. But work isn’t one giant IQ test. Most students who go to highly competitive “elite” schools were among the top students in high school but find themselves less than that in college. But that change does not necessarily challenge their self perceptions. After all, if you are capable of A’s without busting your gut at an elite school you’re still doing well among a strong pool, right? So you can actually graduate without ever experiencing failure. Well the real world isn’t as kind. Some schools ensure that graduating without experiencing any sort of failure is highly unlikely. Those schools (MIT, CMU) are often criticized for being too harsh but I bet fewer grads from those schools retreat when they can’t solve a problem or aren’t at the top of their game in the work world. They figure out what is going wrong and tackle it.
“it is ALWAYS easier to find a new job if you are already employed.”
Agreed. That said, there IS a circumstance where you should leave the job without a new position – if you are so miserable that it’s wrecking your health. Don’t let a job destroy you physically or mentally. You don’t have kids to feed.
Did you intern at different organizations when you were a student at Yale? Can you look back and analyze what type of work you enjoyed? Can you apply for a transfer to a different group within your current organization that is more aligned with your interests or see if you want to move to one of the organizations where you interned and enjoyed the work? Can you seek out some of your immediate seniors who may be working at your current workplace and with whom you had a close relationship at Yale? It may also not be a bad idea to talk to folks (student affairs, placement etc.) back at Yale and get help and support from them. I always tell my interns and junior employees to get help if they are stuck on an issue for more than 4 hours. Are you stuck on issues and not able to move forward? Then you should reach out and get help. Also, do not be too hard on yourself. Most of the new employees are also in the same situation. It’s just that different people handle situations differently. Are you taking up work that is not directly related to what you should be delivering? Focus only on what you need to produce for your team and completely ignore any other work. See what you can learn from where you are and move forward. And definitely talk to your parents. They know you best and can suggest ways to address the situation you are in.
I don’t have much to add to the already excellent advice on this thread.
Looking back at various jobs I’ve had over the years, there have definitely been rough spots, either with the supervising manager, team members, or the nature of the job itself.
During rough spots, I found it helpful to try to take a step back and look around at who seemed to be thriving. What are they doing differently than am I? Is it my personality, their personality?, work politics, work skill set, what is it, and can I change it?
Taking some time to mindfully observe others & yourself, and taking some time to evaluate whether you can make the necessary adjustments might lead you to some clarity and solutions.