Thinking about leaving my job--advice?

[IUHoosiergirl88]

I work in defense contracting so I'm going to be keeping this as vague as humanly possible, but I'd like some advice.

I started at my client site in early September, and this is my first real job post-graduation. I did a full-time internship, but this is my first 'big kid' job. I absolutely love my direct supervisor and my 3 teammates, although I don't feel like I fit in very well with the rest of the project (they're all married w/kids, I'm 24). As I've gotten settled into my job, I'm realizing that I was hired to do something drastically different from what the job description said and what my background is in. The description was rather vague, but I'm being forced to learn how to code...which is a stretch for me and I'm struggling with. I can deal with that, as it is at least challenging and I am learning, but the job description didn't mention this whatsoever, and I would personally prefer something more in line with what I actually have experience in.

However, the work environment has become hostile and threatening, to say the least. I work for a company that, as a whole, is supposed to be in the top 100 'Best companies to work for,' but my time has been the opposite of that. Things started off fine, but over the past month or so, we've been getting increasingly large numbers of nasty emails from project management about employees breaking the rules, to the point of one employee getting removed from the project. We've never been given any rules that lay out what we are and are not allowed to do outside of vague guidelines of not letting it get 'distracting', and it's gotten to the point that we're not sure what we're allowed to even touch. Outside of work, several co-workers have said they are genuinely scared walking in the door every day, and I am also of that mindset. Several people have recently left the company after not being allowed to transfer to another company project, and I'm considering asking for a transfer to another project or looking for another job. I like the firm as a whole, but the environment at this project is getting ridiculous.

That being said, I have heard that leaving your first job (in general) before the 1 year mark looks awful on your resume. Since contracting is more fluid and people do tend to move from firm to firm, project to project, I'm not really sure what to do. I'm going to try to tough it out until at least springtime, but would leaving before next August be a black mark for me?