You were so excited for this new opportunity, happy to move on from your last job, and ready start the new one. Soon after taking the new job, you realized the grass is not greener, nor is the job what you thought it would be. Do you leave, live with your new reality, or try to change it? What would you do if you were on the other end of this dilemma…the person who did the hiring? Making the effort to understand your new employee after the interview can ensure your investment in them does not become a failure.
Let’s delve into why new jobs are never what you anticipated.
1) Most people, for a host of reasons, have blinders on during the interview process:
- You are running away from your current situation so anything looks better than what you already deal with.
- Your drive to elevate your current position outweighs the importance of when (best timing), where (best opportunity), and how (best transitioning strategy).
- You need a job and are ready to jump on the first one available because you don’t have time to risk waiting for another opportunity.
- The new industry you are moving into seems exciting, only to find out that “new” only means new to you…and pretty boring.
- You took a job assessment test prior to being hired and thought you aced it from all the online pointers you researched.
- You and your interviewer/new boss got along great when you first met…it was “like” at first sight.
- You interviewed with all key company leaders but held off meeting your employees and co-workers until you started the job.
- You were impressed with the atmosphere of the company, but did not fully understand the implications of its corporate culture.
3) Promises made in interviews are mistaken as commitments:
- Your lucrative bonus program turned out to be impossible due to constraints out of your control.
- Your desire to take a senior management position and implement your creative ideas is stifled by the company’s very slow, traditional and bureaucratic culture.
- The transition to top job changed from 9 months to several years.
- The person who hired you left and their replacement has a different agenda.
- Your new boss has a management style you just can’t live with.
- The company’s financial situation is unstable, and so is your position with them.
- The position you took is not considered as important as in your previous company. You went from an office to a cubical without any warning.
- Your transition to “Manager” is not what you thought it would be…you simply don’t like the job, nor the responsibly.
You cannot reverse your decision, but here are some options to help you move forward.
Pros: You can limit your time spent being tortured.
Cons: You may be seen as a job hopper and not be taken seriously by the employers you really want to work for.
Pros: Time may heal all wounds? Once you get past your anger about being wrong, you might begin to see the job in a more unbiased light.
Cons: You might find yourself miserable for a long time and have it overlap into your personal life.
Go back to your old job:
Pros: You would enter into something more familiar, and may be compensated for coming back.
Cons: The reasons you left in the first place probably still exist.
Actively seek new contacts, networking opportunities and training:
Pros: If you focus on building your personal brand, in your industry or community, through associations, volunteer work, mentor/mentee relationships, advancing your education…you can find fulfillment in other areas and prepare yourself for future opportunities that come to you.
Cons: Building your brand takes time and tenacity, especially when you are unhappy in your job.
Pros: You may be able to fix the problem by simply communicating your perceptions, as well as what you would like to do to bring things closer to your initial interest in the job. Your new employer invested in you already…he or she does not want you to fail.
Cons: You might find out that you cannot make things better.
The reality is that you can’t change the past, but you can take control of your future. Making good decisions is all about preparation and awareness. Use this article as a checklist for future interviews whether you are the interviewer or interviewee. Although pre-employment assessments are great for the employer to weed out poor candidates, they do not account for employee perceptions about the job. Make sure you don’t find yourself regretting your decisions. The act of obtaining information is actually a powerful communication skill both parties should use to clarify perceptions; the interview is a survey that goes both ways. Be prepared before you make any employment decision, and be willing to takes steps to move your career forward after you take the job.
For more information see the following related articles:
Three Steps to Creating Great Mentor/Mentee Relationships
Two Ways of Ensuring Top Quality High Potential Employees
Interview tactics for the InterviewER
Six Actions to Take When Starting Your New Job
Only you can answer the question: "How do I get promoted?"
Six Steps to Finding Your New Job
Written by Lisa Woods, President & CEO ManagingAmericans.com
Lisa is a successful entrepreneur, world-class marketing strategist, dynamic business leader & author with more than 20 years experience leading, managing and driving growth in the corporate world. Today she provides Management Tools, Do-It-Yourself Training, and Business Assessments for small to mid size companies, Lisa utilizes her experience with integration techniques, organizational and cultural overhauls, financial turnarounds and strategic revitalization to help other companies succeed. Closing the gap between strategy and hierarchy through the use of effective communication skills, Lisa's techniques successfully develop employees into exceptional leaders, results driven managers and passionate team contributors that collectively exceed objectives.
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