Has your dream job turned sour or, worse still, is it likely to become the job from hell? Sometimes what may seem a good job can easily go bad and your expectations of what the role would be like, don’t match the reality. But you are not alone. In fact 25 per cent of workers regret taking a new position within the first year of their tenure.
So what can you do about it and how can you avoid the same problem from happening again? The first thing you need to do is to figure out what has gone wrong.
The day you received your offer of employment letter through the post it is likely that you weighed up all the pro’s and con’s before deciding whether to accept your new position or not. You probably undertook all the pre-acceptance things that job seekers should do: researched the position, talked to people performing the same job role, met with your new employer to gauge whether you could work for them before making your final decision. But if your job proves not to do what it said on the tin, how could you have got it so wrong?
The most common reasons why your new role may not work out are:
The position and responsibilities differ from what you initially perceived
You do not get along with your new boss
You do not get along with your colleagues and dislike your new working environment
You have found a fly in the ointment – negative colleagues, weak leadership, constantly changing goals, conflicting values
The job you were hired to do is not the one you ended up with
The question is, 'What should you do now?'
Leave Before It’s Too Late
There is nothing to gain by staying in a position you regret taking, but there is a lot to lose in the long term. The longer you remain in your job, the less motivated, less effective and less productive you will become, which could tarnish your reputation and damage future career prospects.
It’s Only Natural
It is human nature to have second thoughts and doubts within the first few days and weeks of starting a new job. However, if the feeling persists for a prolonged period of time and your feelings haven’t changed after you have discussed your concerns with your boss, then it may be time to jump ship and look for another job.
Self-Analysis
Before you hand in your notice and start applying for a new job, take stock of your position and do some in-depth soul-searching, after all you don’t want to repeat the mistake. Why did you leave your last job? Did you want a new challenge? To learn new skills? To change career? Identify what your key motivating factors are and use them to form the basis of your new job search.
Finally
If the hopes and aspirations that you held for your new job have been dashed, don’t dismay. The fact that you were prepared to make the change will demonstrate to future employers that you are someone who strives to develop your career, to learn new experiences and to use your new found knowledge to greater effect in whatever role you perform.
