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WHAT NOW? Wednesdays – When the Honeymoon is Over
So you land that dream job, but before long, you discover it's not all that you thought it would be. Maybe the hours and commute are longer than expected, the work is BORING or your boss and/or co-workers are a nightmare. What now?
First of all, the good news is you’re not married to the job. However, along the lines of any serious relationship, here are a few things you might want to consider:
1) Good relationships take work and evolve over time. Before throwing in the towel, give it your best shot and make the most out of your situation. Regardless of how the job turns out, you should feel good about how you handled it and be prepared to discuss your experience with confidence when pursuing future opportunities.
2) When possible, volunteer for challenging tasks including work others might be avoiding. Take advantage of every opportunity to learn and celebrate any successes. If nothing else, celebrate by updating your resume with new accomplishments.
3) Remember patience is a virtue and you choose your attitude. That difficult boss may have just been going through a tough time or you could end up with a new one soon. More appealing work may be just around the corner once you prove yourself.
Sometimes things may be as bad as they seem and other times they might turn out even better. Either way, it's all about what you do with it. When I started thinking about this, it occurred to me I have experienced both ends of the spectrum.
Early on, I learned to make the most of out of a REALLY bad environment. When my 1st big job started to go downhill and I saw top performers dropping like flies, I chose to stick it out and do my best to overcome some pretty ugly obstacles (trust me, you don't want the sordid details). But I stayed connected with peers as they were leaving and was fortunate to get a job working with one of them a few months later at a much better company.
Later in my career, I landed a job with a great company where the honeymoon ended on Day 1. I arrived to find they had no office, computer or phone for me, but due to the urgent workload I was required to work mandatory Saturdays and 10 hour days for an indefinite period of time. Huh? The peer I was assigned to work with was already sharing an office with 2 others and would disappear for hours at a time. I didn’t even have a drawer. But I soon met some great people, learned from them and contributed however I could (including conducting interviews on mobile phones in the hallway). Before long, we got through the crunch, earned some good overtime and had time for formal training under much better circumstances. Perseverance paid off and I am happy to say this one later evolved into my dream job.
Like relationships, we never know how jobs are going to turn out - every story is different. But when we make the most out of situations, sometimes we can use the experience to help us get to the next great job out there waiting for us...
First of all, the good news is you’re not married to the job. However, along the lines of any serious relationship, here are a few things you might want to consider:
1) Good relationships take work and evolve over time. Before throwing in the towel, give it your best shot and make the most out of your situation. Regardless of how the job turns out, you should feel good about how you handled it and be prepared to discuss your experience with confidence when pursuing future opportunities.
2) When possible, volunteer for challenging tasks including work others might be avoiding. Take advantage of every opportunity to learn and celebrate any successes. If nothing else, celebrate by updating your resume with new accomplishments.
3) Remember patience is a virtue and you choose your attitude. That difficult boss may have just been going through a tough time or you could end up with a new one soon. More appealing work may be just around the corner once you prove yourself.
Sometimes things may be as bad as they seem and other times they might turn out even better. Either way, it's all about what you do with it. When I started thinking about this, it occurred to me I have experienced both ends of the spectrum.
Early on, I learned to make the most of out of a REALLY bad environment. When my 1st big job started to go downhill and I saw top performers dropping like flies, I chose to stick it out and do my best to overcome some pretty ugly obstacles (trust me, you don't want the sordid details). But I stayed connected with peers as they were leaving and was fortunate to get a job working with one of them a few months later at a much better company.
Later in my career, I landed a job with a great company where the honeymoon ended on Day 1. I arrived to find they had no office, computer or phone for me, but due to the urgent workload I was required to work mandatory Saturdays and 10 hour days for an indefinite period of time. Huh? The peer I was assigned to work with was already sharing an office with 2 others and would disappear for hours at a time. I didn’t even have a drawer. But I soon met some great people, learned from them and contributed however I could (including conducting interviews on mobile phones in the hallway). Before long, we got through the crunch, earned some good overtime and had time for formal training under much better circumstances. Perseverance paid off and I am happy to say this one later evolved into my dream job.
Like relationships, we never know how jobs are going to turn out - every story is different. But when we make the most out of situations, sometimes we can use the experience to help us get to the next great job out there waiting for us...
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