“No matter the reasons, a bad job fit can be devastating.”
When it is time to start your career or to go for a career transition, you do not want just any job. You want something you will look forward to every morning. Something, where you will flourish as a leader in an organization doing work you feel is important. Finding the kind of job you hope to love is often a bit of a journey and a tedious one too. It can be a process of learning about yourself and the world of employment before you land something that feels aligned with you. Nevertheless, it is a valuable experience and we are sure almost 90% of the professional practitioners have gone through this phase once during their career, to say the least.
Imagine you just landed a job that you always wanted to do. You worked hard to get it while the employer and recruiter were diligent to follow expert hiring practices. Within the first few months, weeks, or even hours of starting this new role, you quickly realize this is not the job you thought it would be. Naturally, this can be a stressful time. You may find yourself wondering, “Should I leave now?” as your heart and soul is not into it and want you to get away from this job.
Before jumping into what to do, let us suggest some basic factors which could be the reason for questioning this matter in the first place. Maybe it has to do with the personalities involved. Maybe it has to do with a corporate culture mismatch. Maybe the job is not really how the employer presented it. Maybe it is simply a painful process of learning about yourself. Regardless, you might have a bad job fit on your hands. Instead of abandoning the ship, here are some pragmatic tips on what to do next.
1. Be Calm
The initial days after joining are always going to turbulent. Do not expect the organisation to adapt to you as it should be the other way round. Try to adjust to the new work culture. Maybe your timing of joining wasn’t quite right as the business might be facing some financial issues or some of your team members might be already halfway through some other project. All of this does not mean that this job will not work out for you in the long run. You just need to remind yourself that acclimatising to this new environment, new colleagues and new responsibilities are going to take some time to get used to and so, you need to maintain your calm and try to stick around for at least, six months if not for a year.
2. Talk to your manager or higher-ups
Identify what it is exactly about the job that feels off to you. Do you think it is something that will change along with time or were you ‘catfished’ into this job? Once you recognise and understand the problem, you can take steps to improve the present situation and avoid involving yourself in a job that is a bad fit in the future.
If the current situation can be improved by asking for help from colleagues or maybe by changing your perspective, then we suggest having a one on one open and honest conversation about the matter with your manager or higher-ups. Just be sure to frame what you would like to say so that it does not sound like you are complaining. Try to have that conversation in a solution-oriented way, be thoughtful about it and point to specifics so that the other person can understand your perspective and help you with sound advice.
3. Quit, if you must
If you truly feel that you gave the job a real chance. You worked hard for six months or longer. You tried adapting, you tried talking to your colleagues, your seniors, your higher-ups but you still do not enjoy working there. Then, no matter how we put, it is the worst-case scenario and it is time for you to explore your other options and jump the gun. If you gave it your all and still the job feels off, it is better to look for a new employment opportunity rather than waste time counting your hours at work.
No matter what, if you ever end up with a job misfit, do not lose confidence in yourself and do not regret it because every experience teaches you something, even if it is a misfit and sometimes, the wrong train takes you to the right destination.
ABL Recruitment team
