We have to admit the fact that even though we have spent a decent amount of time and energy to find and work for our jobs, job changes are just sometimes inevitable. We have to start again, to be familiar with new cultures, political norms, colleagues and projects. The motivation behind all this is that we want to find a more ideal job. So that we can have frequent feedback from our colleagues, we can have control on what we should do and what we should not. In a word, a brighter future.
However, things are not always go as expected. We make mistakes, for a variety of reasons. Harvard Business Review (HBR) recently conducted a survey and found the most common mistakes made by people who are at the stage of career transition. You can see the original article at here.
Here are the most common 5 mistakes:
Picture from HBR
Not Doing Enough Research
The most common one is that we haven’t done enough research before we decide to conduct a job switch. In fact, no matter how similar is your new job compared to the current one, you should do a complete analysis when you are considering about job changes. Your previous understanding about the new position, company or industry might be biased. You should think about whether you are misjudging the new job because of your stereotypes the minute you begin to seriously think about job changes.
Be open minded and fully expose yourself to different views can be a great start. Think of how you can gain insights about the new job. Do you have friends, or friends’ friends who are or have done this kind of job before? Can you get in touch with them? Just do as much as you can do before you really leave your position. It will be more troublesome if you are regret after an ill-prepared job change.
Leaving for Money
A higher salary can be very tempting. It makes you feel that you are properly valued and thus you tend to make a snap decision. Think twice. Does the new job offer you great opportunities? How is the prospect of the industry? When surveyed by HBR, one executive said “I was doing the exactly same job for $10K more, but leaving behind the relationships and connections was just not worth it in the hindsight.” When it comes to the issue of job changes, compensation is an important factor, but not the only one .
Going “from” rather than “to.”
This is a very common reason why people are making inadequate decision when change jobs. The fact that you dislike your current position so much makes you want to abandon it as soon as possible. Again, the rush prevent you from doing enough research and thus from making rationale judgement. You should be aware that and avoid being trapped by your emotion.
The correct way, again, is calm down yourself and think of all the factors that might influence your satisfaction of doing that job. After that you might give weights to those factors and consider it seriously.
Overestimating Yourself
Underestimating the difficulty you may encounter is another mistake. This happens in cases while you think you are capable of doing the job but you are not. According to one search consultant, people “believe they contribute more than they actually do and undervalue the strengths of their organization in helping them achieve their objectives.” Come and take online courses on LOOP.sg to improve skills.
Over optimistic people will also underestimate the time and energy they need to land on an ideal job. That might lead to lack of enough research as well.
Thinking Short term
Having a short-term perspective can feed into each of the other four mistakes. For instance, if you overestimate yourself, you may believe you deserve rewards now, not in five years. Leaving a firm because of money and going “from” rather than “to” are both overly influenced by immediate information and considerations. “How much money can I make right now?” the executive wonders. “How can I escape an unpleasant work environment?” Still, many of the search consultants rated short-term thinking as a serious career misstep in its own right—citing it separately, not just including it as a footnote to the other mistakes.
“Moves of all kinds entail significant internal and external challenges and transaction costs: upheaval in your home and social life; potential relocation expenses; adjustments to new cultural and political norms; navigation of unclear expectations; and the need to learn a new canon, skill set, and jargon.
These mistakes are not independent of one another; they play out as a system of maladaptive behaviors, dissatisfaction, unrealistic hopes, ill-considered moves, and more dissatisfaction. Fixating on money, for instance, can obscure the need for research. Overestimating yourself can cause you to ignore a bad fit—a problem that research might have helped you anticipate.”
Of course, you should also prepare yourself with enough hard skills when you considering switching jobs. You are welcome to come to LOOP.sg to bridge the gap between you and your dream jobs. Find SkillsFuture eligible courses at here.
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