The name of the game changes when you enter the workforce, so it’s understandable that a lot of people make mistakes early on in their careers. Here’s how to pick yourself up after the occasional mishap.
1. What if you already hate your job on your first day there?
Things like this happen. It’s important that you maintain integrity and don’t put the people who hired you in a bad position. Show them respect by telling them how you’re feeling as soon as possible. Be honest, but nice. Tell them that you’d like to talk to them privately and explain your initial concerns. Explain that you’re worried you might have had the wrong impression or expectations.
But be sure to leave room in case you misread the situation. Maybe you’re in a special training program, office or project for the first few weeks. Maybe you’re in the wrong position. Or maybe you didn’t understand their expectation. Be specific about what you like or don’t like so far and talk about possible options with the company. The worst thing you can do is be a coward and just not show up again. It’s disrespectful and shows no sign of integrity.
2. What if you take on more work than you can handle?
Again, be honest. Some managers and bosses will want to test you to see how much you can handle – and that’s not a bad thing! There’s nothing wrong with having to prove yourself or earn respect in an organization. It’s good to show people what you’re capable of!
However, use extra caution if you could cause real damage to your boss or company by not finishing the workload or not completing it successfully. Sometimes you can lose more credibility by saying you can do something and not following through, simply for having asked to be trusted. Be dependable. Also, be honest about your concerns and give it your best shot. Recognize that you have to do whatever it takes to achieve the objective – even if that means recruiting the help of another.
3. What if you got embarrassingly drunk at the company outing?
First, make sure you didn’t offend anyone or do anything too inappropriate. If you did, deal with it right away to avoid gossip. Apologize for your lack of judgment and try to make sure the relationship you bruised is still in tact. If it was harmless (ask your closer coworkers to make sure), it might be better not to bring it up and just be on extremely good behavior for a while. If it comes up, acknowledge it lightly. If you sense pain, discomfort, anger or resentment, apologize sincerely.
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I wanted to share an experience I had with #1 What if you already hate your job on your first day there? Hopefully my experience will help someone make a better choice than I did.
It might not have been exactly the first day on the job, but I certainly walked into a nightmare. I was hired as a consultant in April of 2006 by an ERP Software company that had it’s HQs in Germany. I’m from the US but fluent in German and have lived there for a number of years. Also, I was just recently married to a German woman who was still in Germany waiting on her Greencard to come to the US. The company sounded like a perfect fit for me. When I took the job they told me they would like to send me to the HQ in Germany for 3 months for training. I jumped at the opportunity! Plus, I would be there exactly at the time the world cup was on!
So, end of April they send me to Germany with a couple of names and nothing else. I get there and no one knew I was coming. The software had several hundred modules and my boss didn’t give me any indication of what I should concentrate. (Every other consultant I met had a area of concentration) There was no plan for my training. I had no desk and no computer. I was sent around to desks of people that were absent that day. Plus, even after repeated attempts via email and phone, I didn’t hear from my boss in the US for 2 months!
To make a long story short I sucked it up for 2.5 months. I figured out what I was doing on my own. Enrolled myself in the training courses and started visit customers with senior consultants, organized a desk, computer and laptop and even helped with a presentation for the Dutch branch. Still there wasn’t any feedback from my boss in the US. I eventually went to the head of HR for the whole company (including all international subsidiaries) to talk about my experience. We talked about what happened with the company as well as my personal position with my German wife. It even came up that maybe they could use me in Germany and I would stay. I never found out what the HR Director said to my boss, but finally my boss contacted me and the first thing out of his mouth was, “You liar and manipulator!” I was floored. Here the guy sent me off to another country with nothing, didn’t contact me for over 2 months and he was telling me that I was a liar and a manipulator because I discussed staying in Germany. I’ve never been so offended in my professional life.
So, instantly they wanted me to come back to the US because there was “so much work”. In what would be my home office there were 2 main guys. The head of sales and the head of consulting(my boss). When I returned the first day back in the office my boss was on site a client where he would be for several weeks and eventually relocate too. Normally one of the consultants works support and answers the phones for the whole of the US and Canada. My boss scheduled me on my first day back. The kicker was: I had no computer, no laptop, no phone and no login to the system. But, I was was supposed to do support! Oh and by the way, there really wasn’t “so much work”.
It took everything I had not to just walk out. But since I had only been with the company for such a short time, I decided I wanted to try and stick it out for a year, so it didn’t look like I was just job jumping. Not one of my most memorable decisions to say the least. This was August. Amazingly I made it to the following March with many similar incidents and discovered that this is how things always were for all of the consultants. There was a German consultant that was sent to the USA to work and he had it no better. He arrived with no one to pick him up at the airport, no car, no phone and no place to stay… just amazing to me. Eventually the stress was so high that for the first time in my life I was physically ill due to stress.
Things finally ended when they laid me off in March and I was able to collect unemployment. Thankfully, I had been working as a consultant on the side for my own company. Through this awful experience I learned a lot about myself, my limits, what I want and don’t want out of my professional life and in fact I learned a lot about running a company by watching this company make huge mistakes. I then decided this was great chance to finally go out on my own. Now over a year later, things are going well. My company is growing and things look very promising.
I guess there are a couple of things I hope I can impress on anyone that reads this. If you discover that you are in a detrimental situation, don’t just stay with it because you are afraid of looking bad. Your health and well being are much more important. Second, don’t be afraid to the chance and follow what dreams for doing what really want to do.
Good advice, Bryan, thanks for reminding me about watching for red flags when it comes to my boss and the company in general. Everything aside, you should always trust your gut instincts when it comes to a bad job situation. Get out or start job searching as soon as possible.