Should you take that job?

Before engaging in the process, you should ask yourself three key questions:
1-will you enjoy? 2-will you succeed? 3-will you learn and improve?

A no to any of the three should be enough for you not to pursue.

So, how do you get to answering to those questions?

Let’s start with the enjoyment part.
First recommendation is that your next opportunity is in the right career (corporate, non profit, your own business, banking…), one where your workplace preferences are met and match your personal “spec”. What I call your “Willing” score.

So, once you have defined your workplace target characteristics (fast pace, social impact…), how do you vet potential employers? Basically: how will you answer the question whether you will like that workplace?

You need to invest time, make an effort, research and due diligence prospective employers. Document yourself through publicly available information online, reach out to your network and to current and former employees. And leverage the interviews, analyze well the people you meet with, the kind of questions they ask and ask questions yourself. Few candidates approach interviews with their own personal “spec” and investigate what matters to them.

Now, two additional evaluation areas that are key.
You need to make sure that you can do the job. And we are not referring just to technical skills that can be learnt while at work or through training. We actually mean hardwired capabilities, those that are engrained in you such as leadership, accountability or managerial courage (also known as soft skills). Assess yourself objectively and critically. If you are too optimistic or cavalier, you may set yourself for failure with too high of a bar. If too low, you may miss career opportunities instead.

Overwhelmed by this? Yes absolutely. But what’s the alternative? To just jump in the dark and hope you don’t get hurt? That’s unfortunately what most people do and what previous generations were used to accept with stoicism
Unfortunately, lots of companies, headhunters, outplacement agencies have not yet evolved in line with the new market trends and therefore you must own your future and control your destiny.

And even be ready to call yourself off the process entirely if you think the spec is not clear or there is no consensus around it. Better to know now rather than later.
If your prospective employer doesn’t encourage you to do that, is not open and is not interested in your personal “career spec”, you should not pursue any further with them.
So you know, that is one of the reasons why 25% of the new hires are no longer there after the first 12 months. And why, resignation rates have skyrocketed to 40%.

What I’m advocating is the opposite of “easy apply” search approaches. Go deep instead, be thorough, invest your time, research and ask. That’s what I call a smart investment to reach success AND happiness instead of just job dating.

From Italy, undefined
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