Everything that comes first in our life is the most memorable one first love, first heartbreak, first kiss and your very first job right after your college graduation. Being hired after your studies is the most fulfilling things in that particular period as there is that expectation within you to find a new job to help the family in the everyday budget.
Admit it, fresh grads seems not to be ‘choosey’ in getting their first jobs, they will be accepting anything that is available in the job searches online though some may be related to their degrees and skills but they are really overrating themselves which is oftentimes being exploited by their first hiring managers and boss.
Fresh grad means a newcomer in the working world and for corporate companies it also means a new trainee, the youngest in the office and a new officemate that is the easiest to be bullied. A newcomer in the corporate world is much more of your first day in school here you don’t need to introduce yourself, your address and so on but you need to reach their expectation why they hire you. You need to showcase everything in you to impress your officemate and your boss from grooming yourself up to wearing the most-high profiled perfumes.
Admit it, fresh grads seems not to be ‘choosey’ in getting their first jobs, they will be accepting anything that is available in the job searches online though some may be related to their degrees and skills but they are really overrating themselves which is oftentimes being exploited by their first hiring managers and boss.
Fresh grad means a newcomer in the working world and for corporate companies it also means a new trainee, the youngest in the office and a new officemate that is the easiest to be bullied. A newcomer in the corporate world is much more of your first day in school here you don’t need to introduce yourself, your address and so on but you need to reach their expectation why they hire you. You need to showcase everything in you to impress your officemate and your boss from grooming yourself up to wearing the most-high profiled perfumes.
The craving for your first salary after the long month of work and receiving the pay check on payday is such a happiness that will chill you to your bones. You’re so undecided whether you’ll save your first salary, give it to your Mom or buy a new thing that would be a souvenir in your first pay check. But mind you, the first thing you’re gonna to do with your money is treat your friends in a café or the nearest fast food available-that’s for sure!
After the pay day back to regular budgeting, you need to save for your transportation cost, food allowance and so on for the next fifteen or thirty days depending on your company’s pay day. And yes you’re excitement about what things to buy in your first pay day will make you forget about budgeting and saving but the saddest part is that you are over spending in buying material things than your actual income. But overspending will not bother you as your parent is always there open heartedly willing to assist you financially and will give you your monthly allowance just like when you are still studying.
Your college days are still fresh in their mind and they are very much willing to support you as they believe that you are just starting to build up your career in your chosen company. Your parents will always be proud of you and your company and will even talk this out in the neighbourhood.
But six months and a year had passed and nothing seems is changing. Your daily expenses are greater than your salary earning. You’re getting all the stresses in the office since you are the youngest, the energetic you when you started are gone and you see yourself as a different person than you are since you’ve started. You see your reflection in the mirror every day and you’ve notice that you are getting fatter and fatter every morning.
The stress is all over your body, physically and mentally you are retarded. Your work assignment is getting worst and worst for you as it is getting away from your talents and skills. Your current office has transformed you into a new “specie” out of you and you really don’t know what is happening in your body and mind.
Disappointments are all over you and even your family and friends will be noticing it, but you come every day to work without such image, this is totally a way of masking your feeling for the sake of professionalism. You have a lot of questions deep inside you about why these things are happening. The worst part is you’ll get to blame yourself, your officemates and your boss about your situation.
Meanwhile as you check the social media posts of your former classmates and batch mates and you’ll see them posting about promotion, high income, travelling provided by their company the worst stage in the disappointment in your current career and company will burst. You’ve also noticed that your former batch mates in primary and secondary levels are enjoying their life, starting their own family, starting to fulfil their dreams and so many things that are so envious on your part.
Your family are also noticing and starting their disappointments in your career and company as they are not noticing any sign of progression in you and your salary. At this point in time it was the worst feeling for a child to see the frustrations in your own parents, you may even think that you are a disappointment in the family and a burden to them as you are not anymore contributing to the family’s expenses instead you are one of their expenses.
Quitting your current job is the best option that can solve all your problems and heartaches. You need to file your resignation letter hoping for a salary increase as a counter offer in your resignation but your hope is again another disappointment that’s the final sign that you really need to quit your workplace and start a new direction in which you can fulfil your dreams and satisfy yourself and your family’s need.
Before my resignation a close friend of mine gave me a book entitled “Yahoo Hotjobs, Your Next Move: Success Strategies for Midcareer Professionals” by Dan Finnigan and Marc Karasu. He advised me to read the book especially the chapter one and it has made a greater impact on my mind that I really need to shift a company and start dreaming of my dream job again.
In the chapter one of the book, it examines the primary reasons for seeking a new job such as;
a. The Sunday Slump
You know the feeling—the sense of impending dread on Sunday nights, the flat feeling as you stare out the bus window on Monday morning, watching the clock as the day s-l-o-w-l-y inches towards five ‘o clock (or, more likely, seven or eight ‘o clock).
You were so excited when you were offered this job, and early on you came to work each day with a spring in your step. But now you just want to crawl under your desk and take a nap until the workday’s over.
b. Your Manager
Maybe your manager is overly demanding or unethical, or maybe your personalities just clash, but, bottom line, the manager employee relationship will have a greater impact on your work happiness than anything else. If you can’t find a way to get along with your boss, you may not be able to find happiness in your current work environment. Conversely, if you can improve this dynamic, the situation may be salvageable.
Ask yourself how you feel about him:
c. You don’t feel Valued or Your contribution Go Unrecognized
Have you come up with creative solutions to problems only to see others get the credit? Do you have good ideas that seem to fall on deaf ears? Do you do 80 percent of the work but get only 20 percent of the credit? Does your manager know about your accomplishments, yet still insert the luckluster “Meets expectations” in your performance reviews? Employees want to feel that their work is important to their employers—those who don’t will look elsewhere, and should!
d. Your Company Lacks Direction
One Hay Group Survey found that only 27 percent of respondents said their organization have clear sense of where they are going. People need and want solid leadership, and they need to know that their company has realistic, exciting goals. A company that keeps changing course will lose employees.
e. Lost of Trust in your Company or Its Leadership
Whether a company is struggling because of poor decisions or outright deception, employees don’t want to be part of it. In today’s real-time culture, world travels fast when company is floundering—and employees jump ship.
f. No Growth Opportunities
You could very well love your job, and be great at it, but when you think one, five or ten years down the road, you don’t see yourself fitting in there. For example maybe the next step up for you at your current company is management, but you prefer being “in the trenches” rather than overseeing other people’s performance. Or perhaps the next job you were hoping for was just filled by someone else and you don’t know when another one like it will open up again.
Ask yourself: How far do I want to go in this company? In this field? Is there training or another initiative I could take to create a better opportunity for myself here? Consider whether the problem lies in your own inertia, or if you have truly hit a dead end.
g. Not Enough Challenge
You’ve become so adept at your job that you’re simply bored. You want a position that will help you grow each day and provide you with the skills and training that will propel you to the next level.
h. Disappointment with your Job or Field
Now that you’ve been in the working world for several years, you’re beginning to know what you do and don’t want. Your current job is simply not what you expected. Maybe you thought you’d enjoy constant travel, but find it exhausting. Or perhaps you’ve discovered that you are much introverted than you thought, and making big presentation isn’t for you. It’s not your fault—but it is time to move on.
i. Work Environment
Much like your manager, your work environment—culture, co-workers, hours, commute, noise level, and so forth—figures in how you view your job as well.
j. Lack of Meaning
At some point everyone asks the question: “What should I do with my life?” Some people are content to work at their job eight hours a day, then do volunteer work for a cause they support in their spare time. For others that is not enough—they want their work itself to make a difference in the world.
k. You Want to Be Your Own Boss
Now this one is tricky. All of us dream at some point of working for ourselves, but starting your own business is a complicated and risky venture. While deciding whether to go the self-employment route is beyond the scope of the book, consider these questions as you contemplate launching a business of your own:
l. Work-Life Balance
Employees need to be able to balance their work and personal lives for the sake of their health and that of their families. Even at a family-friendly company, a job that demands long hours with little time to relax, exercise, eat right, or spend time with the family and friends will eventually wear you down.
m. Money
You didn’t think we’d forget this one, did you? Of course, salary and benefits are important to workers, and those who don’t get what they feel they deserve will eventually harbor resentment and leave.
If you are one of these people, before you go, consider:
Now evaluate whether these are issues that can be addressed by talking with your manager and negotiating a better situation—or if they are telltale signs that it’s time to leave.
For example, are you working weekends frequently because of a short term project that will soon end, or because your manager needs you to make up for her mistakes? Have you been passed over for a promotion because you aren’t yet up to the responsibilities (but in time will be)—or do you believe that you are more ready, but someone with less experience but more pull was given the job? Situations that can be improved with more time and work on your part might be worth the effort, especially if you like the company. But if you are ready doing the best you can and don’t see any chance for improvement in sight, then making a change may be a wise decisions.
The book really guide me whether I will stay or not in my current company, but the physical signs are clear plus the description in the book matches all my issues. For me, there was no turning back, my decision is final and irrevocable though my hiring manager tell me to stay for some couples of months or even finish the year, but my mind is set. I’ve even consulted my family, friends and former professors about these matters and what they’ve told me is always follow your heart, your guts and your instinct. See yourself five years from now, what will you become in that next period in your life. What will be your accomplishments, if you see no clear plans then take the decision of leaving!
But of course you need a peaceful exit in the company, though deep inside you have regrets, hatred nor any hard feeling for the company, rest it aside and just ignore it. Remember always to separate your personal life in your office life, you may have issues with them in the office but outside the company you have created a bond that is worth remembering. Your first job and your first officemates shaped you in a way that you already grow in their company because you have had realized the urgency and the need to transfer or shift your workplace and your job.
Keep in touch with them as friend and never lose the chance of meeting with them again one day, make them as one of your network as they will become a resource person in your next company but always remember this beautiful quote “Do not tell me not to burn bridges but some roads are never meant to be traveled again”.
After the pay day back to regular budgeting, you need to save for your transportation cost, food allowance and so on for the next fifteen or thirty days depending on your company’s pay day. And yes you’re excitement about what things to buy in your first pay day will make you forget about budgeting and saving but the saddest part is that you are over spending in buying material things than your actual income. But overspending will not bother you as your parent is always there open heartedly willing to assist you financially and will give you your monthly allowance just like when you are still studying.
Your college days are still fresh in their mind and they are very much willing to support you as they believe that you are just starting to build up your career in your chosen company. Your parents will always be proud of you and your company and will even talk this out in the neighbourhood.
But six months and a year had passed and nothing seems is changing. Your daily expenses are greater than your salary earning. You’re getting all the stresses in the office since you are the youngest, the energetic you when you started are gone and you see yourself as a different person than you are since you’ve started. You see your reflection in the mirror every day and you’ve notice that you are getting fatter and fatter every morning.
The stress is all over your body, physically and mentally you are retarded. Your work assignment is getting worst and worst for you as it is getting away from your talents and skills. Your current office has transformed you into a new “specie” out of you and you really don’t know what is happening in your body and mind.
Disappointments are all over you and even your family and friends will be noticing it, but you come every day to work without such image, this is totally a way of masking your feeling for the sake of professionalism. You have a lot of questions deep inside you about why these things are happening. The worst part is you’ll get to blame yourself, your officemates and your boss about your situation.
Meanwhile as you check the social media posts of your former classmates and batch mates and you’ll see them posting about promotion, high income, travelling provided by their company the worst stage in the disappointment in your current career and company will burst. You’ve also noticed that your former batch mates in primary and secondary levels are enjoying their life, starting their own family, starting to fulfil their dreams and so many things that are so envious on your part.
Your family are also noticing and starting their disappointments in your career and company as they are not noticing any sign of progression in you and your salary. At this point in time it was the worst feeling for a child to see the frustrations in your own parents, you may even think that you are a disappointment in the family and a burden to them as you are not anymore contributing to the family’s expenses instead you are one of their expenses.
Quitting your current job is the best option that can solve all your problems and heartaches. You need to file your resignation letter hoping for a salary increase as a counter offer in your resignation but your hope is again another disappointment that’s the final sign that you really need to quit your workplace and start a new direction in which you can fulfil your dreams and satisfy yourself and your family’s need.
Before my resignation a close friend of mine gave me a book entitled “Yahoo Hotjobs, Your Next Move: Success Strategies for Midcareer Professionals” by Dan Finnigan and Marc Karasu. He advised me to read the book especially the chapter one and it has made a greater impact on my mind that I really need to shift a company and start dreaming of my dream job again.
In the chapter one of the book, it examines the primary reasons for seeking a new job such as;
a. The Sunday Slump
You know the feeling—the sense of impending dread on Sunday nights, the flat feeling as you stare out the bus window on Monday morning, watching the clock as the day s-l-o-w-l-y inches towards five ‘o clock (or, more likely, seven or eight ‘o clock).
You were so excited when you were offered this job, and early on you came to work each day with a spring in your step. But now you just want to crawl under your desk and take a nap until the workday’s over.
b. Your Manager
Maybe your manager is overly demanding or unethical, or maybe your personalities just clash, but, bottom line, the manager employee relationship will have a greater impact on your work happiness than anything else. If you can’t find a way to get along with your boss, you may not be able to find happiness in your current work environment. Conversely, if you can improve this dynamic, the situation may be salvageable.
Ask yourself how you feel about him:
- Is he reasonably demanding (catching deadlines and expectations without warning, requiring you to work long hours/weekends and so forth?)
- Does he give constructive feedback?
- Does he stand up for you when something goes wrong?
- Is he too much of a friend, and not enough of a leader?
- Do you respect your manager? If not, Why?
c. You don’t feel Valued or Your contribution Go Unrecognized
Have you come up with creative solutions to problems only to see others get the credit? Do you have good ideas that seem to fall on deaf ears? Do you do 80 percent of the work but get only 20 percent of the credit? Does your manager know about your accomplishments, yet still insert the luckluster “Meets expectations” in your performance reviews? Employees want to feel that their work is important to their employers—those who don’t will look elsewhere, and should!
d. Your Company Lacks Direction
One Hay Group Survey found that only 27 percent of respondents said their organization have clear sense of where they are going. People need and want solid leadership, and they need to know that their company has realistic, exciting goals. A company that keeps changing course will lose employees.
e. Lost of Trust in your Company or Its Leadership
Whether a company is struggling because of poor decisions or outright deception, employees don’t want to be part of it. In today’s real-time culture, world travels fast when company is floundering—and employees jump ship.
f. No Growth Opportunities
You could very well love your job, and be great at it, but when you think one, five or ten years down the road, you don’t see yourself fitting in there. For example maybe the next step up for you at your current company is management, but you prefer being “in the trenches” rather than overseeing other people’s performance. Or perhaps the next job you were hoping for was just filled by someone else and you don’t know when another one like it will open up again.
Ask yourself: How far do I want to go in this company? In this field? Is there training or another initiative I could take to create a better opportunity for myself here? Consider whether the problem lies in your own inertia, or if you have truly hit a dead end.
g. Not Enough Challenge
You’ve become so adept at your job that you’re simply bored. You want a position that will help you grow each day and provide you with the skills and training that will propel you to the next level.
h. Disappointment with your Job or Field
Now that you’ve been in the working world for several years, you’re beginning to know what you do and don’t want. Your current job is simply not what you expected. Maybe you thought you’d enjoy constant travel, but find it exhausting. Or perhaps you’ve discovered that you are much introverted than you thought, and making big presentation isn’t for you. It’s not your fault—but it is time to move on.
i. Work Environment
Much like your manager, your work environment—culture, co-workers, hours, commute, noise level, and so forth—figures in how you view your job as well.
j. Lack of Meaning
At some point everyone asks the question: “What should I do with my life?” Some people are content to work at their job eight hours a day, then do volunteer work for a cause they support in their spare time. For others that is not enough—they want their work itself to make a difference in the world.
k. You Want to Be Your Own Boss
Now this one is tricky. All of us dream at some point of working for ourselves, but starting your own business is a complicated and risky venture. While deciding whether to go the self-employment route is beyond the scope of the book, consider these questions as you contemplate launching a business of your own:
- Can I work alone or do I need the simulation of an office environment?
- Do I have the experience and/or portfolio to offer a great service?
- Can I support myself financially while I’m getting established?
- Am I comfortable with risk and uncertainty?
- Do I really want to work from home, or just be home?
l. Work-Life Balance
Employees need to be able to balance their work and personal lives for the sake of their health and that of their families. Even at a family-friendly company, a job that demands long hours with little time to relax, exercise, eat right, or spend time with the family and friends will eventually wear you down.
m. Money
You didn’t think we’d forget this one, did you? Of course, salary and benefits are important to workers, and those who don’t get what they feel they deserve will eventually harbor resentment and leave.
If you are one of these people, before you go, consider:
- Asking for a raise: Meet with your supervisor and present evidence of accomplishments and worth to the bottom line. Use the Yahoo! HotJobs salary tool to research ahead of time what others in your position in your geographic region are making.
- Asking for more perks: Tuition assistance, parking, flex-time—benefits like these are negotiable and can be as valuable or even more valuable than cold hard cash.
Now evaluate whether these are issues that can be addressed by talking with your manager and negotiating a better situation—or if they are telltale signs that it’s time to leave.
For example, are you working weekends frequently because of a short term project that will soon end, or because your manager needs you to make up for her mistakes? Have you been passed over for a promotion because you aren’t yet up to the responsibilities (but in time will be)—or do you believe that you are more ready, but someone with less experience but more pull was given the job? Situations that can be improved with more time and work on your part might be worth the effort, especially if you like the company. But if you are ready doing the best you can and don’t see any chance for improvement in sight, then making a change may be a wise decisions.
The book really guide me whether I will stay or not in my current company, but the physical signs are clear plus the description in the book matches all my issues. For me, there was no turning back, my decision is final and irrevocable though my hiring manager tell me to stay for some couples of months or even finish the year, but my mind is set. I’ve even consulted my family, friends and former professors about these matters and what they’ve told me is always follow your heart, your guts and your instinct. See yourself five years from now, what will you become in that next period in your life. What will be your accomplishments, if you see no clear plans then take the decision of leaving!
But of course you need a peaceful exit in the company, though deep inside you have regrets, hatred nor any hard feeling for the company, rest it aside and just ignore it. Remember always to separate your personal life in your office life, you may have issues with them in the office but outside the company you have created a bond that is worth remembering. Your first job and your first officemates shaped you in a way that you already grow in their company because you have had realized the urgency and the need to transfer or shift your workplace and your job.
Keep in touch with them as friend and never lose the chance of meeting with them again one day, make them as one of your network as they will become a resource person in your next company but always remember this beautiful quote “Do not tell me not to burn bridges but some roads are never meant to be traveled again”.
