Is Your New Job Going to Be a Nightmare?

I just read an interesting HotJobs article, What to Do When Your New Job is a Nightmare. The author, Caroline Potter, offers some good suggestions for dealing with a nightmare job while taking a damage control approach.

While the article makes some good points, I would instead urge job hunters to do their homework thoroughly up front to minimize the chances of getting into a nightmare job in the first place.

For example, it’s imperative to know your prospective manager’s personality type well before you accept a job offer. There are pointed questions to ask during your interview to help you identify a micromanager, and avoid taking a position working for this person.

Find out ahead of time what personality-type your prospective manager has, and whether it’s compatible with yours. If your instincts tell you that the two of you will grate on each other, don’t continue to pursue this particular job.

And just as critical, don’t wait until after you’ve taken a job to find out that everyone else who had this position before you left after three months. Check out Joe’s Six Must Ask Interview Questions on Monster.

Here’s the takeaway: If you find yourself in this predicament, you didn’t do your homework during the interview process. You didn’t ask the right questions to smoke out these flaws in the job opportunity. It’s too expensive, too inconvenient and too stressful to skip the research phase of the job interview process.

A few well-planned questions asked during an interview can save you from accepting a job that becomes a nightmare. Remember, a job interview is a two-way screening process. Screen the employer just as thoroughly as they screen you.

Happy job hunting,

Sue