Are you switching jobs? Be careful!

Are you changing jobs? Be careful!

If you are planning to switch jobs, this is for you. I wrote this reflection because I wouldn’t like anyone to go through the experience I went through a few years ago. So please read.

One weekend while I was camping with my kids, I received a third job offer from the same employer. I have rejected the two previous versions because I wasn’t convinced that the change would represent to me a significant shift on my finance. The raise didn’t worth the effort to relocate my family. But, the third job offer was different. This time they made sure that I would not reject the offer: significant increase, yearly productivity bonus, vacation bonus far above the market, etc. I called my wife and we both agreed that we should accept it.

Late at night I was still with my eyes wide open. I couldn’t stop thinking about the next big change ahead. I looked at my smartphone for the first time in several hours and I noticed that I received an e-mail from a friend and former colleague. Through his words I noticed that he was worried about me taking the wrong decision, not because he didn’t want me to leave the company we both used to work for, but because he knew that there was something strange in the way things came along.

He sent me a list of questions and he strongly recommended me to answer all of them before I accepted the offer. Honestly, I didn’t spend the necessary time to think about all those questions. I didn’t ask the new company for more time to think about the offer. I just accepted it.

A few days ago I was cleaning up my personal e-mail and I found that note from my friend. I worked at this company for 1 year, then I was laid off due to a major organizational restructuring that came as a result from a merge between 2 companies. However, I had enough time to realize that the answer is negative to each of the questions my friend sent me. Working at this company was a real nightmare; there is no work-life balance, there is no recognition at all, there is an extreme lack of resources and most of the time my team and I were firefighting. If I would have been humble enough to try to answer those questions prior to accepting the job offer, I would have certainly declined it.  

If you are about to switch jobs, be careful. Take your time to think. I don’t know about your spiritual life, but if you believe in God, ask him for advice. He knows what you need.

Before accepting the offer at least make sure that you have all the information you need to answer the following questions:

a.        Will they give me the support staff needed to run this operation?

b.     Do they have the ethics that your current company does? Do they have the ethics that you expect from a company?

c.      How will I be spending my time? Firefighting, or leading? Every business has some firefighting, but is it 20% of your time, or 80%?

d.     Can I achieve my work-life balance goals at the new company? Or, will I be consumed by the job?

e.     Does the new company believe in processes or in an ad-hoc approach?

f.       What are the future opportunities for me in the new company? Will I be stuck in the new role for 10 years?

g.      Where will I be able to hit my LONG TERM career goals better? Current or new company?

It is ok to tell the new company “I will get back to you on this”. Believe me, if they really want you, they could wait for a few days while you do your research to respond to these questions. For your own benefit, take your time, think about the offer, talk to people that work in the new company, but never accept a job offer without having facts and data that prove that this is a good option for you.

Good luck!

Alfonso Oliver