Getting your player ready...
Dear J.T. & DALE: I just took a new job that I like, but there was an even better job I interviewed for and never heard back from. Today, I got a call from that employer offering me the job. What should I do? Should I stay where I am so I don’t burn a bridge? Help! – Jacob
DALE: More than a decade ago, I started hearing stories like this one: An engineer gets a new job and moves himself and his family across country. They settle into a new house they just bought, and get the kids enrolled in school; then, the day before this guy is to start work, the new employer calls and says: “Sorry, but we just had new cutbacks. We’ll send you two weeks’ severance pay. Good luck.” Many, many stories of heartlessness convinced me that loyalty is dead, and it was corporate downsizing that killed it. J.T.: Yes, companies think strategically, and you, as a business-of-one, have to do likewise. If the newer offer is going to let you do the kind of work you want to be doing long term, then go to your present employer and explain that you are focused on developing yourself and that you have the very rare opportunity for a job that will further your dreams. This may well be a disappointment to your managers, but they’ll have to understand. However, before you undertake that conversation, you have to be absolutely certain that the newer job will make a meaningful difference to your future. Don’t make a change just because you’re in awe of the company’s reputation or because it offers a few jazzy perks. I’ve known plenty of people who think they are getting a dream job and, shortly after starting, wake up to realize that their careers have not improved. DALE: Hold on. Let’s not poke at Jacob’s doubts. Yes, ask to meet future colleagues and be certain about the job. But as soon as you are, don’t let politeness cause you to hesitate. A great new job is a great learning experience, rather like getting admitted to a great college. So if you start to wimp out, picture a young man getting a call from Stanford University and hearing that they’ve had a spot open up in the program he was dying to get into. But the guy responds: “Oh, I’m so sorry, but I just started classes here at Molehill College, and as we say, ‘Once a Fightin’ Mole, always a Fightin’ Mole.’ Give my spot to someone else.” Don’t be that guy. Dear J.T. & Dale: I was very interested by one of your columns about being bored on the job. I have a related problem. My work is OK, but there isn’t enough of it to fill up my days; I have hours where I just sit and fret about my position. I am terrified to go to HR to see about expanding my role, because I don’t want to get my boss in trouble and I don’t want them to see me as expendable. Suggestions? – Angie DALE: You probably have come upon Parkinson’s Law: “Work tends to expand to fill the time allotted to it.” Sometimes, however, as with your situation, you can’t expand the work enough. When that happens, you’re right to be anxious about your job. Let me offer another law – call it Dauten’s Law – about the mind-set of cost-cutting executives: “Management will cut staff until critical mistakes cost more than hiring back employees.” J.T.: That’s bleak, but I agree that going to HR could jeopardize your position or get your boss in trouble. Try a different route. Seek out one or more people who have successfully risen through the ranks. Reach out and see if they’re willing to offer you advice on climbing the ranks. I guarantee they’ll love your enthusiasm and will want to help you – successful people love helping others who want to put in the effort to be successful. They will help you find a way to put all your time to good use. – Workplace consultant and career coach J.T. O’Donnell has coached, trained and mentored employees and managers on a wide variety of career-related subjects since 1994. Her book, “CAREEREALISM: The Smart Approach to A Satisfying Career” is available at JTODonnell.com. Management guru Dale Dauten has written six books and is an authority on innovation in the workplace. His latest book, “Great Employees Only: How Gifted Bossess Hire & Dehire Their Way to Success” is available at Dauten.com. copyright 2013 King Features.
