Career College Central

Subscribe at careercollegecentral.com 43 JENNI VALENTINO SENIOR WRITER Jenni Valentino is a freelance writer and editor with years of involvement and experience in the career college sector. You can reach her at jzvalentino@gmail.com. 2. You have zero chemistry with anyone at the office Work is work, and you will never love everyone you do business with. In fact, learning to work with—and even grow to appreciate—personalities different than your own is a crucial skill as you begin your career. However, your job is where you'll spend most of your waking hours. If all the other employees at a company make you feel uncomfortable, unhappy, or unwelcome, your self-esteem is worth more than whatever they're paying. 3. e position has been a revolving door of new hires A position oen becomes available because the person previously holding it has moved on to something better suited to them, and that's perfectly fine. However, if nobody has managed to stick around in the role for more than a few months—whether because they couldn't stand it and quit or couldn't live up to expectations and were fired—the chances that you'll magically be a perfect fit are slim. 4. Nobody can tell you exactly what you'll be doing Oen, the job descriptions accompanying newly created roles or at small companies are nebulous. But you should at least understand what value you'll be adding at a company and what the eventual goals are for your position. If nobody can really give you an idea of what will be expected of you, you'll have no way of knowing whether you're able to meet those expectations. 5. e company withholds basic information from you If you feel like a company is being less than honest or less than transparent with you—about anything—trust your gut. Reputable corporations with above-board hiring practices should have nothing to hide. Consider your job search process as a whole If you've been offered a job that seems pretty great, but you just interviewed for your absolute dream job and are expecting to hear back from the hiring manager next week . . . what should you do? Especially when you're early on in your career, it's easy to assume that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. But as always, honesty is the best policy. You can try to buy some time with the company that's offered you a job by asking for time to consider and negotiating aspects of the offer, but you can also just let them know what's going on. ey'll likely give you a firm deadline by which to make a decision, but they shouldn't be upset by your honesty. en you can take that deadline to your dream company and see if it inspires them to move the decision process along any more quickly. If they're unable to, then at least you'll have more clarity around your decision. When this advice doesn't apply Not everyone always has the luxury of time and choice surrounding job offers; there will be times when this advice just doesn't apply. If you're unable to pay your bills, falling into debt, or otherwise badly in need of a paycheck, your ability to take care of yourself comes first. ere will always be opportunities to move up in your career and move on with your life. So congratulations on your new job and the invaluable experience that will come along with it! Unfortunately, the questions and uncertainty don't disappear as soon as you accept an offer. We'll discuss how to succeed in your first few weeks on the job in the next edition of Career College Central.

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