How to avoid taking a new job you'll hate, according to an HR pro: It's not realistic to 'love every part of the job'

If you’re planning to find a new job in 2024, chances are good you’re hoping to score something with higher pay, more interesting opportunities, and better working conditions.

But as you plan for the upsides in a potential new job, you might want to also consider the downsides.

In particular, think of what aspects you don’t like about your current job and why you’re leaving. It may sound overly negative, but it could also be a good practice to make sure you don’t end up somewhere new with the same old problems, says Tom Gimbel, CEO of the staffing firm LaSalle Network.

“I think, too often, people focus on what they like” about a new opportunity, Gimbel says. But people don’t leave jobs because of what they liked about it starting out, he reasons. “You’re leaving a job because of what you’re not good at, or your company or boss makes you do things that you don’t like. And I think that you’ve got to be realistic.”

Gimbel’s call for being realistic comes at a time when employees are examining how work fits into their personal lives and say they’re the unhappiest they’ve been in years.

Lofty expectations could be partly to blame, Gimbel says: “I think that we’ve gotten to this point of entitlement where employees think they should love every part of their job. And that’s crazy. There’s very few things we love 100%.”

Rather, Gimbel says it’s a smart move to “be honest with yourself about what you don’t like” so you know what to steer clear of. He also suggests thinking about how you can problem-solve around less-than-ideal conditions, like managing up to a boss or learning a skill to make your job easier. That way if they do come up in your next role, you’ll have a better handle on working through them.

Finally, Gimbel says, “the overarching thing that people need to ask themselves is do they want a job, or do they want a career? Do they want to do as little as they can and make as much as they can? Or do they want to be challenged and grow into what they want to learn?”

Both positions are perfectly fine, Gimbel says: “The assumption that everybody wants to grow, everybody wants to learn and everybody wants to be challenged, is an inaccurate assumption.” For many people, a job is less a vocation and more a way to pay the bills, he adds.

But it’s important to know that about yourself before getting into a new job search and interviews, he adds. “If you’re not willing to answer those questions authentically for yourself,” he says, “you’re setting yourself up to fail in whatever job you take.”

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