You might be desperate, but don’t be stupid too!

Being out of work sucks! Being in the wrong job/bad situation sucks too!.

But is your desire to be in the “greener grass on the other side” sooner rather than later clouding your judgment?

I wrote earlier about a neighbor who’d taken a job with a new company only to find out, soon after she started, it was a bad move. Fortunately for her, her ordeal only lasted six grueling months, and she is now in a much better role and environment.

This weekend I was chatting with another friend who is in a similar situation. A recent move to a new company and more senior position had started out with promise, but barely 6 months later internal reorganizations, layoffs etc., due to the economy had changed a “great place” into a dreaded place.

She is being proactive about it, and actively looking elsewhere, but I  can see, the desperation to move, to find something else… soon!… is getting her to consider options she should be avoiding. What’s a little frustrating for me, (and easy to see and judge sitting on the outside looking in) is the way she justifies to herself why going after certain jobs or positions are good decisions. I know how much her situation now sucks and wish her success in finding the next position quickly, Yes! even with the economy the way it is now.

What I would hate to happen is for her to jump at the first offer that comes along, just because it’s an “out”, and for her to find herself in a worse situation.

Easy for me to say, I know, but my advice if you can, is to make sure the next move you have is the right move, and not just a move – out of the frying pan into the fire.

Good hunting

Simon