Matching Expectations With Experience
Posted on 21. Oct, 2009 by Matt Shelly in Job Search Tips
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By Todd Bavol, The Job Search Ninja.
CEO, Integrity Career Transitions
The importance of researching not just the companies that you are interested in working for, but the roles or positions that you are seeking, is an issue which I have addressed in a number of my previous posts. In the course of working on my next book, however, it is one which has again come to the forefront of my mind, this time in connection with expectations.
I was reading a report the other day which looked at levels of job satisfaction in recent graduates in a particular industry. One of the findings of the research that was carried out showed that workers, like consumers, experience far higher levels of satisfaction when the expectation matches the actual experience. Not exactly rocket science when you think about it, but significant nevertheless, and especially so because it is something which most of us probably don’t even consider when we are applying for jobs.
Of course, unrealistically high expectations are the cause of much disappointment in many different situations in life, from the perfect vacation to the perfect wedding day. In nearly all cases, however, doing some research in advance provides the opportunity to get a glimpse of the reality. The travel brochure, for example, might sell us on the fact that our hotel is situated only a short walk from the beach and within easy reach of a good range of traditional bars and restaurants. Further investigation though, might reveal that the holiday company’s idea of a short walk is in fact two kilometers and that the traditional bars and restaurants are interspersed with dozens of nightclubs filled with noisy drunken twenty-somethings. Knowing this in advance clearly allows us to avoid it like the plague if it is not to our taste or at least know what to expect on arrival.
In terms of job seeking or choosing a career, it can be very easy to look at a company from the outside and imagine it to be an excellent employer, or to see a role as being much more glamorous or exciting than it really is, which can again lead to immense disappointment and job dissatisfaction. Doing research on the Internet into the company itself and the views of current employees (which can often be found on discussion boards) can provide a much more realistic view than even the interviewer would be willing to provide. Informational interviews, however, are one of the very best means of getting an inside view and gauging the day-to-day realities of a job, the perceptions of the workers and the working environment.
Doing your research well and using your networking contacts to get as full a picture as possible could save years of misery, as well as increasing your chances of performing well in your job further down the line.
For information about career products and services, visit www.integritycareertransitions.com. You can also follow The Job Search Ninja on twitter at, www.twitter.com/jobsearchninja, for great career advice.
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