Some years ago, an unmarried design engineer I recruited for a farm implements company located in a small Midwestern town, called me after one week on the job and said, "I have made a mistake. The job was wrong. The company was wrong, and the town was awful for a single guy." He wanted me to place him with any other company, just so long it was located in a big city. I told the young engineer, "A new job frequently has what is known as 'the period of adjustment', and after one week it certainly has not stood the test of time." We made an agreement that he would try to block out any negative thoughts about his situation, and try to do the best job he could for ninety days and then give me another telephone call. I assured him that if he did not at least begin to feel differently about his job and environment, I would place him with another company.
Shortly after the ninety days were up, he called me to report that his situation was beginning to improve. He felt his work was becoming meaningful, he had joined the company bowling league, and last but not least, he was seriously dating a girl. The irony is that he met this young woman in the Laundromat near what he had referred to as his "crummy" apartment which lacked laundry facilities.
Nine years later my engineer friend resigned his position, which was at that time Assistant Chief Engineer. He started his own company which supplies parts for the farm implement industry, and today is most successful and happy. I might also mention that his plant is located in that same little Midwestern town and the girl he met in the Laundromat is now his wife, and mother of their three children.
Any career change should have the proper timing. One week on the job does not quite make it! As in all life, timing is so important. In planning a career strategy, the length of time in the present position should be long enough to go from a liability to an asset.
If my engineering friend had just stayed a few months on the job, that time period would have been a liability, but by investing at least a couple of years in the position he was then able to market his experience.
Working environments are dynamic and frequently change. How one feels about one's position after just a short time certainly will not be the same in a couple of years.
One might even compare a new job to growing a garden. If you neglect it, chances are you will not be successful and will ultimately quit. Nurture it, develop it, make every effort to do well, and there is an excellent probability that your career, like your garden, will flourish and reward you. Reward you with large dividends--both psychological and monetary.
Garden Analogy
Everyone has their ups and downs, good days and bad days. I always advise, when an individual indicates that he has had it with his job, that maybe he just needs a little vacation. I am truly amazed at the high percentage of lower, middle, and upper management people who do not take enough time off from their work. I advocated career dedication in the previous paragraphs, but burning one's self out is a fast way to career dissatisfaction! Using the garden analogy: Too much water is no good, too much fertilizer is no good, too much of anything is no good--especially work!
I advocate a couple of short vacations during the year as compared to one long one.
A friend of mine is a stockbroker for a large New York Stock Exchange member firm. I will refer to him as Dave. For years, Dave hardly ever took a vacation. When he did, he would spend as much on long distance calls to his clients and office as he would for the resort he stayed at for two weeks.
Dave told me that he would send his wife off each day to the swimming pool and whatever other activities that were provided. He would eventually join her very coincidentally at about the time the market closed at 4 P.M. Eastern Standard Time. You would think that once every two or three years when he did take a vacation, he would have had sense enough to take a real one. This man literally worked seven days a week.
One day Dave complained of severe stomach pains, and was convinced by his wife to see their family physician. He had ulcers.
The doctor ordered Dave to cut down at work and to take periodic vacations--real ones with no business conducted. In fact, what the doctor suggested was that Dave and his wife go on a cruise for a couple of weeks where there would be no easy access to a telephone. Dave returned from that cruise indicating that he had not realized what he had been missing those past eighteen years. He had never really taken a vacation. (Work vacations, in my mind, are not really vacations.) Dave had a great time, felt wonderful, and looked a lot better-especially with a tan in February.
By following his doctor's orders, which were to watch his diet, cut down on smoking, cut down on hours worked, and periodic vacations (even if short ones) Dave recovered completely and was enjoying life a lot more within a year.
A peculiar thing happened when Dave cut down on his working hours. His commissions actually improved slightly. He apparently was beginning to work smarter rather than harder. There is very definitely a point of diminishing returns when you overwork.
