New job timescales

greasedscotsman
greasedscotsman Posts: 6,962
edited July 2018 in The cake stop
How long do you reckon is a reasonable amount of time to figure out if you either like or dislike a new job?

Comments

  • joe2008
    joe2008 Posts: 1,531
    about 15 minutes :wink:
  • tangled_metal
    tangled_metal Posts: 4,021
    Yet to work that one out. I guess yay I simply don't like work! :D
  • sniper68
    sniper68 Posts: 2,910
    Took me less than half a day and then spent 18 months trying to get out.
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 40,478
    Of the two jobs I haven’t stayed long in I knew at the end of the first month in one (had suspicions they were a shambles on day 1, got paid a week late at the end of the first month which confirmed this) and on the other it took me about 3 months when I attended a management meeting and they were discussing who they could get rid of to reduce their target earnings to their income rather than ideas to increase income. That job had seemed OK for a month or two despite it being obvious early in that they had less work than I had been told.
  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 25,735
    Not easy to give a single timescale on how soon as they are all different.
    Here are my timescales though.
    Year 0-1. Learning curve.
    Year 1-3. Productive and good.
    Year 3-4. Taking the place for granted and taking the pi$$. Or they do it to you.

    I've never worked anywhere past 4 years.
    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
    I am not sure. You have no chance.
    Veronese68 wrote:
    PB is the most sensible person on here.
  • mouth
    mouth Posts: 1,195
    Perhaps one of the most difficult questions to answer. So many extenuating circumstances.

    My boring, menial task comes with a corner office and a new view every second. Bus driver. One of my line managers recently described it as Hotel California. I hardly break a sweat, get paid on time every week and its never wrong, work as much overtime as I fancy, and if I need a day off or a later start, or earlier start there's usually a way around it.

    On the other hand there is very little reward besides what arrives in my bank account every Thursday, but the money's passable considering I left school with neither academic qualifications or a trade. In short, I'll likely never earn any more than I do now whilst still sleeping in my own bed every night.

    If you have a feeling in your stomach that you need to decide whether you like your current role, then you probably already know the answer.
    The only disability in life is a poor attitude.
  • Stevo_666
    Stevo_666 Posts: 58,457
    It really depends. Some you may well dislike very quickly, some you may grow into.
    Sometimes you have to take a long term view. If it is somewhere with prospects etc and you're good at what you do/able to develop then in say 3-4 years you could expect pay rises/promotions and you will probably want to stay longer.
    "I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]
  • Matthewfalle
    Matthewfalle Posts: 17,380
    It once took me 5 minutes. Walked in, met the boss realized that I had fukkkked up massive amounts by taking the job. Went to my new desk held my head in my hands for the next 9 months of hell.

    The only advice I can give is if you hate it immediately look for something else and get the hell out of there. You’re too important to put up with being unhappy all day everyday.
    Postby team47b » Sun Jun 28, 2015 11:53 am

    De Sisti wrote:
    This is one of the silliest threads I've come across. :lol:

    Recognition at last Matthew, well done!, a justified honour :D
    smithy21 wrote:

    He's right you know.
  • robert88
    robert88 Posts: 2,696
    'Sedentary work'. That tells me I won't like it. And bosses who poke their noses in.
  • First.Aspect
    First.Aspect Posts: 14,623
    It once took me 5 minutes. Walked in, met the boss realized that I had fukkkked up massive amounts by taking the job. Went to my new desk held my head in my hands for the next 9 months of hell.

    The only advice I can give is if you hate it immediately look for something else and get the hell out of there. You’re too important to put up with being unhappy all day everyday.
    On the offchance that you aren't a kept man, I'd suggest actually securing something else before flouncing out of a job.....
  • FishFish
    FishFish Posts: 2,152
    It once took me 5 minutes. Walked in, met the boss realized that I had fukkkked up massive amounts by taking the job. Went to my new desk held my head in my hands for the next 9 months of hell.

    The only advice I can give is if you hate it immediately look for something else and get the hell out of there. You’re too important to put up with being unhappy all day everyday.
    On the offchance that you aren't a kept man, I'd suggest actually securing something else before flouncing out of a job.....


    In fairness he did describe a sequence of looking for something else and then leaving. I take it that English is unfamiliar to you.
    ...take your pickelf on your holibobs.... :D

    jeez :roll:
  • timothyw
    timothyw Posts: 2,482
    My experience is that the first two weeks of any new job is an agonising journey out of comfort zone, most evenings spent thinking wtf have I done.

    After that fortnight I'm used to it and just get on with it.

    If it's still shit after a fortnight, then you probably know you need to find a different job.
  • ben@31
    ben@31 Posts: 2,327
    In the time it takes to talk to your new boss and find out his attitude.
    I can tell straight away that some genuinely believe in slavery / Victorian working conditions and will suck the morale out of their workforce. They have no idea how to motivate people.
    "The Prince of Wales is now the King of France" - Calton Kirby
  • capt_slog
    capt_slog Posts: 3,944
    Sniper68 wrote:
    Took me less than half a day and then spent 18 months trying to get out.

    Been there, but it took me three years to get out.
    ben@31 wrote:
    I can tell straight away that some genuinely believe in slavery / Victorian working conditions and will suck the morale out of their workforce.

    And that was why. It would have been kind for the present inmates to have given a little shake of their heads as I was being shown around at the interview :lol:

    Much later I got to work with a psychopath for boss, and it was just me and him in here. I always said it was like prison but without the food (and unwanted 'attentions'). That took me another 3 year to get out of.

    Jeez, I've had some shit jobs :roll:


    The older I get, the better I was.

  • shirley_basso
    shirley_basso Posts: 6,195
    It depends what you do.

    If you hate everything about your job your pretty unlucky.

    Usually there are at least one of: interesting/rewarding aspects of the day job, good people, flexible working hours, good pay, good prospects for the next role or good employee benefits.

    I'd say audit struggles to meet any of those criteria but the prospects thereafter have been good and the people were nice.
  • thistle_
    thistle_ Posts: 7,143
    On the day of the interview when they tell you more about the company.

    It's close to home though and they have stuff for cycling to work.

    Agree with oxoman - usually about 6 months until the novelty wears off.
  • capt_slog
    capt_slog Posts: 3,944
    It depends what you do.

    If you hate everything about your job your pretty unlucky.

    Usually there are at least one of: interesting/rewarding aspects of the day job, good people, flexible working hours, good pay, good prospects for the next role or good employee benefits.

    I'd say audit struggles to meet any of those criteria but the prospects thereafter have been good and the people were nice.

    It's sometimes the case that you don't realise how bad the job is until someone who made it bearable, leaves.


    The older I get, the better I was.

  • If you are already questioning it, sounds like your gut feeling is that this may be the wrong job for you. Like others, with some jobs I realised after the first day that I had made a mistake!
  • drlodge
    drlodge Posts: 4,826
    Its not about the work you do, but the people you interact with, especially your Manager/Boss. My Manager has pretty much defined the amount I enjoyed or hated my job.
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  • First.Aspect
    First.Aspect Posts: 14,623
    drlodge wrote:
    Its not about the work you do, but the people you interact with, especially your Manager/Boss. My Manager has pretty much defined the amount I enjoyed or hated my job.
    That's like saying its about personality, not looks, isn't it?
  • drlodge
    drlodge Posts: 4,826
    drlodge wrote:
    Its not about the work you do, but the people you interact with, especially your Manager/Boss. My Manager has pretty much defined the amount I enjoyed or hated my job.
    That's like saying its about personality, not looks, isn't it?

    I guess so. However something looks initially, it soon wears off and you have to live with how you communicate.
    WyndyMilla Massive Attack | Rourke 953 | Condor Italia 531 Pro | Boardman CX Pro | DT Swiss RR440 Tubeless Wheels
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