How to avoid disappointment in a new job

Many different reasons can lead to a situation, where a job candidate signs up for a new job and ends up finding a completely different situation than what he or she expected. The ever changing economic environment and the loss of a major client for example can have an impact on your new company.

In the weeks or months between signing the contract and actually starting the job, infrastructure or strategy might have changed, key-players may have left, departments may have been outsourced, whole divisions may have closed or investments, which were approved already, might have been cut. Sounds scary? Well, yes, it is, but there are ways to reduce the risks and the main one is asking the right questions during your interview and negotiations. (Especially for positions on senior levels, as they often don’t have a job description anymore.)

Some questions to ask are:

“How will my performance be measured?”

“Which criteria will define my success or my failure?"

“How might the organization develop over the next months and how could this affect the job?”

“What can change from now until then?”

“What could go wrong?”

The answers to these questions might at least give you some warning signs, if there are uncertainties ahead in the future that you would rather like to avoid or at least be prepared for well upfront.

(02.2013) Source: Business Insider