It’s a tough situation to be in and a hard one to accept.
Sadly, I have been in this situation in my career. I found myself in my dream role, my dream company, being paid well with a huge scope & responsibility. But I was miserable…...
In fact in one situation, I remember telling my husband at the end of my first week;
“I don’t think this is the job for me. It’s not quite what they told me, and I don’t have a good feeling about it….”
And as the months and years went by, it became a nightmare and one I have taken a long time to overcome.
This is a reality for more people than we care to admit. After weeks or months going through a hiring process, exciting by the new opportunity, or after months of settling in, you may discover that it’s not the dream job you once expected, and you know you need to get out. Moving jobs is daunting, especially in this market and so what do you do?
Firstly, I think it’s important you trust your gut if you are in this situation – you probably know in your heart of hearts this isn’t right, take the time to establish and accept that. Create a plan for yourself and redefine what your next steps are. Here’s a couple of starting points:
Speak to a trusted person at the company. Can you change role in the company or even redefine the role?
Set yourself and objective and timeline for this role, do you see it as a steppingstone role to develop your career?
Or finally, start looking for a new role.
In the meantime, it’s unlikely you can just quit and find something else straight away. So, whilst you are in a role where you have established it’s not quite your dream job, how can you reframe that experience to benefit you?
Find a way to gain value from the role – can you gain some additional training or coaching from the role or the company? Can you learn a new capability to round off your experience to use in your next role? Can you use it to test our new skills such as communication or management skills?
Build a network – even if the role isn’t right for you, can you use it to grow your network? Developing strong relationships with colleagues, connect with partners or agencies are all great ways to build a strong reputation. From my experience, the digital marketing is small but highly supportive. Can you demonstrate your professionalism or skills to your network that may be valuable to you in the future? Can you develop a network of people who will prmote you, which may help find a new role, or be an advocate for you in future business opportunities.
Set new boundaries – if you establish this isn’t the forever role for you how do you make the role work for you professionally and personally. Can you establish a better balance? Can you gain the flexibility you have been trying to achieve for a long time? Can you practice better distance between work and your personal life to protect your physical and/or mental health? Can you invest in your personal development?
Finally, never burn bridges – no matter how much you realise you are in the wrong role, or you hate the situation, try to remain professional. At some point you will be moving on from this company and no matter what you think about the company, leave gracefully with your head held high. As state above, the digital world is small and people with remember how you behaved which may influence your future relationships & networks.
If you have found yourself in the wrong role and unsure where to turn, or want coaching for your new career step, get in touch fresheditcoach@gmail.com.
Consider a career change coaching or career development coach to help develop and realise your goals and ambitions.