Editor’s note: This article was first published in July 2013, in the aftermath of Spain’s property bubble and the crisis that followed; its example of a 200–400 euro pay rise reflects Spanish salaries at the time.
Recruiters have previously opened up to tell us the reasons they usually reject candidates in selection processes. This time they tell us the most common mistakes, sometimes born of misconceptions, that workers make both when choosing a job and when changing jobs, especially in executive and middle-management positions.
1. Not doing enough research
Researching the company isn’t only necessary when preparing for a job interview. We need to look more deeply into the company (how it works on the inside) to find out whether it really is a place where we’ll feel happy and fulfilled.
Remember that companies sometimes dress up certain positions to attract top talent with false hopes, selling real prospects of promotion when in fact nobody inside the company has been promoted in the last ten years.
2. Looking only at the money
Some people change jobs for a pay rise of between 200 and 400 euros, and that’s a big mistake if we forget to weigh other, less quantifiable measures such as respect, the quality of the team and colleagues, and the company’s chances of survival in the medium term. If we move purely for money to a badly run company that is heading for turbulence because of poor management, we’ll have made a very bad deal.
3. Moving “away from” instead of “towards”
Many people are so eager to escape from where they are that they don’t consider where they’re heading. Some recruiters believe this mistake is very common. We need to plan our career moves rather than swap one crisis for another.
See also: “Thank you, I did it!”: the best message I could have received this Christmas
4. Too much self-confidence
Underestimating ourselves as professionals is as bad as overestimating ourselves, and many people overestimate their ability to take on a new role in a more senior position. Combine this mistake with number 1 and the result can be devastating for the worker. Some HR directors argue that many professionals want to change jobs because they feel their company is holding back their career, without realising that they themselves are part of the company’s current problem.
5. Not thinking long term
As on the stock market, a short-term mindset can bring you some immediate gains (and losses too), but a long-term mindset is safer. During the property boom, many people left management positions at long-established companies for the companies of the moment, which paid better. They left companies that are still open today to work for firms that closed when the crisis hit.
Conclusion: Changing companies means weighing a great many things, not just the money or a company’s “momentum”. In management positions we need to be sure we’re joining a company with a future, and that we can help create that future for it, working with capable people under a company culture that fits our way of thinking. Changing jobs only for a better salary is a very high risk if we haven’t taken all the other factors into account.
Further reading
- 3 mistakes you may be making at your company that nobody dares tell you
- Qualities of a good recruiter
Featured image: Matt Brown, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr.
