New Hires’ Remorse

Or, “I can contribute meaningfully when…”

Why do people need to reinvent concepts as new, unique and mind-blowing? “New hire’s remorse” isn’t new.

(Cross posted from my LinkedIn page.)

I saw this on my LinkedIn Notifications tab. Gianna’s comments seem indisputable, but then I clicked the links and it stirred a lot in me.

I call bullshit.

Why do people need to reinvent concepts as new, unique and mind-blowing?

The Muse article linked in this piece gives a new name to the current trend of “new-hire’s remorse’: “shift shock.” According to The Muse, this is a generational shift driven by Gen Z and Millennial candidates. The new research is based on a new survey involving 2,500 Millenial and Gen Z job candidates.

As if it’s a new thing created by generational culture, exacerbated by the pandemic.

“New hire’s remorse” isn’t new. Sometimes it means that the honeymoon period is over. Sometimes, a job is completely different from its description. I’ve had a few of those. One such job that I had in the early 2000s was positioned as a marketing role. Instead, I spent my days in a box office confirming reservations and pitching a service that the people I was phoning had already bought.

Years later, an experience that I’ve previously talked about online: After one week, I knew it was not a positive situation. Then it became toxic. I was there for 6 months, cried a lot, dreaded going to work and experienced suicide ideation. The recruiter’s advice was to think positively in the mornings and do my job as asked (even if my manager asked me to do something incorrectly).

The Bloomberg article linked in Gianna’s post says to make it about yourself when it’s time to quit. An expert suggests:

Keep your reasoning professional and high-level: ‘I can contribute meaningfully when I have more responsibility and autonomy in decision making. I know this about myself and need to find a role that better…