A New Job Is Like a Box of Cereal with a Prize Inside

By Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter

Back in the Stone Ages when I was growing up, cereal companies would market to kids like me by including a prize inside. There were small cars and action figures. Decals and stickers. Games, tiny puzzles. Little prizes were depicted on the box. I would beg my mother to buy a particular cereal because of the prize inside.

The next morning, I would have the container of milk, the cereal, a bowl, and a spoon, open the box, dig down deep, and pull out what I immediately realized was a piece of junk, and I felt disappointed. After a few times doing this, I learned my lesson and never begged for cereal because of the prize inside.

Isn’t this what happens to many of you when you start new jobs? You start working and within a few days, you start to say to yourself, “OMG! I made a mistake,” and feel trapped again having been sold and bought the sizzle without paying enough attention to the cereal.

Take the time to ask questions, and speak with former and current employees about what it’s like to work there.

Few people I’ve spoken to after starting with a firm tell me about the pleasant surprises they experienced after joining. However, many have told me about the bad surprises they’ve experienced.